A NEW novel based on Jane Austen and set in Lyme Regis will feature on national television next week.

Bestselling author Victoria Connelly, will be appearing on Channel 5’s The Vanessa Show, hosted by Vanessa Feltz, to talk about her new book The Perfect Hero.

It also coincides with the 200th anniversary of Austen’s first publication, Sense and Sensibility.

A life-long Austen fan, Mrs Connelly has written a trilogy of romantic comedies based on other addicts of the author, with the second in the series set in Lyme Regis.

Mrs Connelly wrote most of The Perfect Hero while staying in Lyme Regis, a place which also proved inspirational for Austen following visits in 1803 and 1804.

Part of Austen’s novel Persuasion is set in Lyme, featuring Louisa Musgrove’s famous fall from the Granny’s Teeth steps on the Cobb.

Mrs Connelly, 40, said: “I have seen all the adaptations ever made of Persuasion so I was aware of the locations. I have holidayed in Lyme Regis for many years anyway.

“I got to thinking about my own obsession with Austen so very quickly I started thinking about locations to set the novels and I decided on Lyme Regis, Hampshire and Bath.”

The Perfect Hero is her sixth novel and follows Kay Ashton, who uses her inheritance to buy a bed and breakfast in Lyme Regis and is dumbstruck when the cast and crew of a new production of Persuasion descend needing a place to stay.

Mrs Connelly spent two separate weeks in Lyme Regis picking up local details.

She said: “I just paced through the town, getting little details right.

“In the book I’ve got this B&B on Marine Parade and I had this scene where my heroine looks out of the window and waves to the hero on the Cobb.

“But I realised there was no way he would have been able to see her. I wanted to get little details right that locals would spot.”

Mrs Connelly went on a walking tour with Natalie Manifold, who runs Lyme Literary Tours, who showed her significant Austen sites, including Granny’s Teeth and the coaching inn where she would have stayed.

“It really brings the place alive to see these spots and I wanted to get as many mentions of Jane Austen being there in the book,” said Mrs Connelly.

“Austen talks about the environs of Lyme and the countryside of Lyme and how beautiful it was and it was lovely to feel that connection and carry on the tradition of setting stories there.”

Mrs Connelly will be on The Vanessa Show on Wednesday, June 15 at 2.15pm.

She said: “I’ll try and mention Lyme Regis because it’s such a wonderful setting and I think it’s a real selling point for the town, especially at this time of year, you can’t better the British seaside.”

The Perfect Hero is out now in bookshops or available to buy at www.victoriaconnelly.com