Jane Austen was born December 16, 1775, Steventon, Hampshire, England and died July 18, 1817, Winchester, Hampshire. Austen was an English writer who first gave the novel its distinctly modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life. She published four novels during her lifetime: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). In these and in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey (published together posthumously, 1817), she vividly depicted English middle-class life during the early 19th century. Her works defined the era’s novel of manners, but they also became timeless classics that remained critical and popular successes for more than two centuries after her death. These works reflect her enduring legacy.