THE JANE AUSTEN CONNECTION

If you’re a Jane Austen fan, then you’ll be interested to walk in her footsteps in Reading. She attended the Abbey School there and shortly afterwards began writing, and perhaps even based Mrs Goddard’s school in Emma on her time there...

- Bernard Bale

What is your favourite Jane Austen story or, more especially, what is your favourite Jane Austen film? In this difficult year of 2020 it could well be Emma because the newest version has been a massive success despite the problems in going to see it – and that has to be good news for Reading.

What has the new Emma film got to do with Reading? Nothing really, but the original story penned by Jane was influenced by her time at school and that is one of the reasons why Reading was so important to her.

Jane attended Reading Ladies Boarding School for two years. It was also known as the Abbey School and its location is easily found today even though the actual buildings are no longer there. The education she received at the school played a major part in both her knowledge and her outlook on life.

Jane was not yet a teenager when she joined the school in early 1785, along with her sister, Cassandra. The girls had boarded at Oxford previously, until illness forced them to return home, where they were then taught until the opportunity arose to go to Reading.

Cassandra was a little older than Jane but they were close throughout their lives, probably because they were the only girls in a family of eight children. After Jane’s death the loyalty between them continued as Cassandra burned most of Jane’s private letters to avoid them falling into disloyal hands.