I've been thoroughly enjoying an excellent audio version of Pride & Prejudice (read by Lindsay Duncan no less) courtesy of Newcastle Central Library (wonder how long their wonderful audiobook service will last with the coming cuts) and I have PD James' Death Comes To Pemberley waiting in the wings.

I assumed this would ensure I'd have my fill of Austen for the month, however in last Friday's Guardian the inimitable Simon Cowell has reviewed a new biography by Paula Byrne, entitled The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. This being Pride & Prejudice's 200th birthday it's probably inevitable that something would be out, but this sounds more interesting than expected.

Seemingly the book eschews the standard birth to death narrative, instead instead trying to understand Austen through the medium of objects connected to her life and the stories connected to said objects.