Born in the late 1700s, Jane Austen was a smart, creative girl in a house full of boys, all of whom could aspire to accomplish many things as adults while girls were raised primarily to become good wives. Jane didn't have much opportunity to go to school but she read everything she could, including all the books in her father's study. And before long, she began to write her own stories, filled with funny, clever, and inventive characters. Today, Austen's novels (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma . . .) are widely read by all ages. She is recognized as one of the most important and influential writers of all time.