Introducing Jane Austen's Paper Trail, a new podcast from The Conversation.

When she died aged just 41, Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra, burned most of her letters. What's left gives us tantalising clues about who she really was. Austen's characters jump to life on screen with a new adaptation for each generation… but 250 years after her birth, the woman herself remains an enigma.

Over six episodes, one for each of her books, Jane Austen's Paper Trail takes you on a journey through Austen's life and times with the help of the UK's top experts.

We'll head to a scandal-filled tearoom in Bath to ask was Jane a gossip? Head to a glittering Regency ball to find out whether she was a romantic? And visit her house in Hampshire to find out what she thought about being a writer. Along the way we'll delve into the characters and themes that have made her writing so enduring for so many readers.

Episode 1 arrives in early November. Never miss an episode – follow on your preferred app.

Host: Anna Walker

Reporters: Jane Wright and Naomi Joseph

Senior Producer and Sound Design: Eloise Stevens

Executive Producer: Gemma Ware

Artwork: Naomi Joseph and Alice Mason

The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here.

In the first episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we're delving into Austen's first novel, Sense and Sensibility where gossip – and the fear of it – plays a central role in the story. Through the rumours that swirl within its pages, we’ll find out what Austen herself thought about gossip, and the people who spread it.

Along the way we travel to Sally Lunn's tearoom in Bath, where Austen herself often took tea – with Andrew McInnes of Edge Hill University. And then we dive into the role of gossip in Sense and Sensibility with Lucy Thompson, a lecturer in 19th-century literature at Aberystwyth University and Katie Halsey, professor of English studies at the University of Stirling.

Gossip in the world of Jane Austen served several important functions: entertainment; intel; communication; miscommunication; and control. As reputations were fiercely guarded, one piece of misdirected or unfounded gossip could leave a young woman's honour in tatters. Deployed strategically, that was often precisely the point. And for women of Austen's time, being the subject of gossips could be a very dangerous thing indeed.

Jane Austen's Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen's birth.

Host: Anna Walker

Reporter: Jane Wright

Senior Producer and Sound Design: Eloise Stevens

Executive Producer: Gemma Ware

Artwork: Naomi Joseph and Alice Mason

The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here.

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• Jane Austen 250 coverage on The Conversation

In the second episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore romance in the world of Jane Austen through the pages of Pride and Prejudice.

Every heroine in a Jane Austen novel ends up married. It is the bow on the end of every story that ties up all the loose threads – seemingly the ultimate happy ending. However, while marriage is an conclusion she chose for her characters, it is not one she chose for herself.

It seems likely that Austen chose her singledom, even though she was clearly preoccupied with romance and marriage. Many readers consider her one of history's greatest writers of romance. Not least, because of Pride and Prejudice.

In this episode we visit a Regency ball at the Grand Assembly Rooms in York with Meg Kobza, an expert in Georgian culture and leisure at Newcastle University. And then we dive into what Pride and Prejudice reveals about Austen's views on romance in a discussion with Octavia Cox, lecturer in 18th and 19th century literature at the University of Oxford and Adam J Smith, an associate professor in English literature at York, St. John University.

Jane Austen's Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen's birth. If you have a question you'd like to pose to Jane Austen experts for an upcoming Q&A special, please email us on podcast@theconversation.com.

Host: Anna Walker

Reporter: Naomi Joseph

Senior Producer and Sound Design: Eloise Stevens

Executive Producer: Gemma Ware

Artwork: Naomi Joseph and Alice Mason

The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here.

• From pulpits to protest, the surprising history of the phrase ‘pride and prejudice’
• What was Jane Austen’s best novel? These experts think they know
• Netflix to remake Pride and Prejudice – why Jane Austen novels make perfect period adaptations