Most of us think we know something about Jane Austen. As I began research for Jane Austen’s Paper Trail – a new podcast from The Conversation marking 250 years since her birth – I certainly believed I did.
Perhaps, like me, you’ve read her novels or enjoyed one of the many screen adaptations. Maybe you’ve seen her portrait, painted by her sister Cassandra, hanging in the National Portrait Gallery – or gazing serenely from a £10 note. But the more I learned about Austen, the more she seemed to slip away.
