Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English writer known for her novels with their implicit interpretation on the English landed gentry and often explore the dependence of women on marriage to attain social status and economic security. Austen wrote several major novels before the age of 22, but she remained unpublished until she was 35. The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma were moderate successes, but did not result in fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but it was left unfinished on her death. Since her death Austen’s novels have rarely been out of print. Her works have gradually gained wide acclaim, growing in popular readership and been adapted in numerous films.