BEST-selling novelist Joanna Trollope OBE will be coming to Chawton House Library to talk on the enduring appeal of Jane Austen.

And there’s a unique opportunity for Austen lovers to enjoy a candlelit supper too where the author regularly dined with her family.

This special black tie event at the house near Alton is taking place on Saturday, December 5, at 6pm, and promises to be magical with crackling open fires and the atmospheric oak-panelled rooms decked with Christmas splendour.

Special guest Joanna will also give guests the chance to view a first edition of Emma, originally published in December 1815 so celebrating its 200 anniversary, as well as other novels by Austen and her female contemporaries.

Tickets include wine and canapes and supper inspired by the cuisine of the eighteenth century.

Dr Katrina Faulds from the University of Southampton will treat guests to piano music on a historic Stodart grand piano.

Guests can also see highlights from the library collection, which features some 10,000 books and manuscripts by women writers dated back to 1600.

There will also be a silent auction and raffle.

Tickets are £75 each or £500 for a table of eight. To buy tickets and for further information visit www.chawtonhouselibrary.org or call 01420 541010.