Jane Austen’s timeless novel with a new Introduction by Joanna Trollope and featuring the opening chapters from Joanna Trollope’s own contemporary new novel Sense & Sensibility. Perfect for Jane Austen fans everywhere.Where Elinor governs her emotions, Marianne unleashes hers – so when their father's untimely demise forces a stark change of circumstance for the two Dashwood sisters, they react quite differently.To add to the shock they are forced to accept diminished rank and the loss of their...
Praised by critics and studied by scholars, Jane Austen's novels endure because of their popularity with readers. The author's witty and astute observations elevate her tales of parties, gossip, and romance into matters of captivating drama, offering an evocative portrait of everyday life in the towns and countryside of Regency England. Austen's premature death at the age of forty-two curtailed her legacy, and her devotees have eagerly read and re-read her handful of books. This...
First published in 1814, “Mansfield Park” is Jane Austen’s third published novel, the story of Fanny Price, an impoverished young girl who at the age of ten is sent away by her overburdened family to be raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at their estate, the titular Mansfield Park. This classic coming of age story follows the young lives of Fanny and her four cousins, Tom, Edmund, Maria, and Julia. When Sir Thomas incurs a large debt he is forced to rent out the...
First published in 1813, “Pride and Prejudice” is a story set in the English countryside outside of London during the early 19th century which centers on the life of Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five sisters who are all unmarried. When a wealthy and sociable young gentleman, Charles Bingley, rents the nearby manor of Netherfield Park the opportunity to find husbands presents itself. While attending a ball the Bennets meet Charles Bingley and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy for the first time....
First published in 1818, “Persuasion” was English novelist Jane Austen’s last completed work. The novel centers on the story of Anne Elliot, a lovely young woman who years prior had accepted the proposal for marriage from the handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth. Despite Frederick’s cleverness and ambition, his lower social status and lack of wealth makes him an inappropriate match for Anne in the view of her family. Instead of following her heart Anne follows the advice of family...
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...
Jane Austen’s first published novel, “Sense and Sensibility” is the classic coming of age story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who have contrasting temperaments. On the surface Elinor, the older sister represents sense, or reason, while Marianne represents sensibility, or emotion; however upon closer examination we find that they both exhibit varying aspects of each characteristic. Set in southwest England, in the towns of London and Kent, the novel follows the lives of the two...
Collins Classics brings you a selection of the best-loved novels by Jane Austen, including ‘Pride and Prejudice’ which, in 2013, celebrates the 200th anniversary of its publication.Complete with a Life & Times section, which offers insight into the author, her works and the time of publication, and a handy glossary adapted from the Collins English Dictionary, this Collins Classics Collection will enhance your reading experience of Jane Austen’s novels.PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Austen's best-loved...
Samantha Spiro, David Troughton and Amanda Root are among the cast of this new BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Jane Austen's famous novel.Mrs Bennet is determined to see her five daughters married off and secure a future for them all. When the wealthy Mr Bingley arrives in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet wastes no time in making his acquaintance. His friend Mr Darcy, however, discourages Mr Bingley from marrying Jane Bennet, and also appears to snub her sister Elizabeth.When Elizabeth hears that...