…Because [Jane] Austen’s prose is so elegant and clear, her wit so sharp, her comedy so dry, her irony so delicious, her observations so acute, her heroines so indomitable, her novels have lived on for two centuries. They offer a vacation destination for the mind, a world in which to luxuriate. Rich in characterization, compelling in their plots, fascinating in their social historicity, lively and lifelike in their dialogue, her books, published beginning in 1811, have the quality of seeming both of and ahead of their time, and they are particularly ripe for adaptation to the screen. Many readers see in them the roots of modern romantic comedy.
… “Miss Austen,” a wonderful new limited series premiering Sunday on PBS’ “Masterpiece,” takes a biographical fiction approach. Adapted by Andrea Gibb from Gill Hornby’s 2020 novel, it centers on Jane’s sister, Cassandra — the title applies to either sister — whose historical claim to fame, or infamy, is that she burned the bulk of Jane’s letters after her death. (She is not made out to be a villain here.) It has many of the qualities of an Austen novel — because why else bother? — though having to adhere to the facts of actual lives does steer some plot lines in a darker direction.
