Jane Austen was born on Dec. 16, 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire, she was daughter of a clergyman. At the age of nine she was sent to school at Reading with her elder sister Cassandra, who was her lifelong friend and confidante, but she was largely taught by her father.
Austen began as a child to write novel for her family. Her best-known novels are Sense & Sensibility (1811), Pride & Prejudice (1813). Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816), and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818.