Jane Austen is now one of the most popular novelists in the English language, and yet on the face of it one of the most unlikely candidates for such a title. Austen died at the age of 41 and left behind only six completed novels. Yet her works have never been out of print, and in this century, within the last three decades in particular, never a year passes without some fresh adaptation of her stories for stage, screen, or television. In this skillfully crafted biography, Deirdre Le Faye brings Austen's tantalizingly elusive image into a distinct and refreshing light.