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She served in a war -

Given that there is no mention of war in any of her novels, it may come as a surprise to learn that Jane Austen actually served in the military.

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She served in a war -

The beloved author was a senior officer in the 4th Women's Battalion, King Royal's Hussars. She even participated in active service at Ulm in 1805.

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She wasn't popular among her peers -

Despite all her fans and critical acclaim, some of Jane Austen's peers weren't so keen on her writing. Charlotte Bronte, for example, described her characters as dispassionate.

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She wasn't popular among her peers -

Mark Twain, too, was not in a rush to pick up an Austen novel. He agreed with Charlotte Bronte's sentiments and even talked about the benefits of removing Austen's books from his library.

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Her identity is contested -

Four of Jane Austen's novels were published during her lifetime, and none of them were published under her real name. It was only after her death that she was identified as the author of her own work.

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Her identity is contested -

Even then, there was still speculation about her true identity. According to one biography, she may actually have been cunning businessman Jim Austen, who decided to take up a female pseudonym.

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There were only three people in her will -

When Jane Austen died, she left money to just three people in her will. Most of her £800 estate went to her sister, Cassandra, and her brother, Henry.

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There were only three people in her will -

In a surprising twist of events, however, she also left some money to Madame Bigeon—the secretary and cook to her brother Henry's late wife.

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She lived with a vampire -

Jane Austen's father, George Austen, was a reverend, and he taught young students whom he regularly invited to stay in the family home.

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She lived with a vampire -

One of those students was John Wallop, an eccentric Lord who allegedly drank the blood of the servants at the Austen home. He was known as Vampyre Earl.

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Her best friend was her sister -

Being a female author with no marriage prospects made it quite difficult to make friends in the 19th century. However, Jane Austen was close with her sister, Cassandra.

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Her best friend was her sister -

Her mother is reported to have described their relationship as follows: 'If Cassandra were going to have her head cut off, Jane would insist on sharing the same fate.'

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She was unlucky in love -

Jane Austen's love life has been described as being "as tragic as any Shakespeare play." It is common knowledge that she never married.

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She was unlucky in love -

She did have two dramatic love affairs, however. The second one was with a man who died before the couple was able to properly explore their relationship.

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She was engaged for a night -

Perhaps the most intriguing fact about Jane Austen's love life, however, was that she once was engaged to be married, but broke it off after just one night.

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She was engaged for a night -

The proposal came from prosperous family friend, Harris Bigg-Wither. It wasn't to be, however, since the then 26-year-old author had other ideas.

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Her sister never married either -

Despite her good looks, Jane's younger sister Cassandra never married either. She was once engaged to a military man, but he died overseas of yellow fever.

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Her sister never married either -

It is perhaps because they were never married that the two Austen sisters were as close as can be. Jane's death is said to have affected her younger sister the worst.

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Her original titles were different -

It may come as a surprise to learn that many of the Austen novels we know and love today were nearly named something else.

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Jane Austen -

'Pride and Prejudice,' for example, was originally titled 'First Impressions.' And it was signed simply, 'By the author of 'Sense and Sensibility.''

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She had a secret brother -

According to Austen's first biography, she was one of seven children. She supposedly had one sister and five brothers. Subsequent investigations revealed, however, that in reality there was a sixth brother.

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She had a secret brother -

Sources suggest that the sixth Austen brother was not included in his sister's biographies because he was sent away from the family home at a young age. He apparently suffered from epilepsy and learning difficulties.

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Her imagination didn't end with the novel -

Jane Austen did not stop envisaging her characters' development just because she finished writing. Rather, she continued the story line in her head for a long time afterwards.

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Her imagination didn't end with the novel -

According to her nephew, Jane Austen would recount the details of her characters' lives after the end of the novel to the members of her family.

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She stopped writing for 10 years -

According to the available records, there was a period after 1801, once she had already completed three novels, during which Austen stopped writing altogether.

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She stopped writing for 10 years -

The accepted explanation for this hiatus is that the family had decided to move to Bath, and Austen vehemently opposed the decision, which caused her to stop writing.

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Her death is shrouded in mystery -

Jane Austen died in 1817 at the age of 41. For a long time, historians have attributed her death to either Addison's disease or Hodgkin's lymphoma.

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Her death is shrouded in mystery -

In 2017 an alternative theory was proposed, however, when it was suggested that in fact Austen was poisoned by the arsenic in her drinking water.

Sources: (Town and Country) (Proofed)

See also: Famous authors who died at an early age

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