Living with Jane Austen

Janet Todd reflects on a life spent thinking, researching and writing about Austen, why she still matters today, and how her meaning has changed at different cultural moments.

About the event

In ‘Mansfield Park’, Fanny Price tells her persistent suitor, ‘we have all a better guide in ourselves (…) than any other person can be’. But there are times when we seek external guidance, and Jane Austen’s nuanced novels offer just that.

One of the world’s most influential feminist literary historians, Janet Todd has spent more than 50 years interacting with Austen’s letters, manuscripts and published novels, being inspired and challenged in equal measure. In a new book, written to mark Austen’s 250th birthday, she reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might mean to others.

Celebrating the enduring power and relevance of Austen’s work, Janet shows how it helps us understand the world, our minds and bodies, and teaches us about patience, humour, beauty and the essence of home.

Additional information

This event is eligible for our 20% ticket bundle discount.

Book tickets to three or more different events across the festival and you can save 20%. Tickets must be purchased in the same transaction and the discount will automatically be applied within the basket.

Entry to this event is via London Gate.

About the speaker

Janet Todd is an internationally renowned novelist and academic, best known for her non-fiction feminist works on women writers such as Jane Austen, Aphra Behn and Mary Wollstonecraft. Her acclaimed novels include ‘Lady Susan Plays the Game’ (2013), ‘A Man of Genius’ (2016) and ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ (2020).

Janet was a professor of English Literature at UEA, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities, before becoming president of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge (2008-15), where she established the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. She is now an Honorary Fellow of Newnham and Lucy Cavendish Colleges. In 2013, she was awarded an OBE for her services to higher education and literary scholarship.