The work of Jane Austen (1775-1817) has dominated the production of a significant number of UK publishing houses this summer, with the prolific output relating to the English author – who wrote six major novels during her lifetime – seen as an attempt to revive the titles of the great novelist 200 years after her death.
Over the past three months, more than 10 critical books about Austen have been published in the UK, while her novels have been republished in a special luxury edition, a pocket book edition and a complete works edition, which topped the country’s bestsellers list. A number of other books about Austen will be published in the coming weeks.
Austen’s body of work includes her six famous novels;‘ Sense and Sensibility,’ ‘Mansfield Park,’ ‘Emma,’ ‘Persuasion,’ ‘Northanger Abbey’ and her most celebrated novel ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ which was published in Arabic as ‘Kibriya Wa Tahamol.’
All of these novels have become the recent re-focus of UK publishers, as they are increasingly resonating with readers keen on romantic and bourgeois English characters. Austen’s literature has witnessed a strong demand following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, a decision known as ‘Brexit’.