Jane Austen born in 1775 died in 1817 aged 41. In life she had modest success as a novelist from this village, Chawton, in Hampshire.

Now she’s a global literary celebrity her novels have been adapted for stage and for screen and have provided inspiration for sequels, prequels, mashups, blogs and video games.

There are countless biographies and a seemingly endless appetite for collections of essays, articles and book-length studies of the six novels that are now known, by title at least, across the world. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion whose plots are familiar and whose characters seem like friends.

But how did one Hampshire born clergyman’s daughter travel from near obscurity to become a novelist who leads an international fanbase. A fan base who, inspired by her novels learn country dancing, eat the cuisine of the day and wear Regency period fashions. How did someone who celebrated writing herself in to 250 pounds become a marketing tool for everything from literary tours to toothpaste, action figures to gin. Just after Jane Austen has appeared on the Bank of England ten pound note join us for a fresh look at her novels her life and her legacy