David Lassman, the director of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath (Regency dress parade, bonnet-making workshops, 'Tea with Mr Darcy'), submitted opening chapters and plot synopses of Austen's novels to 18 British publishers and agents, changing just the titles and characters' names. Lassman was 'staggered', he told the Guardian, when he received form letter rejections back. 'If the major publishers can't recognise great literature,' he asked, 'who knows what might be slipping through the net?' Lassman admitted that he hadn't yet been able to find a publisher for his own novel, a thriller.

LRB 16 August 2007 | PDF Download