FROM SARAH:

Would you believe that I never read any Jane Austen until my 30s? And now I can't get enough! If you're having a hard time figuring out why everyone loves Austen so, I suggest watching the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, and *then* start reading it for yourself. Just don't blame me when you start neglecting the laundry and housework so you can read a little more. 😉  Especially wonderful on audio (Audible | LibroFM).

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the British Regency.

(Audible | LibroFM).

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

First published at the end of 1815, Jane Austen’s “Emma” is the story of Emma Woodhouse, a young girl from a good home that does not need the financial support of a husband and is determined not to marry.

**Description from Amazon: Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, and was her first published work when it appeared in 1811 under the pseudonym "A Lady". A work of romantic fiction, better known as a comedy of manners, Sense and Sensibility is set in southwest England, London and Kent between 1792 and 1797, and port...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

This seasonal compendium collects together poems, short stories, and prose extracts by some of the greatest poets and writers in the English language.

**Description from the publisher: First published posthumously in 1817, “Northanger Abbey” was actually the first finished novel that Jane Austen wrote. It is the story of seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, one of ten children of a country clergyman, who imagines life as living in one of the Gothic novels with which she is excessively fond of reading. When she is invited by her wealthy neighbors, the Fullertons, to accompany them to the spa town of Bath she experiences her first taste of the fashionable upper class society of England. While there she meets the clever young gentleman, Henry Tilney, his sister Eleanor, and their father, the imposing General Tilney. The Tilneys invite Catherine to come stay with them at their estate, the titular Northanger Abbey. Catherine’s naïve over-active imagination quickly leads to embarrassment when she infers some sinister circumstances regarding the lack of emotion that General Tilney shows for the loss of his deceased wife. Eventually she realizes that real life is not at all like that of a Gothic novel. Noted for the insight it gives to Austen’s one opinions of the literature of her day, “Northanger Abbey” is both a satirical parody of the gothic romance novel and the story of a young girl’s maturation into womanhood. This edition is illustrated by Hugh Thomson.

FROM SARAH:

A lovely abridged selection of Jane Austen stories. More on reading abridged versions of the classics is in RAR #183: Should we Avoid Abridged Versions of Classics?

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

This beautifully illustrated collection contains all of Jane Austen's novels retold for young readers, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, with notes on the characters and quotations from the original text. With links to websites to find out more about Jane Austen's life and times.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The story concerns Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of twenty-seven years, whose family moves to lower their expenses and reduce their debt by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife. The wife's brother, Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth, was engaged to Anne in 1806, but the engagement was broken when Anne was "persuaded" by her friends and family to end their relationship. Anne and Captain Wentworth, both single and unattached, meet again after a seven-year separation, setting the scene for many humorous encounters as well as a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne in her second "bloom".