Writer and critic Leslie Stephen described a mania for Austen that grew in the 1880s as `` Austenolatry '' . It was only after the the Memoir was printed that readers grew to like Austen as a person . Author and critic Leslie Stephen described a mania that started to develop for Austen in the 1880s as `` Austenolatry '' â '' it was only after the publication of the Memoir that readers developed a personal connection with Austen .