Rebecca Smith

The five-times-great-niece of Jane Austen, novelist and teacher of creative writing Rebecca Smith offers advice on how to write the Jane Austen way.

Smith explains how Austen went about writing her classic novels in a way that remains fresh, entertaining and witty today. What were her methods and tricks, and how did she go about constructing her plots and characters and creating dialogue and suspense? Smith’s guidance will be useful to those looking to publish a first novel, to teachers and students of Austen, or to fans of the great writer.

Smith teaches creative writing at the University of Southampton and is author of three adult novels, The Bluebird Café, Happy Birthday and All That and A Bit of Earth; a non-fiction work, Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas; and a children’s novel Shadow Eyes, which was shortlisted for the 2012 Kelpies Prize.