Philippa Perry on Austen's psychology, letters and last days

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As Jane Austen turns 250, Austen biographer and writer Dr Paula Byrne is joined by prominent thinkers, writers and directors who tell her about their encounters with the famous author. Each of her guests has been shaped and changed by Austen. Paula's guests inspire her own reflections about Austen's life and works. For the final episode of the series, Paula is joined by the psychotherapist and author Philippa Perry. Philippa's love and interest in Austen goes back over five decades and she's fallen in and out of love with the writer over those years. During that time, she's become immersed in Austen's works, from her unfinished novels and juvenilia, to the writer's letters. She joins Paula to explore how much we can learn and discern of Austen's personality and psychology from the small number of Austen letters we still have. They discuss the role of writing for Austen - whether it had a regulating function - touching on the influential ideas of the psychologist D.W. Harding. Paula visits the room where Austen spent the final months of her life and reveals how she was still composing in her final days. Austen was the first of her siblings to die, only six years after she was first published, and Paula and Philippa reflect on the writer's relatively short life and legacy. Presenter: Dr Paula Byrne Reader: Gemma Whelan Producer: Camellia Sinclair