A new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility has hit cinemas, but many might not realise its connection to Basingstoke.
Sense and Sensibility was author Jane Austen’s debut novel and has been newly adapted, released on September 25.
The new adaptation sees Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and Esme Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood.
Jane Austen originally drafted Sense and Sensibility in 1795 at the age of 19, while living in Steventon, just seven miles from the centre of Basingstoke.
The text was originally called Elinor & Marianne, named after the two sisters around which the book centres.
According to Jane Austen’s House, the novel was revised in 1797-8 and then again when Austen was living in Chawton, near Alton, in 1809-1810.
The novel was officially published at the end of October 1811, after Jane’s brother became her informal literary agent and managed to secure her a publisher.
It was originally published anonymously in three volumes, with the title pages stating it was “By a Lady.”
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The first print run completely sold out within two years and made Jane a profit of around £140, which is almost £9000 today.
When Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, it was stated that it is written “by the author of Sense and Sensibility.”
Since being published, Sense and Sensibility has been adapted for stage, series and screen, most notably the 1995 film adapted by and starring Emma Thompson, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay Adaptation.
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