The Letters of Jane Austen is a selection of Jane Austen's letters chosen from the collection of Austen's great-nephew, Edward, Lord Brabourne. The letters are mostly addressed to Austen's sister Cassandra and some letters written to two of her nieces, Anna Austen Lefroy and Fanny Knight. They include some references to her published workand replete with details about her family life, including the extended families and careers of her brothers, James, Edward, Frank, Henry, and Charles. Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her plots are fundamentally comic and highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social standing and economic security.