Austen

It feels like a scene from a Jane Austen novel: three women in their late 20s, each of them bursting with personality, swapping stories.

"His instinct will be to carry on as long as he can and is able to," believes Austen Ivereigh who co-authored a book with Pope Francis.

The film, based on Jane Austen's Emma, was a box office hit and spawned a TV spin-off.

“People know the period drama, Jane Austen side. But she’s done ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘Domino,’ she’s done silly and also very serious.

The Brontës, of course, but also Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Rebecca West and Virginia Woolf, all of whom achieved their successes with competition and support from their sisters.