Maeve writes:

Jane Austen was an English novelist, and she is one of the most widely read and beloved author in English literature. Her writings are centered on her use of realism, crisp social commentary, irony, and free indirect speech.
Austen was born in England into a small family on the edge of the English high social class. She was educated mainly by her father and older brothers, although she learned much through reading on her own. After she finished her studies, during which she experimented with many different forms of writing, she published four novels, with which she gained recognition and success as a published writer. The novels were Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816). She then wrote two more novels, both published in 1818 – Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, and began writing a third, Sanditon, but died before she could complete it.
During her lifetime, Austen preferred to publish her novels anonymously. It was only in 1869 when her nephew published A Memoir of Jane Austen that she became widely known to the public, as opposed to just members of the literary elite.
Austen’s works are now very famous, and have been adapted into everything from audio-books to movies.