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15 Minute Drama: Lindsay Ashford - The Mysterious Death of Jane Austen

Elaine Cassidy

Ruth Gemmell

Rupert Evans

Susan Brown

Lucy Robinson

Jasmine Hyde

Nick Murchie

Lotte Rice

Eliza Harrison-Dine

Alana Ramsey

Clive Brill

Eileen Horne

Andrew Davies

Lindsay Ashford

15 Minute Drama: Lindsay Ashford - The Mysterious Death of Jane Austen: Episode 4

The Mysterious Death of Jane Austen

Episode 4

Lindsay Ashford - The Mysterious Death of Jane Austen

BBC Radio 4 - 15 Minute Drama, Lindsay Ashford - The Mysterious Death of Jane Austen, Episode 4

Jane's novel is published and Anne's fortunes improve but bad news threatens Jane's health

Jane's novel is published and Anne's fortunes improve, but bad news threatens Jane's health. Stars Elaine Cassidy, Ruth Gemmell and Rupert Evans.

Twenty-six years have passed since the death of Jane Austen. Armed with a lock of Austen's hair as perhaps her best clue, Anne Sharp, former governess to the Austen family and Jane's close friend, has decided at least to tell her story-a story of family intrigues, shocking secrets, forbidden loves, and maybe even murder.

Upon its publication in the UK, Lindsay Ashford's fictional interpretation of the few facts surrounding Jane Austen's mysterious death sparked an international debate and uproar. None of the medical theories offers a satisfactory explanation of Jane Austen's early demise at the age of 41. Could it be that what everyone has assumed was a death by natural causes was actually more sinister? Lindsay Ashford's vivid novel delves deep into Austen's world and puts forth a shocking suggestion-was someone out to silence her?

Andrew Davies, who has a phenomenal track record in adaptation, has collaborated with Eileen Horne in recent years, first as writer and producer on a new TV version of Room with a View (2007) and as writer and editor on The Purple Land for Radio 4 (2011).

Written by Lindsay Ashford
Adapted by Eileen Horne and Andrew Davies

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.

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Lindsay Ashford's fictional interpretation of the few facts surrounding Austen's death

Lindsay Ashford's fictional interpretation of the few facts surrounding Jane Austen's death. Adapted by Eileen Horne and Andrew Davies

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Lindsay Ashford - The Mysterious Death of Jane Austen

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