HER novels have been made into a string of successful romantic films. Now the little-known love affair that shaped Jane Austen’s writing is itself to be filmed.

Becoming Jane will tell the story of her doomed love for an Irish lawyer when she was 20. The novelist will be played by Anne Hathaway, one of the wives of the heroes in the cowboy film Brokeback Mountain, which is expected to win awards at tonight’s Oscar ceremony.

The British-made film will tell the story of how Austen met and fell in love with Tom Lefroy, the barrister who has been credited with inspiring her to become a novelist.

Lefroy was almost certainly Austen’s first love, but in the brief, probably unconsummated affair, she was more smitten by him than he with her.

The relationship foundered partly because Lefroy was not well off and his prospects of making a fortune did not look high. This would have meant Austen’s family vetoing any idea of a wedding.

The theme of love between social classes was frequently revisited by Austen in books such as Pride and Prejudice.

Maggie Smith and Julie Walters will also star in the film, which will be made by Ecosse Films, the British company that in 1997 made Mrs Brown, about Queen Victoria and John Brown, her Highland ghillie.

Reaction among Austen experts to the proposed film has been mixed.

The AustenBlog website says it is “slightly horrified” by the production company’s claims that “this love affair inspired her career as one of the world’s great romantic writers”.

But Claire Tomalin, a biographer of Austen, believes Lefroy, who eventually went on to become chief justice of Ireland, was the first person who encouraged her to believe she could write.

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