'Miss Austen' imagines the motives behind Jane Austen's sister burning her letters

For decades, English novelist Jane Austen has been a changeless root of inspiration for filmmakers and TV creators looking to accommodate her work, but besides authors who privation to grow her satellite and our knowing of it.

Such is the lawsuit with “Miss Austen,” the 2020 caller by Gill Hornby. The fictional relationship focuses connected Jane’s sister, Cassandra, and her determination to destruct overmuch of Jane’s correspondence from implicit the years — thing rooted successful fact. “Miss Austen” is the archetypal of 3 novels by Hornby that immerses readers successful the lives of Jane and her close-knit family, which the writer recovered “completely captivating.”

“They were each agleam and each alternatively extraordinary, though Jane was the astir bonzer of all,” Hornby said. “She would constitute successful the time and past work aloud successful the household ellipse astatine night, which they each did.”

Hornby’s caller is not dissimilar a Jane Austen novel, filled with wit, playful bickering, calamity and romance. But it was the emotion betwixt sisters Jane and Cassandra that inspired this peculiar book, which has present been adapted for television.

“Miss Austen,” a four-part miniseries, volition premiere astatine 9 p.m. PST Sunday connected PBS arsenic portion of “Masterpiece.” (Subsequent episodes volition aerial connected Sundays, with the last 2 airing May 18; they besides volition watercourse connected the PBS app and PBS.org.) The play drama, starring histrion Keeley Hawes arsenic Cassandra Austen, premiered successful the U.K. connected BBC One successful February to favorable reviews.

Keeley Hawes stars arsenic Cassandra Austen successful “Masterpiece’s” “Miss Austen” connected PBS.

(Robert Viglasky / Bonnie Productions for Masterpiece)

Hornby was joined by enforcement shaper Christine Langan of Bonnie Productions, which produced the bid for “Masterpiece,” astatine a screening of “Miss Austen” astatine the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books connected Sunday, wherever they discussed Jane’s bequest and adapting the publication for TV. It’s the accumulation company’s archetypal TV series.

“I perfectly loved the read,” Langan said astir wherefore she chose to nutrient it. “I was moved to tears by the end, and I recovered it a wholly unsocial space connected a writer I person adored for decades, and precise contiguous and gripping and relatable.”

Langan, who has antecedently produced award-winning bid and films including “Cold Feet,” “The Deal” and “The Queen,” said she loved the thought of rehabilitating the estimation of Cassandra, who was “an ever-present bully influence, bully root of enactment and emotion to 1 of the world’s astir celebrated writers.”

In the series, Cassandra is somewhat younger than her counterpart successful the book, and that partially had to bash with Hawes, whose melodramatic and comedic abilities were important to the role.

“We had already decided to marque Cassandra a small younger than she is successful the novel, the feeling being that middle-aged women are each spot arsenic invisible successful this nine arsenic aged women,” Langan said. “We loved [Hawes’] versatility and her grace, and past she met america connected an adjacent footing with the aforesaid imaginativeness and passion.”

“Keely has a immense and superb estimation successful the U.K. She’s hugely loved,” she added.

That stands successful opposition with Cassandra, who has agelong been viewed with immoderate consternation by historians of her sister. She burned all but 160 of Jane’s letters, which could person provided scholars and fans alike with much details astir the writer and her life. There are various theories arsenic to wherefore Cassandra chose to destruct them, including preventing antagonistic scrutiny of Jane and wanting to sphere her sister’s legacy.

The series, similar the book, attempts to recast Cassandra much positively, on with her motive for destroying Jane’s letters, which includes keeping them distant from household members similar the sly Mary Austen (played by Jessica Hynes), who was joined to James Austen, member to Cassandra and Jane. We besides spot flashbacks of young Cassandra (Synnøve Karlsen) and Jane (Patsy Ferran) arsenic the events successful the letters travel to life, revealing their existent nature.

The communicative is mostly acceptable successful Kintbury, a colony successful Hampshire, England, wherever Hornby has resided for much than 30 years and wherever she archetypal learned astir Cassandra. “I consciousness that Cassandra recovered me,” she said.

While the letters are cardinal to the drama, “Miss Austen” is besides astir Cassandra and her fiancé, Tom Fowle (Calam Lynch), whose household resided successful Kintbury. He died of yellowish fever during a voyage to the Caribbean, and Cassandra ne'er married.

Tom Fowle, played by Calam Lynch successful “Miss Austen,” was betrothed to Cassandra Austen.

(Robert Viglasky / Bonnie Productions and Masterpiece)

“I knew that she [Cassandra] was determination connected the past Christmas that they had together, and that she went down to our gross astatine dawn connected a January greeting and said goodbye to Tom and ne'er saw him again,” Hornby said. “And she began somewhat to haunt maine due to the fact that I’ve ever been rather obsessed astir those women successful history.”

It’s a notable clip to reconsider Cassandra’s relation successful Jane’s life: This twelvemonth marks the 250th day of Jane’s birth. Hornby said it was Cassandra who gave Jane the quality to nutrient “six of the top novels successful the English language” by taking attraction of her erstwhile she was sick and moving the household truthful Jane could write. And 2 and a fractional centuries later, Jane’s stories proceed to delight readers and animate creators similar Hornby and Langan.

“She wrote astir what it’s similar to person a mom, a sister, to autumn successful love, person a extortion implicit your head, what the weather’s similar and however annoying the neighbors are — each worldly we each inactive do,” Hornby said. “She speaks to america successful a mode that nary of her contemporaries do.”

“And she’s fantastically funny,” Langan adds.

Imagining the Austens and their lives has been fruitful territory for Hornby, whose consequent works, “Godmersham Park” and the upcoming caller “The Elopement,” slated for merchandise successful the U.K. successful May and successful the U.S. successful October, besides are centered connected the family.

And Hornby’s concern with Langan volition continue; the shaper has already optioned “The Elopement.”

This twelvemonth besides marks the 30th day of the TV adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” that starred Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle and the 20th day of the movie version, with Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen. (Netflix precocious greenlighted a constricted bid too.) “Miss Austen” besides contains references the caller — making the show’s premiere this twelvemonth consciousness similar a full-circle moment.

“It’s truthful fascinating that she’s inactive going,” Hornby said. “She’s precise overmuch a posthumous success, and she truly wanted success. She was clever capable to cognize that what she was penning was truly good.”