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"If you&amp;#x27;re a proud Janeite like myself, you&amp;#x27;re probably well aware that today marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen&amp;#x27;s classic, Pride and Prejudice. So in honor of my favorite novelist, I&amp;#x27;m sharing five little-known facts about Austen from the new biography, The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things (on sale tomorrow!), by Paula Byrne. 1. She gave afterlives to some of her characters. I know I&amp;#x27;ve often wondered what became of Austen&amp;#x27;s true-to-life characters, and apparently she did too. In conversations and letters with her family, Austen suggested that Jane Fairfax dies young in childbirth, Kitty Bennet marries a young clergyman, and Mrs. Norris leaves William Price a large sum of...one pound. 2. Austen might be distantly related to Lord Byron. Byrne can&amp;#x27;t trace the family line to be 100-percent sure, but General Charles Leigh&amp;amp;#8212;Austen&amp;#x27;s mother was a Leigh&amp;amp;#8212;married Lord Byron&amp;#x27;s aunt. Another connection: Austen&amp;#x27;s cousin Chandos Leigh was a close friend and and schoolmate of Byron&amp;#x27;s. 3. Austen knew a real-life, alleged &amp;quot;vampire.&amp;quot; During her childhood, Austen&amp;#x27;s father took in young scholars&amp;amp;#8212;basically running a small boarding school from the family&amp;#x27;s home. The first schoolboy was John Charles Wallop, Lord Lymington. He was known to be erratic and eccentric aristocrat, and even became known as &amp;quot;Vampyre Earl&amp;quot; for supposedly drinking the blood of his servants&amp;amp;#8212;eventually he was certified as a lunatic. Despite this, he was well-liked by Jane and the Austen family&amp;amp;#8212;Jane even attended a ball of his and said he was very kind and attentive. Proof that life is stranger than fiction? 4. Most people think Tom Lefroy was the great love of Austen&amp;#x27;s life (at least, if you&amp;#x27;ve seen the movie Becoming Jane you do), but that&amp;#x27;s probably not the case. Jane had a flirtation with Lefroy, but they were never engaged. According to family legend, the greatest love of Jane&amp;#x27;s life was actually a &amp;quot;seaside romance&amp;quot; she had. Apparently while on holiday, she met and fell in love with a young man&amp;amp;#8212;and he made plans to meet up with her family again soon after the holiday&amp;amp;#8212;but he died shortly after! 5. In her will, Austen only mentions three names: Her brother Henry, her sister, Cassandra, and a mysterious third&amp;amp;#8212;Madame Bigeon. Madame Bigeon was the confidential secretary of Henry&amp;#x27;s deceased wife&amp;amp;#8212;a strange inclusion, when you consider how many siblings, nieces, and nephews Austen had. Are you a Janeite? Any facts that you did know? And which surprised you the most? P.S. Wanna know more? Pick up a copy of The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things here! Photos: Wikimedia Commons; Harper Collins"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2013/01/5-things-you-dont-know-about-j>