Jane Austen

Austen published four novels in her lifetime, all anonymously — the title pages said only "By a Lady". "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma" and the rest turned the narrow world of a few country families into a precise study of money, class and choice.

She died at forty-one of an illness never identified. The stone laid over her in Winchester Cathedral praises her mind and her temper but does not mention, anywhere, that she wrote books.