Episode description

In 2013, Caroline Criado-Perez successfully campaigned for a woman to be featured on a banknote.

The Bank of England chose Jane Austen.

Caroline joins Matthew Parris and Dr Paula Byrne, author of three books about the novelist, to challenge some of the myths which surround the life of one of history's most famous writers.

Matthew discovers how Jane Austen's teenage writings shocked and entertained her family and learns about her grit and determination to be published.

He finds out whether there was ever a Mr Darcy in the author's real life and hears why Caroline thinks Austen might just be the Georgians' answer to Fleabag.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.