Ballgowns are being stitched, bonnets brushed and tea rooms prepped as the United Kingdom prepares to celebrate the 250th birthday of beloved literary icon Jane Austen.
Quite how the author, born in the small Hampshire village of Steventon on December 16, 1775, has managed to entice and enchant readers for more than two centuries in an ever-changing world remains a mystery.
Who would have thought that quotes from her six novels and pages of writings would adorn T-shirts and badges in the 21st century? And not just in the UK, for the author who wrote of love and manners in the early 19th century has inspired fans around the world and her writings remain just as fresh and relevant today.
"Her novels are really concerned with wider moral issues," said Kathryn Sutherland, an Austen researcher and professor at the University of Oxford.
People feel Austen "is accessible, even though she is great literature, and also that you can read her books many times and each time you find something new in them", she added.
Sutherland also acknowledged it was fabulously filmed TV series and movies, with their brooding male leads, which had brought Austen wider audiences in the past decades.
The author of classic novels Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility had only just become known when she died on July 18, 1817, aged 41.
But her six novels, wittily and sharply dissecting the lives of 19th century rural aristocracy, have since sold millions of copies, led to film adaptations and inspired many other productions, from Bridget Jones to Bridgerton.
Hundreds of people are expected to don period costumes and stroll through the elegant Georgian streets of Bath in September for the annual 10-day Jane Austen Festival.
Austen lived for several years in the southwestern city, where she set her novels Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.
A series of balls are planned, based around Austen's novels, with tickets already sold out for May and June despite a hefty £200 ($253) price tag.
Part of Austen's appeal rests on her depiction of a romanticised England with love affairs, tea and parties in the glorious surroundings of sprawling stately homes.
She also shone a harsh light on the status of women, for whom a good marriage was considered the only goal in a very restricted life.
The daughter of a clergyman, Austen herself remained unmarried despite a proposal, and spent most of her life with very little money.
To coincide with the author's 250th birthday, Sutherland is organising an exhibition in Oxford called 'Dancing with Jane Austen' with costumes from the films and examples of her writings about balls. afp
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