In the history of literature, few female authors have attained the enduring popularity of Jane Austen (1775-1817). Her exquisite, finely tuned novels have captivated readers for two hundred years, and her reputation shows no signs of diminishing, fuelled by high-profile TV and film adaptations of her writing. The substance of her work, and the source of her appeal, is quintessentially English. She takes the reader into the subtle cultural, linguistic and romantic codes of nineteenth-century English society, and in doing so creates some of literature's favourite heroes and heroines.