One of the best known and loved stories of all time, this classic tale of love tells the tale of a romance between Elizabeth Bennett - the daughter of a country gentleman - and Fitzwilliam Darcy - a wealthy aristocratic landowner.
Both must learn to overcome their pride and their prejudice to realise the possibility of a relationship between them. A story of manners told against the backdrop of the beautiful English landscape in the early 19th century, the tale is told with the typical wit of Jane Austen. Elizabeth is one of five daughters in the Bennett family - and their parents are desperate to find them suitably wealthy husbands to ensure their future prosperity. When Elizabeth is introduced to Mr Darcy, the excitement of their potential together is breathtaking - but the attraction between them is not! Over time, the pair overcome they initial misconceptions based on their prejudices - and deeper feelings emerge.
Emma is beautiful, wealthy, precocious, arrogant, witty and a wicked matchmaker - or at least she thinks she is! Jane Austen set out to create a character that would be hard to like - and succeeded!
Full of characteristic wit and social commentary, this tale is about the romantic misadventure that comes from matches that Emma makes between people in her village. Despite vowing to never to fall in love herself, Emma insists she knows what's best for others - with disastrous consequences.
“Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing; but I have never been in love ; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.”
Persuasion was Jane Austen's last book, published in 1815 - and is about being given a second chance in life and love.
When Anne Elliot first meets Captain Frederick Wentworth, she is persuaded not to pursue romance with him because of his lowly position in life. Eight years later, when returns from the Napoleonic wars, he has attained wealth and a noble rank in the navy - and now he is a worthy suitor. But will the couple find their way back to each other?
Set in historic Bath, Austen offers a more biting commentary on the social rules of the time.
Sense and Sensibility tells the story of Marianne and Elinor Dashwood, whose differing emotional make-up leads them into love and loss. After losing the safe and secure home when their step-brother inherits the land and wealth of their step family, the sisters move with their mother and other siblings to a more modest residence.
Marianne, who wears her heart on her sleeve, falls for the unsuitable John Willoughby, against the advice off the much more sensible Elinor, who is far more secretive and defensive with her emotions.
Ultimately, the two must learn that a balance is required for a successful romance. Another novel of wit and wisdom that centres around the social rules of the period.
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Jane Austen
Born in 1775 to a family of modest means, her father was a rector and she was one of seven children. She was sent to Oxford with her sister Cassandra for tutoring and moved from there to Southampton with their teacher, but both were sent home with typhus and Jane nearly died.
Austen wrote 6 novels, 4 published during her lifetime and 2 posthumously and 1 was uncompleted, called Sanditon, which has since become one of the most successful series on Netflix. Sense And Sensibility, Pride And Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma were all moderate publishing successes for Austen, who became known for her comment on the social etiquette of English landed gentry and particularly the reliance of women on suitable marriage for their success and standing in life. Her works have been extraordinarily successful over the two centuries since her death, with a huge appreciation for her biting irony, humour and realism, and have made popular adaptations into many films and TV series - but they only gave her very modest income during her lifetime.
It's rumoured that she may have written over 3000 letters during her lifetime, many to her sister Cassandra, who destroyed the majority to protect them from prying eyes. She also wrote shorter novels and plays. Despite being a prolific writer of stories about love and romance, Jane Austen never married. She had several suitors but never committed to any and had lofty ideals when it came to marriage, perhaps no man could ever live up to those ideals. The cause of Jane Austen's death is the subject of speculation, but she is known to have been ill for some time before she died, documenting her sickness and failing for some time to do anything about it.
Jane Austen died at the age of 41 having left an incredible legacy of which she was not aware, that has since become a body of work known and loved globally.
