The horror! Jane Austen biographer Paula Bryne is accusing the Bank of England of using a photoshopped portrait of Jane Austen on the new £10 note, The Guardian reports. To the bank’s credit, the portrait was fashioned fifty years after Austen’s death to accompany a memoir written by her nephew, so it isn’t exactly their rendition. At the time the family disapproved of the image, saying it wasn’t a strong likeness of the author. According to Bryne, the photo makes Austen appear like a “cosy, middle-class writer” and also, “dimwitted”.
Even the accompanying quote is receiving negative attention. The quote reads, “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”, but the Bank failed to take into account the speaker of the phrase, Caroline Bingley, who isn’t exactly a beloved character in “Pride and Prejudice”.