Former journalist Gill Hornby, 65, published her first novel in her early 50s but it wasn’t until writing her third, Miss Austen (2020), that she hit her stride. Centred on Jane Austen’s beloved older sister, Cassandra, it probes the mystery of why she destroyed hundreds of their letters, and became a bestseller praised by Janeites. Now, it’s been made into a four-part BBC drama to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Jane’s birth, with Bafta-nominated Keeley Hawes playing Cassandra. Hornby has since written two further novels set in the extended Austen family, the latest of which, The Elopement, will be released in May. She lives in Kintbury, Berkshire, with her husband, the author Robert Harris.
What’s it like seeing Miss Austen on screen?
Obviously the grammar of TV is so different, and Cassandra in the novel is much older. I don’t object to that at all and Keeley Hawes is absolutely marvellous, her performance is so clever and quiet, but the revelation is Patsy Ferran as Jane Austen. She has every quality that I don’t think has ever been shown before in a performance of Austen – that quirky awkwardness, the intelligence that shines out of her.
