1) Sense & Sensibility
‘It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do. Or fail to do.’
Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters Elinore and Marianne. Each sister embodies a unique set of traits: Elinore is sense, discrete, and of sound judgment; while Marianne is sensibility, emotional, and impulsive. Through the lives and adventures of the two sisters in matters of love and relationships, Austen captures the need for both sense and sensibility in one’s life, the need for a heart that feels deeply and a mind that goes forth with caution.
2) Pride and Prejudice
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.'
One of Jane Austen’s most iconic works, Pride and Prejudice chronicles the lives of the Bennet sisters in Regency England Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia. The clock is ticking, and Jane and Elizabeth must find suitable husbands soon. Their mother is constantly fretting and scheming about how to find them rich husbands, while their witty and aloof but doting father does not seem as motivated to have them married away. With the arrival of Mr Bingley and his wealthy friend, Mr Darcy both single and quite suitable Mrs Bennet sets out to bend destiny in their favour. Pride and Prejudice, which Austen considered her own ‘darling child’, is a truly delightful and timeless book.
3) Mansfield Park
‘You have qualities which I had not before supposed to exist in such a degree in any human creature. You have some touches of the angel in you.’
At the age of ten, Frances ‘Fanny’ Price is sent to live with her uncle and aunt in Northamptonshire, where she is treated distantly by everyone but her cousin Edmund. One of Austen’s most moral and good-hearted protagonists, Fanny is as loving and nurturing as she is an astute judge of character. When the Crawford siblings enter their lives. Fanny seems to be the only one unaffected by their charms. Will she be able to keep her family safe from their seductive glamour? And will sincerity and character triumph over frivolous vanity?
4) Emma
‘Better be without sense than misapply it…’
Set in the fictitious village of Highbury, Jane Austen’s Emma is the story of a clever, albeit spoilt, woman Emma Woodhouse, who lives with her father. Emma is not an instantly likable girl; at first glance, she seems rather selfish and arrogant. The world around her, however, caters to her whims and fancies for the most part, except one Mr. Knightley who is frank in his judgment and opinion of her. Written with deft humour, Emma explores the hubris of class and youth, and the importance of maturity, discretion, and growing up.
5) Northanger Abbey
‘Oh! I am delighted with the book! I would like to spend my whole life reading it.’
Published posthumously, Northanger Abbey is, in fact, Jane Austen’s first novel. The shortest of her works, it is also the wittiest a light-hearted satire of Gothic novels, which were quite the rage at the time. There is the seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, who loves such books and readily believes such mysterious and dark events to be afoot in her world. There is John Thorpe vain and authoritative, and Henry Tilney charming and witty. And of course, there is Northanger Abbey, full of mystery, horror, and dark secrets or so Catherine would believe. This is a tale of growing up learning to understand the world, and ultimately finding happiness.
6) Persuasion
‘You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope...I have loved none but you.’
Jane Austen’s final finished novel, Persuasion, tells the story of two people Anne Elliot and Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth who were once betrothed and in love but parted ways under unfortunate circumstances. Eight years later, their paths cross again but shrouded in feelings of regret and bitterness. Amidst endless distractions and hurdles, will Anne and Frederick find their way back to each other? Will they be given a second chance at love? Narrated in Austen’s typical eloquent style witty and subtly sarcastic Persuasion is about love that evolves and matures in the face of life’s many difficulties.
