Maybe Austen was simply very shrewd in her choice of subject, says Gill Hornby, author of Jane Austen: The Girl with the Magic Pen.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Magazine | Jane Austen - why the fuss?

Standing silently but amiably to one side, he would unbolt the magic boxes, hold the ropes, demonstrate the emptiness of beakers and pots, confirm the thickness of a sheet of glass before a near-naked girl would climb into a magic box and pass straight through it!

ECONOMIST: Ali Bongo | The

The story involves a young orphan girl (Dakota Blue Richards) who, with the aid of a magic compass, sets out to find two friends who have been kidnapped, for nefarious reasons, by the Magisterium.

NEWYORKER: The Golden Compass

The greatest gift you can give a girl is to innoculate her from toxic, cultural messages by teaching her to believe in her own unique magic.

FORBES: Connect