Yesterday’s edition of Radio 4′s Open Book Programme was devoted to Jane Austen and concentrated, of course, on her most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, for the bicentenary of its first publication is fast approaching.

mariella_frostrup_gallery_main

Presented by Mariella Frostrup, above, this was a lively, intelligent and affectionate overview of Jane Austen, her works and her influence, recorded at the Jane Austen’s House Museum at Chawton. The other guests were John Mullan, whose book, What Matters in Jane Austen, was one of my favourite books of last year; Paula Byrne whose biography of  Jane Austen, The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things will be published very soon, and Bharat Tandon, editor of Harvard University’s edition of Emma.

The programme, which is 28 minutes long,  will be available to listen to via this link here. It will be repeated on Thursday  at 15.30, and, or so it seems from the evidence of the programme’s home page,  that the episode will be available to listen to for a long time, well over the usual week. And as Adam Q reminded us yesterday, this radio programme will be available to listeners outside the UK. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.