British jazz singer Cleo Laine dead at 97
Her death was announced on Friday in a statement from her children Jacqui and Alec.
Born to an English mother and a Jamaican father in a suburb of London in 1927, she initially worked as a hair-dresser, a hat-trimmer and a librarian. She married in 1946 and had a son while still a teenager.
Driven on by her dream of becoming a singer, she divorced and got her big break in 1951, when she joined the band of English saxophonist and clarinettist John Dankworth at 24.
Dankworth's band decided her name was too long - at the time she thought she had been born Clementine Campbell, though a passport application later revealed her mother had used her own surname Hitching on the birth certificate.
The men of the Dankworth Seven band thought her name was too cumbersome for a poster, and that her nickname Clem was too cowboy-like. They settled on a new stage persona for her by drawing "Cleo" and "Laine" from hats.
In 1958, she and Dankworth married. Their home became a magnet for London's jazz set: friends included stars from across the Atlantic such as Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young and Dizzy Gillespie.
After acting as well as singing in Britain through the 1960s, Laine toured Australia in 1972 and performed at New York's Lincoln Centre. The recording of a further show, at Carnegie Hall, won her a Grammy.
Recordings included Porgy and Bess with Ray Charles. In 1992 she appeared with Frank Sinatra for a series of shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but she was best known for her work with Dankworth's bands. He later became her musical director.
The couple built their own auditorium in the grounds of their home near London and were friends with Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Their two children went on to become musicians.
Dankworth - who Laine described as being "joined at the hip" with her - died in 2010. Hours after his death, Laine performed a scheduled show in their auditorium, announcing the news about her husband only at the end of the concert.
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Why we can't get enough Jane Austen and the hot new takes you need to know
Netflix is doing a new Pride and Prejudice. A fresh Sense and Sensibility film is on the way too. We ask the experts why we still so ardently admire and love Jane Austen 250 years after her birth. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a streaming service or movie studio or book publisher in want of a good fortune must be in possession of a hot new take on Jane Austen. And so it is, in this 250th year since the birth of the great novelist - the English language's most revered writer after William Shakespeare - that streaming giant Netflix will be adding to its endless carousel of episodes of Bridgerton, Wednesday, Stranger Things and Squid Game a shiny new "period-faithful" Pride and Prejudice miniseries billed as "both familiar and fresh". Also riding new generational waves of Austen adulation: movie makers Focus Features and Working Title Films, producers of the 2005 film version of Pride & Prejudice with its pulse-quickening, meme-worthy "hand flex" scene, who are shooting a new Sense and Sensibility feature film. Meanwhile, the BBC, which in 1995 gave us the definitive screen rendering of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth in a blush-makingly wet shirt as Mr Darcy, is pumping out multiple TV treatments, including the documentary Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius and costume dramas Miss Austen and The Other Bennet Sister. Next month audiobook and podcast giant Audible takes Pride and Prejudice for its own spin around the ballroom in six languages, promising "cinematic sound design" and Marisa Abela, Harris Dickinson, Bill Nighy and Glenn Close leading the English-speaking cast. And, of course, the Austen-related books just keep coming in 2025: from a graphic novel depicting her life, The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Professor Janine Barchas and illustrator Isabel Greenberg; to Jane Austen's Garden by Molly Williams, a botanical tour of Austen's era and novels; to the upcoming Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women, a collection of snarky witticisms compiled by Emily Reed; and Wild for Austen, American scholar Devoney Looser's subversive revision of Austen's image as a prim and proper spinster. More in a moment on the new screen Austens and their popular forerunners; the adaptations, extrapolations and reimaginings that help make way more visible - and more beloved - than any other novelist before or since a woman forced by the conventions of her day to publish her writing anonymously. First, some beneficent words of rapture and wise counsel from two distinguished patrons of all things Austen. Says Pamela Whalan, Austen scholar, lecturer and playwright: "I am a firm believer that nothing really replaces the reading of Austen's novels". The precious word "reading", of course, is given special emphasis in this declaration. Such Elizabeth Bennet-like prejudice from someone who has so proudly, painstakingly translated the language, characters, settings, emotions and insights of all six Austen novels into stage plays! "That might seem hypocritical considering I have adapted them for the stage," she explains. "But I see any adaptation as an introduction rather than a substitution for the delight of Austen's written word." Susannah Fullerton, literary historian, author of the memoir Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction and president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for "what seems like an age", concurs. "Everybody should read Jane Austen," she says. "Picking up what can look like a dusty old classic in the library or the bookshop can be off-putting for some people, which is such a shame because they're missing out on what I think is one of life's great literary experiences. There is just so much in these stories and characters to bring young people in particular back to reading." READ MORE: Sydney-based Ms Fullerton recently returned from the Global Jane Austen conference in the UK, where she presented on Austen "tourism". In October she will welcome guest speakers from the US and Norway to the society's annual conference in Canberra, a special celebration of "250 glorious years" of Austen. Before then, she will deliver a livestreamed public lecture on the writer's legacy at the National Library of Australia on August 20. "It really is very hard to keep up with everything that's happening this year in the Jane Austen world," she said. Which begs the question: why does Austen enjoy such unending appeal? "She makes us laugh, which in this sad world we're living in at the moment is very important," Ms Fullerton said. "She writes the world's greatest love stories and people love romance and a happy ending. And the quality of her prose - you never feel with Jane Austen that the editor should've gone through it with a red pen and, in this day and age of emojis and text messages and rather mangled English, it's a joy to read her beautifully written sentences. "For me, the major reason I go back to her books again and again is her phenomenal understanding of what makes people tick, of human nature. And that hasn't changed in the more than 200 years since she published her books. I think everybody knows characters like the ones Jane Austen created. You know, hypochondriac or stingy characters or people who talk too much like Miss Bates [from Emma]. "She really nails human nature and, while her characters might obviously be in bonnets and gowns and breeches, nothing much has changed about people and the things they do and what makes them behave the way they do." Ms Whalan, a Newcastle-based member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for more than 30 years, has had her Austen plays published and performed in Australia and the US. "Jane Austen had a wonderful power of observation," she said. "She understood how people thought, behaved, needed, wanted. She was a realist and an optimist but was not a romantic. Her characters are based on normal people - people you could recognise as you go about your normal daily routine. "Times and society change but human nature does not. A woman who was worried about her future security and the security of her family is recognisable and creates sympathy even if the circumstances and solutions vary from time and place." Ms Whalan's favourite novel is Persuasion ("it has a bittersweet reality"), Emma is "absolute perfection when considering plot construction" and Sense and Sensibility shows Austen was grounded more "in the world of reality than romance". The opening line of Pride and Prejudice may be ingrained on the memories of the many millions who have read it over the centuries (''It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"), but she does not rank the "light and frothy" novel as one of Austen's best. "Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful beginning but it is only the start of the Austen adventure," she said. "Remember, she wrote five other full-length novels as well as novella and the absolutely wonderful wicked and witty juvenilia." And yet, of all of the many Austen screen adaptations, the 1995 BBC TV version of the book is perhaps "the best reflection of her writing". The popularity of that series helped double the membership of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, which is why, like her literary heroine, Ms Whalan is a realist about the role films and TV play in bringing new audiences to Austen. "A visual presentation can act as an introduction to the enjoyment and understanding of an Austen novel," she said. "Film and television adaptations can provide a modern audience with information the novel does not, and never meant to, provide. Such adaptations are an entry point into a world [of different] clothing, manners, morals, daily life and language. [They] have the freedom to roam about the countryside and show us the grandeur of large social gatherings. But sometimes, in bringing us such visual splendour, they stray away from Miss Austen's focus on human beings." Ms Fullerton, too, admits to struggling with screen translations of the novelist's work. "It's always nice to see a well-made adaptation - it's a real pleasure," she says. An admirer of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice ("a very fine adaptation. It stuck very closely to the book and it had excellent acting"), she regards Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility film of the same year as her favourite screen Austen. "I think Emma Thompson did that wonderfully and it's the one I really love, so hopefully they will get it right with future versions," she said. Some subsequent screen Austens she describes as "totally disastrous". "You think 'Why did people bother?' I don't mind small changes from the book. Obviously that's going to happen when you're transferring a book to the screen and sometimes happens for good reasons. But when you make endless changes you think 'Why bother making a Jane Austen when you are cutting the novel to shreds?' So that really does upset me." Ms Fullerton cherishes Emma as "the total masterpiece" ("It's the world's greatest novel. I don't think one word of it could be changed to improve it in any way whatsoever.") but recommends the "totally gorgeous" Pride and Prejudice for newcomers: "If somebody's never read Jane Austen, that's a very, very good place to start". She hopes Netflix isn't tempted to tweak it too much to reach the TikTok generation: "I think the novel already does that - it talks to young people who are looking for good partners in their lives, who have to think about their careers and their financial security. "A complete modernisation, something like Clueless which was clever indeed in its treatment of Emma, can make sense but otherwise stick to the book, follow the norms of the era [and] all the things that concern Austen are still concerns young people in particular have in their everyday lives today". Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775. She was the seventh of eight children and cherished her father Reverend George Austen's extensive library. When her father died in 1805, Jane, her mother and her only sister Cassandra were left financially dependent on their male relatives. She wrote most of her novels before she had turned 22, but the first was not published until she was 35. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816) were modest successes in her lifetime but published without her name on them. The author was identified only as "A Lady". Two other novels - Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - were published posthumously, following her death, aged 41, in Winchester on July 18, 1817. She also left behind the epistolary novella Lady Susan, two unfinished novels, Sanditon and The Watsons, her juvenile writing and hundreds of letters. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where she lived for the last eight years of her life is now a museum, Jane Austen's House. Miss Austen: Now showing on the ABC and ABC iView, this four-part BBC drama stars Keeley Hawes as Cassandra Austen, who was responsible for what some consider to be literature's greatest act of vandalism - destroying almost all of sister Jane's correspondence. Of an estimated 3000 letters, only about 160 survive - the rest burned to protect the writer's reputation and privacy. Gill Hornby's novel gets the full-blown Jane Austen period drama treatment, with Patsy Ferran as the young author and Synnove Karlsen as the younger Cassie. Hornby has said: "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". Jane Austen Wrecked My Life: Screening in selected cinemas, this Bridget Jones' Diary-esque French rom-com follows a desperately single bookshop keeper to a writers' retreat as she chases her Austen-influenced dream of becoming a romance novelist - and finding her own happily-ever-after. Pride and Prejudice (Audible series): This audio adaptation features the voices of Babygirl's Harris Dickinson as Darcy, Marisa Abela (who was singer Amy Winehouse in 2024 biopic Back to Black) as Elizabeth, Bill Nighy and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Mr and Mrs Bennet and Glenn Close as Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Dropping worldwide on September 9 and promising "cinematic sound design", the producers say their retelling will remain "faithful to the original text" while adding a "unique interior perspective" from Lizzie. Sense and Sensibility (feature film): Focus Features and Working Title Films, which collaborated on 2005's Pride & Prejudice and the 2020 Anya Taylor-Joy version of Emma, are back in the Austen business with Daisy Edgar-Jones (star of acclaimed TV romance Normal People and 2024 film Twisters) in the lead role of Elinor Dashwood. Outlander's Esme Creed-Miles plays her sister Marianne, Outlander's Caitrona Balfe is Mrs Dashwood and George MacKay (from the Sam Mendes war saga 1917) is Elinor's love interest, Edward Ferrars. You'll recall in the 1995 version that Emma Thompson played Elinor, Kate Winslet was Marianne and Hugh Grant was Edward. The new script is by Australian author Diana Reid. Pride and Prejudice (Netflix series): Emma Corrin, who played Diana in The Crown and Connie in Netflix's 2022 film of Lady Chatterley's Lover, is Elizabeth Bennet (and also an executive producer) for this six-part series. Billed as a "faithful, classic adaptation", it also stars Jack Lowden as Darcy and The Favourite's Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet. "Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it," screenwriter Dolly Alderton has said. "I am so excited to reintroduce these hilarious and complicated characters to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favourite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr Darcy." Pride and Prejudice (1995): Incredibly, it's 30 years since the BBC's impeccably faithful, six-hour adaptation starring Firth and Ehle thrust Austen back into popular culture. Screenwriter Andrew Davies added a scene with Darcy emerging from a pond in a wet shirt, which made Firth a screen heartthrob. Alison Steadman gives the standout performance as the insufferably grasping Mrs Bennet. Where to watch: Stream it now on Stan, BritBox or Apple TV. Also in the 1990s: Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility (1995) directed by Ang Lee; duelling 1996 versions of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale; Notting Hill director Roger Michell's 1995 Persuasion; Aussie actress Frances O'Connor in Mansfield Park (1999); and Clueless (1995), the spirited Beverly Hills teen twist on Emma starring Alicia Silverstone. Pride & Prejudice (2005): Grittier, sweatier and muddier than the 1995 series, director Joe Wright's film is returning to selected Australian cinemas for its 20th anniversary. It stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, with Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. Wright's blink-and-you'll-miss-it cutaway shot to Mr Darcy's "hand flex" after holding feisty Lizze's hand continues to provide ardent fans with TikTok's favourite visual shorthand for intense romantic yearning and frisson. Where to watch: In selected cinemas or stream on Netflix, Binge, Foxtel or Apple TV. Also in the 2000s: Renee Zellwegger torn between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in 2001's Pride and Prejudice-inspired Bridget Jones's Diary; Bollywood musical comedy Bride and Prejudice (2005), an exuberant song-and-dance romance starring former Miss World Aishwarya Rai; Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan in a Northanger Abbey (2007) scripted by Andrew Davies; the four-part Emma (2009) starring Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse, Michael Gambon as her father and Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) starring Lily James; Kate Beckinsale in Love and Friendship (2016), based on early Austen work Lady Susan; the series Sanditon, with screenwriter Davies completing Austen's unfinished manuscript (2020-23); the unnecessary but extravagantly styled 2020 version of Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy; and Dakota Johnson's not-very-persuasive Persuasion (2022). Vinyl revival: Decca Records has released the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie soundtrack on vinyl for the first time to mark the film's 20th anniversary. The Oscar-nominated score was composed by Dario Marianelli and performed by acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the English Chamber Orchestra. Lizzy, Darcy & Jane: This play by Joanna Norland draws on key events in Austen's life, including her romance with Tom Lefroy in 1796 and Harris Bigg-Wither's proposal in 1801, to playfully imagine what influenced the 20-year-old writer as she began a story in 1796 titled First Impressions, which would later become Pride and Prejudice. At Canberra REP Theatre from September 4-20. Pride and Prejudice by Bloomshed: This "raucous" stage production is billed as "searing social satire dressed as a period drama" with some modern angst woven in, including questions about the housing crisis, the institution of marriage, the meaning of love and the power of rom-coms and reality TV. Bloomshed's retelling ("With the cost of living rising, and Mr Bennet played by a potted monstera, how will the Bennet family hold onto their precarious position on the property ladder?") plays in Melbourne and Geelong in August and Canberra Theatre Centre in October. Jane Austen and her legacy: Susannah Fullerton delivers a public lecture exploring what makes Austen the world's favourite female novelist 250 years after her birth. This free event at the National Library of Australia in Canberra from 6pm-7pm on August 20 will be livestreamed. Bookings are essential. 250 Glorious Years: Jane Austen's Legacy: The annual 2025 conference of the Jane Austen Society of Australia in Canberra on the weekend of October 31-November 2 will feature presentations by Wild for Austen author Devoney Looser of Arizona State University, Norwegian Professor of English Literature Dr Marie Nedregotten Sorbo and Dr William Christie, Professor Emeritus at Australian National University, among other speakers. The Saturday evening dinner will include a demonstration of Regency dancing (Regency dress is welcome, but not required!). For details visit: Netflix is doing a new Pride and Prejudice. A fresh Sense and Sensibility film is on the way too. We ask the experts why we still so ardently admire and love Jane Austen 250 years after her birth. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a streaming service or movie studio or book publisher in want of a good fortune must be in possession of a hot new take on Jane Austen. And so it is, in this 250th year since the birth of the great novelist - the English language's most revered writer after William Shakespeare - that streaming giant Netflix will be adding to its endless carousel of episodes of Bridgerton, Wednesday, Stranger Things and Squid Game a shiny new "period-faithful" Pride and Prejudice miniseries billed as "both familiar and fresh". Also riding new generational waves of Austen adulation: movie makers Focus Features and Working Title Films, producers of the 2005 film version of Pride & Prejudice with its pulse-quickening, meme-worthy "hand flex" scene, who are shooting a new Sense and Sensibility feature film. Meanwhile, the BBC, which in 1995 gave us the definitive screen rendering of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth in a blush-makingly wet shirt as Mr Darcy, is pumping out multiple TV treatments, including the documentary Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius and costume dramas Miss Austen and The Other Bennet Sister. Next month audiobook and podcast giant Audible takes Pride and Prejudice for its own spin around the ballroom in six languages, promising "cinematic sound design" and Marisa Abela, Harris Dickinson, Bill Nighy and Glenn Close leading the English-speaking cast. And, of course, the Austen-related books just keep coming in 2025: from a graphic novel depicting her life, The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Professor Janine Barchas and illustrator Isabel Greenberg; to Jane Austen's Garden by Molly Williams, a botanical tour of Austen's era and novels; to the upcoming Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women, a collection of snarky witticisms compiled by Emily Reed; and Wild for Austen, American scholar Devoney Looser's subversive revision of Austen's image as a prim and proper spinster. More in a moment on the new screen Austens and their popular forerunners; the adaptations, extrapolations and reimaginings that help make way more visible - and more beloved - than any other novelist before or since a woman forced by the conventions of her day to publish her writing anonymously. First, some beneficent words of rapture and wise counsel from two distinguished patrons of all things Austen. Says Pamela Whalan, Austen scholar, lecturer and playwright: "I am a firm believer that nothing really replaces the reading of Austen's novels". The precious word "reading", of course, is given special emphasis in this declaration. Such Elizabeth Bennet-like prejudice from someone who has so proudly, painstakingly translated the language, characters, settings, emotions and insights of all six Austen novels into stage plays! "That might seem hypocritical considering I have adapted them for the stage," she explains. "But I see any adaptation as an introduction rather than a substitution for the delight of Austen's written word." Susannah Fullerton, literary historian, author of the memoir Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction and president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for "what seems like an age", concurs. "Everybody should read Jane Austen," she says. "Picking up what can look like a dusty old classic in the library or the bookshop can be off-putting for some people, which is such a shame because they're missing out on what I think is one of life's great literary experiences. There is just so much in these stories and characters to bring young people in particular back to reading." READ MORE: Sydney-based Ms Fullerton recently returned from the Global Jane Austen conference in the UK, where she presented on Austen "tourism". In October she will welcome guest speakers from the US and Norway to the society's annual conference in Canberra, a special celebration of "250 glorious years" of Austen. Before then, she will deliver a livestreamed public lecture on the writer's legacy at the National Library of Australia on August 20. "It really is very hard to keep up with everything that's happening this year in the Jane Austen world," she said. Which begs the question: why does Austen enjoy such unending appeal? "She makes us laugh, which in this sad world we're living in at the moment is very important," Ms Fullerton said. "She writes the world's greatest love stories and people love romance and a happy ending. And the quality of her prose - you never feel with Jane Austen that the editor should've gone through it with a red pen and, in this day and age of emojis and text messages and rather mangled English, it's a joy to read her beautifully written sentences. "For me, the major reason I go back to her books again and again is her phenomenal understanding of what makes people tick, of human nature. And that hasn't changed in the more than 200 years since she published her books. I think everybody knows characters like the ones Jane Austen created. You know, hypochondriac or stingy characters or people who talk too much like Miss Bates [from Emma]. "She really nails human nature and, while her characters might obviously be in bonnets and gowns and breeches, nothing much has changed about people and the things they do and what makes them behave the way they do." Ms Whalan, a Newcastle-based member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for more than 30 years, has had her Austen plays published and performed in Australia and the US. "Jane Austen had a wonderful power of observation," she said. "She understood how people thought, behaved, needed, wanted. She was a realist and an optimist but was not a romantic. Her characters are based on normal people - people you could recognise as you go about your normal daily routine. "Times and society change but human nature does not. A woman who was worried about her future security and the security of her family is recognisable and creates sympathy even if the circumstances and solutions vary from time and place." Ms Whalan's favourite novel is Persuasion ("it has a bittersweet reality"), Emma is "absolute perfection when considering plot construction" and Sense and Sensibility shows Austen was grounded more "in the world of reality than romance". The opening line of Pride and Prejudice may be ingrained on the memories of the many millions who have read it over the centuries (''It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"), but she does not rank the "light and frothy" novel as one of Austen's best. "Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful beginning but it is only the start of the Austen adventure," she said. "Remember, she wrote five other full-length novels as well as novella and the absolutely wonderful wicked and witty juvenilia." And yet, of all of the many Austen screen adaptations, the 1995 BBC TV version of the book is perhaps "the best reflection of her writing". The popularity of that series helped double the membership of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, which is why, like her literary heroine, Ms Whalan is a realist about the role films and TV play in bringing new audiences to Austen. "A visual presentation can act as an introduction to the enjoyment and understanding of an Austen novel," she said. "Film and television adaptations can provide a modern audience with information the novel does not, and never meant to, provide. Such adaptations are an entry point into a world [of different] clothing, manners, morals, daily life and language. [They] have the freedom to roam about the countryside and show us the grandeur of large social gatherings. But sometimes, in bringing us such visual splendour, they stray away from Miss Austen's focus on human beings." Ms Fullerton, too, admits to struggling with screen translations of the novelist's work. "It's always nice to see a well-made adaptation - it's a real pleasure," she says. An admirer of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice ("a very fine adaptation. It stuck very closely to the book and it had excellent acting"), she regards Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility film of the same year as her favourite screen Austen. "I think Emma Thompson did that wonderfully and it's the one I really love, so hopefully they will get it right with future versions," she said. Some subsequent screen Austens she describes as "totally disastrous". "You think 'Why did people bother?' I don't mind small changes from the book. Obviously that's going to happen when you're transferring a book to the screen and sometimes happens for good reasons. But when you make endless changes you think 'Why bother making a Jane Austen when you are cutting the novel to shreds?' So that really does upset me." Ms Fullerton cherishes Emma as "the total masterpiece" ("It's the world's greatest novel. I don't think one word of it could be changed to improve it in any way whatsoever.") but recommends the "totally gorgeous" Pride and Prejudice for newcomers: "If somebody's never read Jane Austen, that's a very, very good place to start". She hopes Netflix isn't tempted to tweak it too much to reach the TikTok generation: "I think the novel already does that - it talks to young people who are looking for good partners in their lives, who have to think about their careers and their financial security. "A complete modernisation, something like Clueless which was clever indeed in its treatment of Emma, can make sense but otherwise stick to the book, follow the norms of the era [and] all the things that concern Austen are still concerns young people in particular have in their everyday lives today". Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775. She was the seventh of eight children and cherished her father Reverend George Austen's extensive library. When her father died in 1805, Jane, her mother and her only sister Cassandra were left financially dependent on their male relatives. She wrote most of her novels before she had turned 22, but the first was not published until she was 35. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816) were modest successes in her lifetime but published without her name on them. The author was identified only as "A Lady". Two other novels - Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - were published posthumously, following her death, aged 41, in Winchester on July 18, 1817. She also left behind the epistolary novella Lady Susan, two unfinished novels, Sanditon and The Watsons, her juvenile writing and hundreds of letters. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where she lived for the last eight years of her life is now a museum, Jane Austen's House. Miss Austen: Now showing on the ABC and ABC iView, this four-part BBC drama stars Keeley Hawes as Cassandra Austen, who was responsible for what some consider to be literature's greatest act of vandalism - destroying almost all of sister Jane's correspondence. Of an estimated 3000 letters, only about 160 survive - the rest burned to protect the writer's reputation and privacy. Gill Hornby's novel gets the full-blown Jane Austen period drama treatment, with Patsy Ferran as the young author and Synnove Karlsen as the younger Cassie. Hornby has said: "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". Jane Austen Wrecked My Life: Screening in selected cinemas, this Bridget Jones' Diary-esque French rom-com follows a desperately single bookshop keeper to a writers' retreat as she chases her Austen-influenced dream of becoming a romance novelist - and finding her own happily-ever-after. Pride and Prejudice (Audible series): This audio adaptation features the voices of Babygirl's Harris Dickinson as Darcy, Marisa Abela (who was singer Amy Winehouse in 2024 biopic Back to Black) as Elizabeth, Bill Nighy and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Mr and Mrs Bennet and Glenn Close as Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Dropping worldwide on September 9 and promising "cinematic sound design", the producers say their retelling will remain "faithful to the original text" while adding a "unique interior perspective" from Lizzie. Sense and Sensibility (feature film): Focus Features and Working Title Films, which collaborated on 2005's Pride & Prejudice and the 2020 Anya Taylor-Joy version of Emma, are back in the Austen business with Daisy Edgar-Jones (star of acclaimed TV romance Normal People and 2024 film Twisters) in the lead role of Elinor Dashwood. Outlander's Esme Creed-Miles plays her sister Marianne, Outlander's Caitrona Balfe is Mrs Dashwood and George MacKay (from the Sam Mendes war saga 1917) is Elinor's love interest, Edward Ferrars. You'll recall in the 1995 version that Emma Thompson played Elinor, Kate Winslet was Marianne and Hugh Grant was Edward. The new script is by Australian author Diana Reid. Pride and Prejudice (Netflix series): Emma Corrin, who played Diana in The Crown and Connie in Netflix's 2022 film of Lady Chatterley's Lover, is Elizabeth Bennet (and also an executive producer) for this six-part series. Billed as a "faithful, classic adaptation", it also stars Jack Lowden as Darcy and The Favourite's Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet. "Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it," screenwriter Dolly Alderton has said. "I am so excited to reintroduce these hilarious and complicated characters to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favourite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr Darcy." Pride and Prejudice (1995): Incredibly, it's 30 years since the BBC's impeccably faithful, six-hour adaptation starring Firth and Ehle thrust Austen back into popular culture. Screenwriter Andrew Davies added a scene with Darcy emerging from a pond in a wet shirt, which made Firth a screen heartthrob. Alison Steadman gives the standout performance as the insufferably grasping Mrs Bennet. Where to watch: Stream it now on Stan, BritBox or Apple TV. Also in the 1990s: Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility (1995) directed by Ang Lee; duelling 1996 versions of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale; Notting Hill director Roger Michell's 1995 Persuasion; Aussie actress Frances O'Connor in Mansfield Park (1999); and Clueless (1995), the spirited Beverly Hills teen twist on Emma starring Alicia Silverstone. Pride & Prejudice (2005): Grittier, sweatier and muddier than the 1995 series, director Joe Wright's film is returning to selected Australian cinemas for its 20th anniversary. It stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, with Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. Wright's blink-and-you'll-miss-it cutaway shot to Mr Darcy's "hand flex" after holding feisty Lizze's hand continues to provide ardent fans with TikTok's favourite visual shorthand for intense romantic yearning and frisson. Where to watch: In selected cinemas or stream on Netflix, Binge, Foxtel or Apple TV. Also in the 2000s: Renee Zellwegger torn between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in 2001's Pride and Prejudice-inspired Bridget Jones's Diary; Bollywood musical comedy Bride and Prejudice (2005), an exuberant song-and-dance romance starring former Miss World Aishwarya Rai; Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan in a Northanger Abbey (2007) scripted by Andrew Davies; the four-part Emma (2009) starring Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse, Michael Gambon as her father and Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) starring Lily James; Kate Beckinsale in Love and Friendship (2016), based on early Austen work Lady Susan; the series Sanditon, with screenwriter Davies completing Austen's unfinished manuscript (2020-23); the unnecessary but extravagantly styled 2020 version of Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy; and Dakota Johnson's not-very-persuasive Persuasion (2022). Vinyl revival: Decca Records has released the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie soundtrack on vinyl for the first time to mark the film's 20th anniversary. The Oscar-nominated score was composed by Dario Marianelli and performed by acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the English Chamber Orchestra. Lizzy, Darcy & Jane: This play by Joanna Norland draws on key events in Austen's life, including her romance with Tom Lefroy in 1796 and Harris Bigg-Wither's proposal in 1801, to playfully imagine what influenced the 20-year-old writer as she began a story in 1796 titled First Impressions, which would later become Pride and Prejudice. At Canberra REP Theatre from September 4-20. Pride and Prejudice by Bloomshed: This "raucous" stage production is billed as "searing social satire dressed as a period drama" with some modern angst woven in, including questions about the housing crisis, the institution of marriage, the meaning of love and the power of rom-coms and reality TV. Bloomshed's retelling ("With the cost of living rising, and Mr Bennet played by a potted monstera, how will the Bennet family hold onto their precarious position on the property ladder?") plays in Melbourne and Geelong in August and Canberra Theatre Centre in October. Jane Austen and her legacy: Susannah Fullerton delivers a public lecture exploring what makes Austen the world's favourite female novelist 250 years after her birth. This free event at the National Library of Australia in Canberra from 6pm-7pm on August 20 will be livestreamed. Bookings are essential. 250 Glorious Years: Jane Austen's Legacy: The annual 2025 conference of the Jane Austen Society of Australia in Canberra on the weekend of October 31-November 2 will feature presentations by Wild for Austen author Devoney Looser of Arizona State University, Norwegian Professor of English Literature Dr Marie Nedregotten Sorbo and Dr William Christie, Professor Emeritus at Australian National University, among other speakers. The Saturday evening dinner will include a demonstration of Regency dancing (Regency dress is welcome, but not required!). For details visit: Netflix is doing a new Pride and Prejudice. A fresh Sense and Sensibility film is on the way too. We ask the experts why we still so ardently admire and love Jane Austen 250 years after her birth. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a streaming service or movie studio or book publisher in want of a good fortune must be in possession of a hot new take on Jane Austen. And so it is, in this 250th year since the birth of the great novelist - the English language's most revered writer after William Shakespeare - that streaming giant Netflix will be adding to its endless carousel of episodes of Bridgerton, Wednesday, Stranger Things and Squid Game a shiny new "period-faithful" Pride and Prejudice miniseries billed as "both familiar and fresh". Also riding new generational waves of Austen adulation: movie makers Focus Features and Working Title Films, producers of the 2005 film version of Pride & Prejudice with its pulse-quickening, meme-worthy "hand flex" scene, who are shooting a new Sense and Sensibility feature film. Meanwhile, the BBC, which in 1995 gave us the definitive screen rendering of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth in a blush-makingly wet shirt as Mr Darcy, is pumping out multiple TV treatments, including the documentary Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius and costume dramas Miss Austen and The Other Bennet Sister. Next month audiobook and podcast giant Audible takes Pride and Prejudice for its own spin around the ballroom in six languages, promising "cinematic sound design" and Marisa Abela, Harris Dickinson, Bill Nighy and Glenn Close leading the English-speaking cast. And, of course, the Austen-related books just keep coming in 2025: from a graphic novel depicting her life, The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Professor Janine Barchas and illustrator Isabel Greenberg; to Jane Austen's Garden by Molly Williams, a botanical tour of Austen's era and novels; to the upcoming Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women, a collection of snarky witticisms compiled by Emily Reed; and Wild for Austen, American scholar Devoney Looser's subversive revision of Austen's image as a prim and proper spinster. More in a moment on the new screen Austens and their popular forerunners; the adaptations, extrapolations and reimaginings that help make way more visible - and more beloved - than any other novelist before or since a woman forced by the conventions of her day to publish her writing anonymously. First, some beneficent words of rapture and wise counsel from two distinguished patrons of all things Austen. Says Pamela Whalan, Austen scholar, lecturer and playwright: "I am a firm believer that nothing really replaces the reading of Austen's novels". The precious word "reading", of course, is given special emphasis in this declaration. Such Elizabeth Bennet-like prejudice from someone who has so proudly, painstakingly translated the language, characters, settings, emotions and insights of all six Austen novels into stage plays! "That might seem hypocritical considering I have adapted them for the stage," she explains. "But I see any adaptation as an introduction rather than a substitution for the delight of Austen's written word." Susannah Fullerton, literary historian, author of the memoir Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction and president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for "what seems like an age", concurs. "Everybody should read Jane Austen," she says. "Picking up what can look like a dusty old classic in the library or the bookshop can be off-putting for some people, which is such a shame because they're missing out on what I think is one of life's great literary experiences. There is just so much in these stories and characters to bring young people in particular back to reading." READ MORE: Sydney-based Ms Fullerton recently returned from the Global Jane Austen conference in the UK, where she presented on Austen "tourism". In October she will welcome guest speakers from the US and Norway to the society's annual conference in Canberra, a special celebration of "250 glorious years" of Austen. Before then, she will deliver a livestreamed public lecture on the writer's legacy at the National Library of Australia on August 20. "It really is very hard to keep up with everything that's happening this year in the Jane Austen world," she said. Which begs the question: why does Austen enjoy such unending appeal? "She makes us laugh, which in this sad world we're living in at the moment is very important," Ms Fullerton said. "She writes the world's greatest love stories and people love romance and a happy ending. And the quality of her prose - you never feel with Jane Austen that the editor should've gone through it with a red pen and, in this day and age of emojis and text messages and rather mangled English, it's a joy to read her beautifully written sentences. "For me, the major reason I go back to her books again and again is her phenomenal understanding of what makes people tick, of human nature. And that hasn't changed in the more than 200 years since she published her books. I think everybody knows characters like the ones Jane Austen created. You know, hypochondriac or stingy characters or people who talk too much like Miss Bates [from Emma]. "She really nails human nature and, while her characters might obviously be in bonnets and gowns and breeches, nothing much has changed about people and the things they do and what makes them behave the way they do." Ms Whalan, a Newcastle-based member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for more than 30 years, has had her Austen plays published and performed in Australia and the US. "Jane Austen had a wonderful power of observation," she said. "She understood how people thought, behaved, needed, wanted. She was a realist and an optimist but was not a romantic. Her characters are based on normal people - people you could recognise as you go about your normal daily routine. "Times and society change but human nature does not. A woman who was worried about her future security and the security of her family is recognisable and creates sympathy even if the circumstances and solutions vary from time and place." Ms Whalan's favourite novel is Persuasion ("it has a bittersweet reality"), Emma is "absolute perfection when considering plot construction" and Sense and Sensibility shows Austen was grounded more "in the world of reality than romance". The opening line of Pride and Prejudice may be ingrained on the memories of the many millions who have read it over the centuries (''It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"), but she does not rank the "light and frothy" novel as one of Austen's best. "Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful beginning but it is only the start of the Austen adventure," she said. "Remember, she wrote five other full-length novels as well as novella and the absolutely wonderful wicked and witty juvenilia." And yet, of all of the many Austen screen adaptations, the 1995 BBC TV version of the book is perhaps "the best reflection of her writing". The popularity of that series helped double the membership of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, which is why, like her literary heroine, Ms Whalan is a realist about the role films and TV play in bringing new audiences to Austen. "A visual presentation can act as an introduction to the enjoyment and understanding of an Austen novel," she said. "Film and television adaptations can provide a modern audience with information the novel does not, and never meant to, provide. Such adaptations are an entry point into a world [of different] clothing, manners, morals, daily life and language. [They] have the freedom to roam about the countryside and show us the grandeur of large social gatherings. But sometimes, in bringing us such visual splendour, they stray away from Miss Austen's focus on human beings." Ms Fullerton, too, admits to struggling with screen translations of the novelist's work. "It's always nice to see a well-made adaptation - it's a real pleasure," she says. An admirer of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice ("a very fine adaptation. It stuck very closely to the book and it had excellent acting"), she regards Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility film of the same year as her favourite screen Austen. "I think Emma Thompson did that wonderfully and it's the one I really love, so hopefully they will get it right with future versions," she said. Some subsequent screen Austens she describes as "totally disastrous". "You think 'Why did people bother?' I don't mind small changes from the book. Obviously that's going to happen when you're transferring a book to the screen and sometimes happens for good reasons. But when you make endless changes you think 'Why bother making a Jane Austen when you are cutting the novel to shreds?' So that really does upset me." Ms Fullerton cherishes Emma as "the total masterpiece" ("It's the world's greatest novel. I don't think one word of it could be changed to improve it in any way whatsoever.") but recommends the "totally gorgeous" Pride and Prejudice for newcomers: "If somebody's never read Jane Austen, that's a very, very good place to start". She hopes Netflix isn't tempted to tweak it too much to reach the TikTok generation: "I think the novel already does that - it talks to young people who are looking for good partners in their lives, who have to think about their careers and their financial security. "A complete modernisation, something like Clueless which was clever indeed in its treatment of Emma, can make sense but otherwise stick to the book, follow the norms of the era [and] all the things that concern Austen are still concerns young people in particular have in their everyday lives today". Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775. She was the seventh of eight children and cherished her father Reverend George Austen's extensive library. When her father died in 1805, Jane, her mother and her only sister Cassandra were left financially dependent on their male relatives. She wrote most of her novels before she had turned 22, but the first was not published until she was 35. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816) were modest successes in her lifetime but published without her name on them. The author was identified only as "A Lady". Two other novels - Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - were published posthumously, following her death, aged 41, in Winchester on July 18, 1817. She also left behind the epistolary novella Lady Susan, two unfinished novels, Sanditon and The Watsons, her juvenile writing and hundreds of letters. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where she lived for the last eight years of her life is now a museum, Jane Austen's House. Miss Austen: Now showing on the ABC and ABC iView, this four-part BBC drama stars Keeley Hawes as Cassandra Austen, who was responsible for what some consider to be literature's greatest act of vandalism - destroying almost all of sister Jane's correspondence. Of an estimated 3000 letters, only about 160 survive - the rest burned to protect the writer's reputation and privacy. Gill Hornby's novel gets the full-blown Jane Austen period drama treatment, with Patsy Ferran as the young author and Synnove Karlsen as the younger Cassie. Hornby has said: "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". Jane Austen Wrecked My Life: Screening in selected cinemas, this Bridget Jones' Diary-esque French rom-com follows a desperately single bookshop keeper to a writers' retreat as she chases her Austen-influenced dream of becoming a romance novelist - and finding her own happily-ever-after. Pride and Prejudice (Audible series): This audio adaptation features the voices of Babygirl's Harris Dickinson as Darcy, Marisa Abela (who was singer Amy Winehouse in 2024 biopic Back to Black) as Elizabeth, Bill Nighy and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Mr and Mrs Bennet and Glenn Close as Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Dropping worldwide on September 9 and promising "cinematic sound design", the producers say their retelling will remain "faithful to the original text" while adding a "unique interior perspective" from Lizzie. Sense and Sensibility (feature film): Focus Features and Working Title Films, which collaborated on 2005's Pride & Prejudice and the 2020 Anya Taylor-Joy version of Emma, are back in the Austen business with Daisy Edgar-Jones (star of acclaimed TV romance Normal People and 2024 film Twisters) in the lead role of Elinor Dashwood. Outlander's Esme Creed-Miles plays her sister Marianne, Outlander's Caitrona Balfe is Mrs Dashwood and George MacKay (from the Sam Mendes war saga 1917) is Elinor's love interest, Edward Ferrars. You'll recall in the 1995 version that Emma Thompson played Elinor, Kate Winslet was Marianne and Hugh Grant was Edward. The new script is by Australian author Diana Reid. Pride and Prejudice (Netflix series): Emma Corrin, who played Diana in The Crown and Connie in Netflix's 2022 film of Lady Chatterley's Lover, is Elizabeth Bennet (and also an executive producer) for this six-part series. Billed as a "faithful, classic adaptation", it also stars Jack Lowden as Darcy and The Favourite's Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet. "Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it," screenwriter Dolly Alderton has said. "I am so excited to reintroduce these hilarious and complicated characters to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favourite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr Darcy." Pride and Prejudice (1995): Incredibly, it's 30 years since the BBC's impeccably faithful, six-hour adaptation starring Firth and Ehle thrust Austen back into popular culture. Screenwriter Andrew Davies added a scene with Darcy emerging from a pond in a wet shirt, which made Firth a screen heartthrob. Alison Steadman gives the standout performance as the insufferably grasping Mrs Bennet. Where to watch: Stream it now on Stan, BritBox or Apple TV. Also in the 1990s: Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility (1995) directed by Ang Lee; duelling 1996 versions of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale; Notting Hill director Roger Michell's 1995 Persuasion; Aussie actress Frances O'Connor in Mansfield Park (1999); and Clueless (1995), the spirited Beverly Hills teen twist on Emma starring Alicia Silverstone. Pride & Prejudice (2005): Grittier, sweatier and muddier than the 1995 series, director Joe Wright's film is returning to selected Australian cinemas for its 20th anniversary. It stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, with Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. Wright's blink-and-you'll-miss-it cutaway shot to Mr Darcy's "hand flex" after holding feisty Lizze's hand continues to provide ardent fans with TikTok's favourite visual shorthand for intense romantic yearning and frisson. Where to watch: In selected cinemas or stream on Netflix, Binge, Foxtel or Apple TV. Also in the 2000s: Renee Zellwegger torn between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in 2001's Pride and Prejudice-inspired Bridget Jones's Diary; Bollywood musical comedy Bride and Prejudice (2005), an exuberant song-and-dance romance starring former Miss World Aishwarya Rai; Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan in a Northanger Abbey (2007) scripted by Andrew Davies; the four-part Emma (2009) starring Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse, Michael Gambon as her father and Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) starring Lily James; Kate Beckinsale in Love and Friendship (2016), based on early Austen work Lady Susan; the series Sanditon, with screenwriter Davies completing Austen's unfinished manuscript (2020-23); the unnecessary but extravagantly styled 2020 version of Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy; and Dakota Johnson's not-very-persuasive Persuasion (2022). Vinyl revival: Decca Records has released the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie soundtrack on vinyl for the first time to mark the film's 20th anniversary. The Oscar-nominated score was composed by Dario Marianelli and performed by acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the English Chamber Orchestra. Lizzy, Darcy & Jane: This play by Joanna Norland draws on key events in Austen's life, including her romance with Tom Lefroy in 1796 and Harris Bigg-Wither's proposal in 1801, to playfully imagine what influenced the 20-year-old writer as she began a story in 1796 titled First Impressions, which would later become Pride and Prejudice. At Canberra REP Theatre from September 4-20. Pride and Prejudice by Bloomshed: This "raucous" stage production is billed as "searing social satire dressed as a period drama" with some modern angst woven in, including questions about the housing crisis, the institution of marriage, the meaning of love and the power of rom-coms and reality TV. Bloomshed's retelling ("With the cost of living rising, and Mr Bennet played by a potted monstera, how will the Bennet family hold onto their precarious position on the property ladder?") plays in Melbourne and Geelong in August and Canberra Theatre Centre in October. Jane Austen and her legacy: Susannah Fullerton delivers a public lecture exploring what makes Austen the world's favourite female novelist 250 years after her birth. This free event at the National Library of Australia in Canberra from 6pm-7pm on August 20 will be livestreamed. Bookings are essential. 250 Glorious Years: Jane Austen's Legacy: The annual 2025 conference of the Jane Austen Society of Australia in Canberra on the weekend of October 31-November 2 will feature presentations by Wild for Austen author Devoney Looser of Arizona State University, Norwegian Professor of English Literature Dr Marie Nedregotten Sorbo and Dr William Christie, Professor Emeritus at Australian National University, among other speakers. The Saturday evening dinner will include a demonstration of Regency dancing (Regency dress is welcome, but not required!). For details visit: Netflix is doing a new Pride and Prejudice. A fresh Sense and Sensibility film is on the way too. We ask the experts why we still so ardently admire and love Jane Austen 250 years after her birth. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a streaming service or movie studio or book publisher in want of a good fortune must be in possession of a hot new take on Jane Austen. And so it is, in this 250th year since the birth of the great novelist - the English language's most revered writer after William Shakespeare - that streaming giant Netflix will be adding to its endless carousel of episodes of Bridgerton, Wednesday, Stranger Things and Squid Game a shiny new "period-faithful" Pride and Prejudice miniseries billed as "both familiar and fresh". Also riding new generational waves of Austen adulation: movie makers Focus Features and Working Title Films, producers of the 2005 film version of Pride & Prejudice with its pulse-quickening, meme-worthy "hand flex" scene, who are shooting a new Sense and Sensibility feature film. Meanwhile, the BBC, which in 1995 gave us the definitive screen rendering of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth in a blush-makingly wet shirt as Mr Darcy, is pumping out multiple TV treatments, including the documentary Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius and costume dramas Miss Austen and The Other Bennet Sister. Next month audiobook and podcast giant Audible takes Pride and Prejudice for its own spin around the ballroom in six languages, promising "cinematic sound design" and Marisa Abela, Harris Dickinson, Bill Nighy and Glenn Close leading the English-speaking cast. And, of course, the Austen-related books just keep coming in 2025: from a graphic novel depicting her life, The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Professor Janine Barchas and illustrator Isabel Greenberg; to Jane Austen's Garden by Molly Williams, a botanical tour of Austen's era and novels; to the upcoming Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women, a collection of snarky witticisms compiled by Emily Reed; and Wild for Austen, American scholar Devoney Looser's subversive revision of Austen's image as a prim and proper spinster. More in a moment on the new screen Austens and their popular forerunners; the adaptations, extrapolations and reimaginings that help make way more visible - and more beloved - than any other novelist before or since a woman forced by the conventions of her day to publish her writing anonymously. First, some beneficent words of rapture and wise counsel from two distinguished patrons of all things Austen. Says Pamela Whalan, Austen scholar, lecturer and playwright: "I am a firm believer that nothing really replaces the reading of Austen's novels". The precious word "reading", of course, is given special emphasis in this declaration. Such Elizabeth Bennet-like prejudice from someone who has so proudly, painstakingly translated the language, characters, settings, emotions and insights of all six Austen novels into stage plays! "That might seem hypocritical considering I have adapted them for the stage," she explains. "But I see any adaptation as an introduction rather than a substitution for the delight of Austen's written word." Susannah Fullerton, literary historian, author of the memoir Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction and president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for "what seems like an age", concurs. "Everybody should read Jane Austen," she says. "Picking up what can look like a dusty old classic in the library or the bookshop can be off-putting for some people, which is such a shame because they're missing out on what I think is one of life's great literary experiences. There is just so much in these stories and characters to bring young people in particular back to reading." READ MORE: Sydney-based Ms Fullerton recently returned from the Global Jane Austen conference in the UK, where she presented on Austen "tourism". In October she will welcome guest speakers from the US and Norway to the society's annual conference in Canberra, a special celebration of "250 glorious years" of Austen. Before then, she will deliver a livestreamed public lecture on the writer's legacy at the National Library of Australia on August 20. "It really is very hard to keep up with everything that's happening this year in the Jane Austen world," she said. Which begs the question: why does Austen enjoy such unending appeal? "She makes us laugh, which in this sad world we're living in at the moment is very important," Ms Fullerton said. "She writes the world's greatest love stories and people love romance and a happy ending. And the quality of her prose - you never feel with Jane Austen that the editor should've gone through it with a red pen and, in this day and age of emojis and text messages and rather mangled English, it's a joy to read her beautifully written sentences. "For me, the major reason I go back to her books again and again is her phenomenal understanding of what makes people tick, of human nature. And that hasn't changed in the more than 200 years since she published her books. I think everybody knows characters like the ones Jane Austen created. You know, hypochondriac or stingy characters or people who talk too much like Miss Bates [from Emma]. "She really nails human nature and, while her characters might obviously be in bonnets and gowns and breeches, nothing much has changed about people and the things they do and what makes them behave the way they do." Ms Whalan, a Newcastle-based member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for more than 30 years, has had her Austen plays published and performed in Australia and the US. "Jane Austen had a wonderful power of observation," she said. "She understood how people thought, behaved, needed, wanted. She was a realist and an optimist but was not a romantic. Her characters are based on normal people - people you could recognise as you go about your normal daily routine. "Times and society change but human nature does not. A woman who was worried about her future security and the security of her family is recognisable and creates sympathy even if the circumstances and solutions vary from time and place." Ms Whalan's favourite novel is Persuasion ("it has a bittersweet reality"), Emma is "absolute perfection when considering plot construction" and Sense and Sensibility shows Austen was grounded more "in the world of reality than romance". The opening line of Pride and Prejudice may be ingrained on the memories of the many millions who have read it over the centuries (''It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"), but she does not rank the "light and frothy" novel as one of Austen's best. "Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful beginning but it is only the start of the Austen adventure," she said. "Remember, she wrote five other full-length novels as well as novella and the absolutely wonderful wicked and witty juvenilia." And yet, of all of the many Austen screen adaptations, the 1995 BBC TV version of the book is perhaps "the best reflection of her writing". The popularity of that series helped double the membership of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, which is why, like her literary heroine, Ms Whalan is a realist about the role films and TV play in bringing new audiences to Austen. "A visual presentation can act as an introduction to the enjoyment and understanding of an Austen novel," she said. "Film and television adaptations can provide a modern audience with information the novel does not, and never meant to, provide. Such adaptations are an entry point into a world [of different] clothing, manners, morals, daily life and language. [They] have the freedom to roam about the countryside and show us the grandeur of large social gatherings. But sometimes, in bringing us such visual splendour, they stray away from Miss Austen's focus on human beings." Ms Fullerton, too, admits to struggling with screen translations of the novelist's work. "It's always nice to see a well-made adaptation - it's a real pleasure," she says. An admirer of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice ("a very fine adaptation. It stuck very closely to the book and it had excellent acting"), she regards Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility film of the same year as her favourite screen Austen. "I think Emma Thompson did that wonderfully and it's the one I really love, so hopefully they will get it right with future versions," she said. Some subsequent screen Austens she describes as "totally disastrous". "You think 'Why did people bother?' I don't mind small changes from the book. Obviously that's going to happen when you're transferring a book to the screen and sometimes happens for good reasons. But when you make endless changes you think 'Why bother making a Jane Austen when you are cutting the novel to shreds?' So that really does upset me." Ms Fullerton cherishes Emma as "the total masterpiece" ("It's the world's greatest novel. I don't think one word of it could be changed to improve it in any way whatsoever.") but recommends the "totally gorgeous" Pride and Prejudice for newcomers: "If somebody's never read Jane Austen, that's a very, very good place to start". She hopes Netflix isn't tempted to tweak it too much to reach the TikTok generation: "I think the novel already does that - it talks to young people who are looking for good partners in their lives, who have to think about their careers and their financial security. "A complete modernisation, something like Clueless which was clever indeed in its treatment of Emma, can make sense but otherwise stick to the book, follow the norms of the era [and] all the things that concern Austen are still concerns young people in particular have in their everyday lives today". Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775. She was the seventh of eight children and cherished her father Reverend George Austen's extensive library. When her father died in 1805, Jane, her mother and her only sister Cassandra were left financially dependent on their male relatives. She wrote most of her novels before she had turned 22, but the first was not published until she was 35. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816) were modest successes in her lifetime but published without her name on them. The author was identified only as "A Lady". Two other novels - Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - were published posthumously, following her death, aged 41, in Winchester on July 18, 1817. She also left behind the epistolary novella Lady Susan, two unfinished novels, Sanditon and The Watsons, her juvenile writing and hundreds of letters. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where she lived for the last eight years of her life is now a museum, Jane Austen's House. Miss Austen: Now showing on the ABC and ABC iView, this four-part BBC drama stars Keeley Hawes as Cassandra Austen, who was responsible for what some consider to be literature's greatest act of vandalism - destroying almost all of sister Jane's correspondence. Of an estimated 3000 letters, only about 160 survive - the rest burned to protect the writer's reputation and privacy. Gill Hornby's novel gets the full-blown Jane Austen period drama treatment, with Patsy Ferran as the young author and Synnove Karlsen as the younger Cassie. Hornby has said: "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". Jane Austen Wrecked My Life: Screening in selected cinemas, this Bridget Jones' Diary-esque French rom-com follows a desperately single bookshop keeper to a writers' retreat as she chases her Austen-influenced dream of becoming a romance novelist - and finding her own happily-ever-after. Pride and Prejudice (Audible series): This audio adaptation features the voices of Babygirl's Harris Dickinson as Darcy, Marisa Abela (who was singer Amy Winehouse in 2024 biopic Back to Black) as Elizabeth, Bill Nighy and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Mr and Mrs Bennet and Glenn Close as Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Dropping worldwide on September 9 and promising "cinematic sound design", the producers say their retelling will remain "faithful to the original text" while adding a "unique interior perspective" from Lizzie. Sense and Sensibility (feature film): Focus Features and Working Title Films, which collaborated on 2005's Pride & Prejudice and the 2020 Anya Taylor-Joy version of Emma, are back in the Austen business with Daisy Edgar-Jones (star of acclaimed TV romance Normal People and 2024 film Twisters) in the lead role of Elinor Dashwood. Outlander's Esme Creed-Miles plays her sister Marianne, Outlander's Caitrona Balfe is Mrs Dashwood and George MacKay (from the Sam Mendes war saga 1917) is Elinor's love interest, Edward Ferrars. You'll recall in the 1995 version that Emma Thompson played Elinor, Kate Winslet was Marianne and Hugh Grant was Edward. The new script is by Australian author Diana Reid. Pride and Prejudice (Netflix series): Emma Corrin, who played Diana in The Crown and Connie in Netflix's 2022 film of Lady Chatterley's Lover, is Elizabeth Bennet (and also an executive producer) for this six-part series. Billed as a "faithful, classic adaptation", it also stars Jack Lowden as Darcy and The Favourite's Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet. "Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it," screenwriter Dolly Alderton has said. "I am so excited to reintroduce these hilarious and complicated characters to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favourite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr Darcy." Pride and Prejudice (1995): Incredibly, it's 30 years since the BBC's impeccably faithful, six-hour adaptation starring Firth and Ehle thrust Austen back into popular culture. Screenwriter Andrew Davies added a scene with Darcy emerging from a pond in a wet shirt, which made Firth a screen heartthrob. Alison Steadman gives the standout performance as the insufferably grasping Mrs Bennet. Where to watch: Stream it now on Stan, BritBox or Apple TV. Also in the 1990s: Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility (1995) directed by Ang Lee; duelling 1996 versions of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale; Notting Hill director Roger Michell's 1995 Persuasion; Aussie actress Frances O'Connor in Mansfield Park (1999); and Clueless (1995), the spirited Beverly Hills teen twist on Emma starring Alicia Silverstone. Pride & Prejudice (2005): Grittier, sweatier and muddier than the 1995 series, director Joe Wright's film is returning to selected Australian cinemas for its 20th anniversary. It stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, with Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. Wright's blink-and-you'll-miss-it cutaway shot to Mr Darcy's "hand flex" after holding feisty Lizze's hand continues to provide ardent fans with TikTok's favourite visual shorthand for intense romantic yearning and frisson. Where to watch: In selected cinemas or stream on Netflix, Binge, Foxtel or Apple TV. Also in the 2000s: Renee Zellwegger torn between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in 2001's Pride and Prejudice-inspired Bridget Jones's Diary; Bollywood musical comedy Bride and Prejudice (2005), an exuberant song-and-dance romance starring former Miss World Aishwarya Rai; Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan in a Northanger Abbey (2007) scripted by Andrew Davies; the four-part Emma (2009) starring Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse, Michael Gambon as her father and Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) starring Lily James; Kate Beckinsale in Love and Friendship (2016), based on early Austen work Lady Susan; the series Sanditon, with screenwriter Davies completing Austen's unfinished manuscript (2020-23); the unnecessary but extravagantly styled 2020 version of Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy; and Dakota Johnson's not-very-persuasive Persuasion (2022). Vinyl revival: Decca Records has released the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie soundtrack on vinyl for the first time to mark the film's 20th anniversary. The Oscar-nominated score was composed by Dario Marianelli and performed by acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the English Chamber Orchestra. Lizzy, Darcy & Jane: This play by Joanna Norland draws on key events in Austen's life, including her romance with Tom Lefroy in 1796 and Harris Bigg-Wither's proposal in 1801, to playfully imagine what influenced the 20-year-old writer as she began a story in 1796 titled First Impressions, which would later become Pride and Prejudice. At Canberra REP Theatre from September 4-20. Pride and Prejudice by Bloomshed: This "raucous" stage production is billed as "searing social satire dressed as a period drama" with some modern angst woven in, including questions about the housing crisis, the institution of marriage, the meaning of love and the power of rom-coms and reality TV. Bloomshed's retelling ("With the cost of living rising, and Mr Bennet played by a potted monstera, how will the Bennet family hold onto their precarious position on the property ladder?") plays in Melbourne and Geelong in August and Canberra Theatre Centre in October. Jane Austen and her legacy: Susannah Fullerton delivers a public lecture exploring what makes Austen the world's favourite female novelist 250 years after her birth. This free event at the National Library of Australia in Canberra from 6pm-7pm on August 20 will be livestreamed. Bookings are essential. 250 Glorious Years: Jane Austen's Legacy: The annual 2025 conference of the Jane Austen Society of Australia in Canberra on the weekend of October 31-November 2 will feature presentations by Wild for Austen author Devoney Looser of Arizona State University, Norwegian Professor of English Literature Dr Marie Nedregotten Sorbo and Dr William Christie, Professor Emeritus at Australian National University, among other speakers. The Saturday evening dinner will include a demonstration of Regency dancing (Regency dress is welcome, but not required!). For details visit:
Courier-Mail
4 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Justin Timberlake goes public with ‘debilitating' secret battle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Music. Followed categories will be added to My News. Justin Timberlake has been diagnosed with 'debilitating' Lyme disease. The singer made the health admission in a lengthy Instagram statement today while reflecting on his Forget Tomorrow tour, which wrapped in Turkey this week. 'I've been battling some health issues, and was diagnosed with Lyme disease -— which I don't say so you feel bad for me –– but to shed some light on what I've been up against behind the scenes,' the 44-year-old told his followers. Timberlake noted that Lyme disease, which is a bacterial infection spread by ticks, 'can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.' Timberlake says he's been battling the effects of a debilitating illness during this tour. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Being diagnosed helped the 'shocked' Grammy winner understand 'why [he] would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.' He continued, 'I was faced with a personal decision. Stop touring? Or, keep going and figure it out.' The former *NSYNC member ultimately decided, 'The joy that performing brings me far outweighs the fleeting stress my body was feeling.' He is 'so glad [he] kept going' to prove his 'mental tenacity' and share 'special moments' with fans. Timberlake said he had to make a choice: 'Stop touring? Or keep going and figure it out.' Picture: Amy Harris/Invision/AP Timberlake acknowledged elsewhere in his caption that he chose to be 'transparent about [his] struggles' so they would not be 'misinterpreted.' The singer, notably, has been blasted for lacklustre performances since kicking off his tour in April 2024. In one viral video shared via TikTok last week, Timberlake strolled around the stage and engaged in occasional dance moves, rarely bringing the microphone to his mouth. 'Go on girl, give us nothing,' one social media user wrote of the compilation. The star has copped some negativity in recent times over his 'lacklustre' concert performances. He was arrested last year for driving while drunk. Picture: AFP One fan complained, 'I get that you have a lot of concerts and are touring the world, or whatever, but you cannot be singing less than a quarter of a song.' Additionally, Timberlake made headlines earlier this month when he was caught on camera screaming at crew members over an issue-riddled performance in England. The songwriter's wife, Jessica Biel, showed her support for her partner by reposting his health news to her own Story. The couple have been married since 2012 and share two sons: Silas, 10, and Phineas, 5. This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission. Originally published as Justin Timberlake goes public with 'debilitating' secret battle
Sky News AU
5 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Justin Timberlake reveals ‘debilitating' Lyme disease diagnosis after tour backlash
Justin Timberlake has been diagnosed with Lyme disease. The singer, 44, told fans about his 'debilitating' health struggle in a statement posted on Instagram Thursday. 'Well, as these two incredible years come to an end and I look forward to the future, I wanted to write something from the heart. It's not an easy task to try to contextualize the whirlwind of touring –– but, I will try,' he began, referencing his Forget Tomorrow tour, which wrapped Wednesday. 'Among other things, I've been battling some health issues, and was diagnosed with Lyme disease — which I don't say so you feel bad for me –– but to shed some light on what I've been up against behind the scenes,' Timberlake explained. He continued: 'If you've experienced this disease or know someone who has — then you're aware: living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.' Timberlake said that he was 'shocked' when he learned of his diagnosis. 'But, at least I could understand why I would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness,' he said of his symptoms. He noted he 'was faced with a personal decision' to potentially quit his tour. 'I decided the joy that performing brings me far outweighs the fleeting stress my body was feeling,' he wrote. 'I'm so glad I kept going.' 'Not only did I prove my mental tenacity to myself but, I now have so many special moments with all of you that I will never forget,' Timberlake told his fans. 'I was reluctant to talk about this because I was always raised to keep something like this to yourself. But I am trying to be more transparent about my struggles so that they aren't misinterpreted.' The Grammy winner concluded his message: 'Sharing all of this with the hope that we can all find a way to be more connected. I'd like to do my part to help others experiencing this disease too.' Timberlake's wife, Jessica Biel, with whom he has sons Silas, 10, and Phineas, 5, supported her husband by liking his post and sharing it on her Instagram Story. According to the Mayo Clinic, Lyme disease is an illness caused by Borrelia bacteria. Humans usually get Lyme disease from the bite of a tick carrying the bacteria. Other celebrities who have been diagnosed with Lyme disease include Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Riley Keough, Debbie Gibson, Amy Schumer and Yolanda and Bella Hadid. Timberlake's health news comes after he faced backlash on his tour for lackluster performances. Last week, fans accused Timberlake of barely singing onstage at the Electric Castle festival in Romania. Fan videos showed the musician having the crowd sing the majority of his 2016 hit 'Can't Stop the Feeling!' as he frolicked around the stage in the rain. The *NSYNC alum also faced backlash in February for abruptly canceling his final tour stop in Ohio after coming down with the flu. The 'Mirrors' singer said he was 'heartbroken' that he had to cancel the concert and promised refunds, but fans still slammed him for the last-minute notice. Timberlake's tour started in April 2024 — two months before he was arrested for suspicion of DWI in Sag Harbor, Long Island. In September, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while ability impaired. Originally published as Justin Timberlake reveals 'debilitating' Lyme disease diagnosis after tour backlash
