BEST-SELLING novelist Joanna Trollope will be guest of honour at Chawton House Library’s first candlelit Christmas supper next week.

Set in the house where Jane Austen regularly dinned, the event on Saturday, December 5, promises to be “magical, with crackling open fires and atmospheric oak-panelled rooms decked in festive splendour”, according to a library spokesman.

During the evening, Joanna will talk about the enduring magic of Jane Austen and guests will be able to view a first edition of Emma, first published in December 1815 and celebrating its 200-year anniversary, as well as other treasured novels by Jane Austen and her female contemporaries.

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

There will also be an opportunity also to see highlights from the library collection, which features some 10,000 books and manuscripts by women writers dating back to 1600, and explore this Elizabethan manor house, which was owned by Jane Austen’s brother, Edward, and which she referred to in her letters as “the Great House”.

The evening will also feature a silent auction and raffle.

Keith Arscott, development director, said: “This is the first time we have held a black-tie Christmas supper at the library and it promises to be a special night, with wonderful company, delicious food and wine, and these magical surroundings, where Jane Austen herself dined with her brothers and sisters.

“All funds raised will further the educational work of the library.”

Starting at 6pm, tickets to the black-tie dinner are £75 each or £500 for a table of eight and will include wine, canapes and supper inspired by the cuisine of the 18th Century.

For more details or to book, visit chawtonhouselibrary.org or call 01420 541010.