Elegant, sophisticated, and full of humor and romance, the novels of
Jane Austen
have been favorites of readers around the world for more than two centuries. Although set at the turn of the nineteenth century, in the England that she herself knew, Austen’s characters espouse values and sentiments that still speak to modern sensibilities. No author has captured so vividly the affairs of hearts in conflict with class and social convention.This volume features four of Jane Austen’s best-loved works:
Sense and Sensibility
. The Dashwood sisters—Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret— follow their hearts and heads in varying degrees as they seek suitors appropriate for their affections.
Pride and Prejudice
. When obstinate Elizabeth Bennet clashes with the seemingly arrogant Fitzwilliam Darcy, sparks fly and eventually ignite what each must come to accept is the love of a perfectly matched couple.
Emma
. Confident and self-assured, willful Emma Woodhouse commits a series of social blunders that teach her how badly she misunderstands
her society and her own romantic yearnings.
Persuasion
. Seven years earlier Anne Elliot broke off her engagement to the man she loved. When the opportunity arises for her to renew their romance, will she overcome the social strictures that made her earlier match seem ill-conceived?