Charles Austen

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there is absolutely no reason to believe that Jane and the Austen ladies and, and Edward and Fanny, they would've known that story.

It seems fanciful to think that's just appeared later, that's a through line from Sir Richard.

It's just these little glimpses of were they putting holly in Sir Richard's hand? You can sort of imagine them going off into the woods and finding a nice piece of holly and going and putting it in Sir Richard's hand.

Welcome to Hidden Heroines of History.

I'm your host, Gaben Powers, a published author, award-winning screenwriter, and storyteller, who brings women's history to life.

Caroline Jane Knight is the fifth great-niece of Jane Austen.

Following a childhood steeped in family heritage and tradition in the heart of Jane's literary legacy, Caroline shares her childhood in Chawton and her famous great aunt at events around the world, both in person and virtually, while preserving her family heritage for future generations through the Knight Family Archive.

Nelson himself was shot during the battle and died shortly before it ended.

Both Frank and Charles Austen were serving in the Royal Navy in 1805, but neither saw action at Trafalgar.

Charles had been made commander in 1804 and was patrolling the eastern seaboard of North America at the time.

Frank came closer.

Today's episode is one I've genuinely been looking forward to.

Our guest is Sarah Emslie, a scholar, author, and Austen devotee from Halifax, Nova Scotia, up north, who has published her debut novel, The Austens, alongside her landmark academic work, Jane Austen's Philosophy of the Virtues.

If you have ever wondered what Jane was really thinking about during those quiet years at Chawton and whom she might have been writing letters to, Across the North Atlantic, this is the episode for you.

Sarah, welcome.

Sarah received her PhD from Dalhousie University, spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at Rothermere American Institute at Oxford.

Very impressive.

She's been writing about Jane Austen for decades, first through a rigorous academic lens with Jane Austen's Philosophy of the Virtues, published by Paul Grave MacMillan, and now through a stunning debut novel, The Austens, published by Potter's Field Press in the fall of 2025.

And just to underscore how well it's been received, the Austins won the 2026 Atlantic Independent Booksellers Reader's Choice Awards.