Elizabeth Aston

I’m the daughter of two Jane Austen addicts, who, instead of naming me after one of my numerous great-aunts, decided to call me after a character from one of Jane Austen’s novels. My father’s favourite was Fanny Price, from Mansfield Park; my mother liked Emma best, but both of them adored Elizabeth Bennet. . . which is why I spell my short name Lizzy with a ‘y’ and never with a ‘ie’ at the end!

After such a beginning, it’s no wonder that I also became a passionate Jane Austen fan. I studied English at Oxford University, and what could be more enjoyable than drifting in a punt on the Cherwell, reading Jane Austen as the sun flickered on the river through green leaves, knowing that it counted as work?

Now I live in Malta, a Mediterranean island full of history, and I also spend part of every year in Italy. With copies of all the Jane Austen novels wherever I am, needless to say.