PREMIERES SUNDAY, MAY 4 at 8:00PM

What if? What IF? Miss Austen takes an historic literary mystery – the notorious burning of Jane Austen’s letters by her sister Cassandra – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty, and heart-breaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine. Keeley Hawes (The Durrells in Corfu) stars in the new four-part MASTERPIECE series that will delight Austen's fans everywhere.

Based on Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel, this period drama brings a fresh and intimate perspective to the Austen sisters’ lives — their joys, heartaches, and the passions that would shape Jane’s iconic novels.

The drama begins in 1830, a while after Jane has died. Cassandra races to see her young friend Isabella (Rose Leslie) who is about to lose her home following her father’s death. Cassandra is ostensibly there to help her friend, but her real motive is to find a stash of  private letters which, in the wrong hands, could destroy Jane’s reputation. On discovering them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth. In flashback, we meet Young Cassy and Jane (Patsy Ferran) as they navigate the infatuations, family feuds and dashed hopes which shaped their lives and laid the foundations for Jane’s unforgettable stories. Cassandra’s re-evaluation of her past eventually leads her to realise how blind she has been to the real cause of Isabella’s heartache and distress. Finding a way to guide Isabella towards true happiness, Cassandra is finally able to understand and celebrate the sacrifices she chose to make for her brilliant sister, Jane.