We visit a small, historic house in the south of England - once the home of the great English novelist, Jane Austen.

Our guide is Louise West, the education officer at Chawton cottage. She describes the table where Jane Austen wrote some of her famous novels. Louise also explains what handwriting experts think Jane Austen's handwriting reveals about her personality!

Listen
	Jane Austen's House

Vocabulary from the programme

cottage
a small house in the country

is reputed to be
is generally believed to be

a wow factor
If something has a 'wow factor', it has the qualities to impress and amaze you.

modest
simple

'her meticulous hand'
Her very neat, precise handwriting.

'gossipy stuff'
Informal for 'gossip' - talk about other people's private lives.

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Extras
Programme script (pdf - 2.1 K)
Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 MB)

See pictures of Jane Austen's house*

Watch and listen to episodes of the BBC TV adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice

Read more about Jane Austen's life and novels*

* The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites