Across four episodes, Miss Austen takes us back in time to find out more about the revered novelist, her family and most importantly, the bond she shared with her sister Cassandra . Of course, their sisterhood is at the heart of the tale as we uncover the reimagined history around just why Cassandra chose to burn her sister's letters. Through two timelines, we follow Cassandra as she seeks to return to Kintbury to retrieve letters that her sister penned as a young woman and then we're also transported to when Cassy and Jane would wile away their time writing, painting and joking around as siblings do.
With near-misses at romantic loves of their own, as well as grief that struck their family, Miss Austen maps out more to the author than many people may know. But how much of Miss Austen is fact versus fiction? Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind the new BBC series. Is Miss Austen based on a true story? The plain answer is.
.. kind of .
The new BBC drama is based on the book of the same name by Gill Hornby who uses some grounding in historical fact, but also reimagines what could have happened to lead Cassandra to burn Jane's letters. Speaking about the main story at the heart of Miss Austen, executive producer Christine Langan said: "Miss Austen is about Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra, principally. "Notoriously after Jane’s death, Cassandra burnt many of her letters.
Gill Hornby’s book and the adaptation pursue what might have been in those.
