She was one of eight children of a clergyman, and she grew up in a close-knit family. Her father mostly educated her at home. Although not incredibly rich, her family were of middle class wealth and so were a part of the social environment often described in her novels. For example her status will have been similar to that of the Bennets in 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Her books are set among the English middle and upper classes, and they are well-known for their wit, social observation and insight into lives of early 19th Century women. For example along with being comical, her novels offer a real message about how dependant women at the time were on marriage for social and economic security. Her books are set in more rural environments, and Austen could have been writing from experience as she lived in the country. She is known to have enjoyed dancing for social purposes, attending formal dances at the local assembly hall, similar to those mentioned so frequently in 'Pride and Prejudice'. So we can assume that the important implications these dances had on a womens chance of marrying well, were observed by Austen and therefore useful when writing 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Austen's brother Henry helped her to negotiate with a publisher in 1811, which resulted in her first novel 'Sense and Sensibility' being released. Her other novels included 'Pride and Prejudice'(which she is thought to have referred to as her "darling child"), 'Mansfield Park', 'Emma' and two novels released after she died, 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion'. She published all of her novels anonymously and although they sold well at the time of their release, none of them were bestsellers.
Austen was never married and this could have been because she had strong attitudes towards marriage, as reflected in her writing. Perhaps being one of eight children she was all too familiar with the pressure to marry well, which is displayed through Mrs Bennet's attitude in 'Pride and Prejudice'.
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