Baby Cow adapts Austen sisters book

London-based prodco Baby Cow Productions has optioned Gill Hornby’s latest novel, Miss Austen, to develop a TV adaptation.

Miss Austen focuses on the lives and loves of novelist Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, inspired by Cassandra’s infamous burning of Jane’s letters, an act that has long puzzled biographers and academics. The novel has already been named as one of the best of the year by the BBC and Financial Times.

Baby Cow CEO Christine Langan said: “Gill has brought such wit, ingenuity and heartbreaking tenderness to this literary mystery, turning it into a terrifically compelling and relevant novel.

“Not only does she effortlessly capture Austen’s unique and irresistible tone but, in Cassandra, she may have delivered us the ultimate Austen heroine. Baby Cow is thrilled to be entrusted with bringing this gem to our screens and to a whole new audience.”