Keeley Hawes gives a classy performance in Miss Austen ...Middle East

It is the story of Jane’s older sister Cassandra, who is most famous (or infamous) for burning hundreds of Jane’s letters after her death. Historians and Austen fans have long cursed her actions, accusing her of depriving the world of precious insight into the writer’s inner world.

Rose Leslie as Isabella (Photo: BBC/Bonnie Productions/Masterpiece/Robert Viglasky)

We meet Cassy (Keeley Hawes) as she is rushing to the deathbed of the Reverend Fowle, a close family friend. Ostensibly, Cassy is there to support Fowle’s daughter Isabella (Rose Leslie), who is being unceremoniously turfed out of her home to make way for the new vicar. But it quickly becomes apparent that Cassy’s real motive is to find her sister’s hidden correspondence and keep it from those who might wish to exploit it for fame or money, in particular her sister-in-law Mary (Jessica Hynes).

I dress up as Jane Austen to escape the hell of modern society

More engaging are the flashbacks that come as Cassy delves into the letters and relives her youth. Young Cassy is played by Synnøve Karlsen, who is a remarkably good fit for a young Hawes (the two women have previously played mother and daughter in The Midwich Cuckoos) while young Jane is a playful, witty presence from the standout Patsy Ferran, best known for her Olivier Award-winning work on stage. As the two navigate being young women in a society that only values them as marriage material (sound familiar?), it is their sisterly bond that sustains them.

Max Irons as Henry Hobday (Photo: BBC/Bonnie Productions/Masterpiece/Robert Viglasky)

However, the bones of events are true and tragic: Cassy’s own love story ended after her fiance died of yellow fever on a naval voyage. Her subsequent determined singlehood marked her out, like her sister, as an oddity in society, and the inferior position of women is central to both timelines: in the present day, Isabella is vulnerable after the death of her father as an unmarried woman with no male guardian.

But Miss Austen is nonetheless a gentle and charming period drama, filled with classy performances that will delight Austen fans if not necessarily spawn new ones.

‘Miss Austen’ continues next Sunday at 9.05pm on BBC One

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