Jane Austen

Only in the last few years of Jane Austen's short life did she see some income and recognition for her writing, although she worked at her craft for decades. Contrary to some contemporary ideas that Austen's work was unappreciated in its time, she was in fact a popular if anonymous novelist who wrote and published at a steady clip until her death in 1816, with her first novels Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) going into second printings, Emma (1815) a success as well and Mansfield Park (1816) selling out within six months of publication. Her final completed books, Persuasion (1817) and Northanger Abbey (1817), were published together posthumously. Though moderately successful in life, Austen could not have dreamed of the industry her modest social satires would spawn. The never-married daughter of an English rector, Austen struggled to contribute to the support of her family with her writing, dying at the age of 41. In the 21st century she has become a global media phenomenon, as seemingly endless film and television adaptations of her small body of work continue to be made and a worldwide network of devoted fans styling themselves "Janeites" stage teas, costume balls and conventions in honor of her and her books.