The true story behind Miss Austen's Tom Fowle explained

Miss Austen mixes past and fabrication to make compelling drama

WARNING: This nonfiction contains spoilers from Miss Austen

Miss Austen debuted connected the BBC this evening (Sunday, February 2) and immersed audiences into the world of Regency England, serving up a communicative of repressed emotion and regret.

The four-part play focused connected the beingness of Cassandra Austen (played by Keeley Hawes) arsenic she sought retired her younger sister Jane’s (Patsy Ferran) idiosyncratic correspondence earlier they could beryllium utilized arsenic portion of immoderate posthumous biographies.

The communicative drifted betwixt the past and the contiguous arsenic Cassandra reminisced connected her younger days done Jane’s letters aft she recovered them.

In the series, a young Cassandra (Synnøve Karlsen) was engaged to Tom Fowle (Calam Lynch) but the humble curate died astatine oversea portion connected a voyage to marque his fortune.

Cassandra was heartbroken and ne'er joined aft promising successful a religion to wed nary different man.

Much similar the TV series, Tom Fowle did so dice of yellowish fever portion trying to unafraid a luck for him and Cassandra.

In an exclusive interrogation with Express.co.uk, the Chair of The Jane Austen Society Heather Thomas explained much astir the past of Cassandra’s mislaid love.

She said however the Austens had known the Fowles of Kintbury “forever and ever” and described Tom’s determination to spell connected the unsafe travel to the West Indies to unafraid wealthiness arsenic “an connection you couldn’t refuse”.

“Men were abbreviated due to the fact that of the warfare with France - the Napoleonic Wars. An atrocious batch of men were called up voluntarily oregon involuntarily and determination was a wide shortage of men.

“So having fallen for Tom comparatively young - not young for that age, she was astir 20 - and past having mislaid him to Yellow Fever and helium was buried astatine sea, she ne'er truly turned her caput to anybody else, which is bittersweet really.”

Although determination are faint echoes of Cassandra’s mislaid emotion communicative successful the caller Persuasion, Thomas said writer Austen liked to “try retired antithetic types of heroines successful her books” and Ann Elliott was much of a “shy and retiring” character.

She elaborated: “I deliberation determination whitethorn beryllium a spot of Cassandra’s experiences but it was truthful communal to suffer radical to unwellness and mishap - joined oregon engaged.

“It was communal to dice young, truthful I’m not definite you tin accidental with assurance Cassandra’s experiences are a exemplary for Ann Elliott.”

This twelvemonth marks Jane Austen’s 250th day and to people the occasion, The Jane Austen Society is asking fans to get successful interaction and marque a signaling of what the writer means to them.

There volition besides beryllium tons of different events tally by the Society arsenic good arsenic assorted celebrations to people Austen’s large milestone birthday.

Miss Austen airs connected BBC One connected Sundays astatine 9.05pm and is disposable arsenic a boxset connected BBC iPlayer now

For much accusation astir The Jane Austen Society, delight visit janeaustensociety.org.uk