Jane Austen And Cassandra: A Sisterly Love Story

Hornby became interested in Cassandra after moving to Kintbury, and learning that "Miss Austen" had been engaged to the son of the vicar of the local church. On the reason for the bonfire of the letters, Hornby tells BBC Culture: "I have my own theory, as put out in the novel, and which I think stands up." Viewers of the series will discover it in due course. 

"But there are other, prosaic reasons," she continues. "One is that these letters were newsy, gossipy. Those two shared everything – including very difficult sisters-in-law  [Jane and Cassandra had six brothers]. I imagine there would have been a lot of indiscreet mentions of annoying relatives, and Cassandra would have wanted to avoid any future hurt feelings. There would also have been quite a lot of moaning. Jane worried about money incessantly – there are still many mentions left over to prove it. So all in all, they wouldn't necessarily show her in the best light."

Devoney Looser is Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University and a respected authority on Jane Austen. "A less often considered theory, which I think probable, is that Cassandra may also have been watching closely, in the early 1840s, the brutal treatment that critics were dishing out in reviews of the recently published letters of the late novelist Frances Burney," she tells the BBC. Burney was a writer of social comedies, who Austen grew up reading and took inspiration from.

"Those cruel reviews would have given Cassandra pause, considering that Jane's letters might have faced similar treatment. They might have been skewered in the early Victorian press, if published then. Of course, almost two centuries later, I think we can be confident that the opposite would eventually have been true – that these additional Austen letters would be welcomed and admired. That part is especially crushing."

However both Looser and Hornby defend Cassandra in what she did. Indeed, Hornby wrote Miss Austen at least partly with the intention of explaining her actions. 

"Whatever her motives, the truth is – however biographers might complain – Cassandra did the right thing. Jane was a very private person," says Hornby, pointing to the fact that she chose to be published anonymously for the duration of her lifetime, with her identity only being widely revealed by her brother Henry in December 1817, via the biographical note he wrote for a posthumous edition of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. "She had no interest in fame, only writing," Hornby continues. "Both sisters would be horrified to think of us knowing their secrets. And the fact that – thanks to Cassandra's bonfire – we know so little about the author has proved wildly successful. That element of mysterious, quiet dignity is crucial to the success of the Jane Austen brand."

Looser says: "Cassandra's reputation as the most notorious destroyer of Jane's letters isn't entirely fair. As a few scholars have recently pointed out, Cassandra is also the only Austen sibling who is known to have saved large numbers of her sister's letters. That said, of course I find it deeply upsetting that any of Jane's letters were ever destroyed. It's clear that they must have held more of her characteristic humour and social insights, as well as requisite everyday news and gossip."

A Sisterly Love Story

Jane and Cassandra, who was older by three years, had a very close bond. They were the only daughters of a Hampshire clergyman. According to their mother, "if Cassandra's head had been going to be cut off, Jane would have hers cut off too". They lived together for much of their lives, and Cassandra was the only person with whom Jane discussed her work. A pencil and watercolour likeness by Cassandra is the only authenticated picture of Jane. The day after Jane's death, Cassandra wrote in a letter: "She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow. It is as if I have lost a part of myself." Neither woman married. 

In fact, the mystery element of Hornby's novel is simply the delivery mechanism for a moving exploration of unmarried women's lack of control over their own lives in this period. They often had little or no money and could well be dependent on the charity of relatives – which might or might not be forthcoming.

"The subjugation of women was the dominant theme in their existence," says Hornby. "Their lives were an obstacle course, and dodging the pitfalls was part of their every day. We don't see it, of course, because we live with so many options ourselves. But Austen's novels are all about the subjugation of women. All of her heroines – bar Emma – are in peril at the beginning. Those Bennet girls [from Pride and Prejudice] – once their father died, they would have no money, no home. Marriage is their only rescue plan – as Mrs Bennet so wisely sees. We read her as a comic creation – and of course, she is played for laughs. But actually, she's the sensible one who can see the great dangers ahead." 

Andrea Gibb, who has adapted Miss Austen for the screen, says she fell in love with the book immediately. "It's so beautifully conceived, and could have been written by Austen herself. It has everything. Intrigue, mystery, romance and love. Not just romantic love but the enduring lifelong love that exists between sisters. The female experience is very much at the heart of the story. Women then were totally financially dependent on men. Making a good marriage was a survival mechanism as much as a romantic ideal."

This year is the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. As well as Miss Austen, the BBC has commissioned The Other Bennet Sister, a Pride and Prejudice spin-off drama about Mary Bennet based on the novel by Janice Hadlow. Netflix is reported to have an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in the works. And in a book published later this year, Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Legacy, Looser hopes to demolish "the continuing myth that Austen was mild, prim and boring," she says. Jane Austen's appeal shows absolutely no signs of abating.

"I think she endures because she deals with universal concerns and she shines a light on society and its inherent contradictions," says Gibb. "I think she has a lot to say to contemporary women. Whether they're young and full of idealism or whether they're older. She's a great recorder of human behaviour and she's also very funny."

And let's not judge Cassandra too harshly. After all, who among us would want our gossipy missives and messages to our nearest and dearest read by all and sundry?

Author: Neil Armstrong, BBC