Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good character development of heroine
I would rank this one as the number 3 Austen book I've read, below Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I like the heroine because she was well-developed. She wasn't purely weak and selfless like many heroines from this genre. The love story was kind of anti-climactic, but I still liked it because it was also not typical of this genre. The heroine wasn't only about pursuing her love. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a break from the cookie-cutter story lines and character development of contemporary fiction.

Swan Song
Austen's last is one of the famed four -- Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and this novel, the most melancholy but also perhaps most romatic of the quartet.I also highly recommend the filmPersuasion

Jane Austen's Autumnal Final Work
For those familiar with Austen's work, Persuasion will be both familiar and somewhat different.All of Austen's works are simple romances, but this one is another unique part of her writing.In most of her novels, Austen had a young heroine, who is blocked from the hero by rivals.In Persuasion, the heroine is Anne Elliot, who is 27 and cannot marry the hero, Captain Wentworth, because of a previous aborted romance.Their history blocks them, but they still manage to overcome it.

Austen again manages to create believable characters with sharp wit.However, while good, this book in my opinion isn't in the same great class as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park or Emma.For me its partially because of its Autumnal air and its rather tiresomely familiar at times.Anne's father, Sir Walter Elliot's character is vanity from beginning to end.Why Austen chose to always have a negative father caricature is a mystery to me.The theme of the navy versus the nobility is also very prevalent.Other lesser characters, such as the Admiral and his wife, Lady Russell, William Elliot and Mrs. Smith are truly alive.So despite my misgivings, Austen sharpened her art enough for a book that makes a great read. It is a read that people will continue to experience for years to come.

A good, quick book
This was a typical Jane Austen love story and a well-written piece.I actually found it quite quick.My only gripe is that this story (compared to "Mansfield Park" or "Pride and Prejudice") is quite incomplete in descriptions about the mannerisms between some characters *at the time of their occurance* that, though explained fully in the last couple of chapters, a reader would not find them as easily recognizable as one would hope.I was slightly shocked to see the motives behind two of the characters.It was a good read but it did feel a little incomplete.

Austen's Materpiece
Austen created a literary treasure with this book. The story has all the the usual Austen charms, yet also deals with lost love, age and family pressures.Anne and Wemtworth are qonderful charecters. ... Read more

Product Description
Love and Freindship [sic] is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Jane Austen is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Jane Austen then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A delightfully, fiendishy funny Austen self parody!
I stumbled upon this little treasure after exhaustimg what I had thought were all of Miss Austen's writings. The piece offers a wonderful insight into Miss Austen's sensibilities (if I may...), her intelligence, her sense of humor and her highly commendable lack of reverance for anyone or anything.
I would term this an ESSENTIAL piece of writing to be read only after reading the well known Austen books.
On that note I am off to find her History of England which promises to be equally enertaining.

Book review for Love andFriendship [sic]
This book is a great sit down book and once your nose is in it then your nose will not want to com out. It is not to long but not to short it was a great reading and hopefully it will be the same for you:)

THE FRIENDSHIP CANT END TODAY!
you know when you lets say go to summer camp and you think your not going to make friends with new people. Well than yo get to camp and you see some nice girl sitting alone so you say hi than a whole friendship starts! my point is read this book and learn how to love your friends. FrIeNdShIp MaKeS ThE WoRlD Go RoUnD!!

A very immature work of a wonderful writer
There's a reason this did not appear during the author's lifetime.It was a juvenile piece, never intended for publication outside the family.It's typically self-conscious and very knowing. Written by a teenager, I recommend it only to die-hard Austen fans and scholars, and even we have to admit it's not great work!

A Peek Into Austen's Early Writing
Love and Freindship is a great collection of the early writings of Jane Austen. The preface to this work states they have not corrected the spelling, punctuation or odd capitalization Austen used in these pieces. I have been told the `i before e' rule was not in place during her time. I am not sure if this is true. She also spells - greif and beleif as such.

As a writer I LOVED reading the rough ramblings of Austen. She played with plot lines and character traits. So this title is not so much a full story but many snippets of ideas.

The first section of Love and Freindship is a funny, rambling tale told through letters. Imagine what a soap opera written by Austen would be like and you'll have it.
... Read more

Product Description
This is a new beautifully-designed edition of Jane Austen's best-selling classic NORTHANGER ABBEY. Large 6"x9" format, printed on high quality paper.Amazon.com Review
Though Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's earliest novels, itwas not published until after her death--well after she'd established herreputation with works such as Pride andPrejudice, Emma,andSense andSensibility. Of all her novels, this one is the most explicitlyliterary in that it is primarily concerned with books and with readers. Init, Austen skewers the novelistic excesses of her day made popular in such18th-century Gothic potboilers as Ann Radcliffe's TheMysteries of Udolpho. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysteriouschests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers all figure into NorthangerAbbey, but with a decidedly satirical twist. Consider Austen'sintroduction of her heroine: we are told on the very first page that "noone who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposedher born to be an heroine." The author goes on to explain that MissMorland's father is a clergyman with "a considerable independence, besidestwo good livings--and he was not in the least addicted to locking up hisdaughters." Furthermore, her mother does not die giving birth toher, and Catherine herself, far from engaging in "the more heroicenjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, orwatering a rose-bush" vastly prefers playing cricket with her brothers toany girlish pastimes.

Catherine grows up to be a passably pretty girl and is invited to spend afew weeks in Bath with a family friend. While there she meets Henry Tilneyand his sister Eleanor, who invite her to visit their family estate,Northanger Abbey. Once there, Austen amuses herself and us as Catherine, agreat reader of Gothic romances, allows her imagination to run wild,finding dreadful portents in the most wonderfully prosaic events. ButAusten is after something more than mere parody; she uses her rapier wit tomock not only the essential silliness of "horrid" novels, but to expose theeven more horrid workings of polite society, for nothing Catherine imaginescould possibly rival the hypocrisy she experiences at the hands of hersupposed friends. In many respects Northanger Abbey is the mostlighthearted of Jane Austen's novels, yet at its core is a serious,unsentimental commentary on love and marriage, 19th-century British style.--Alix Wilber ... Read more

Customer Reviews (147)

Now that speaks volumes...
So I thought that Pride and Prejudice was my favorite Jane Austen book. I was incredibly mistaken after reading Northanger Abbey. The story is told by Jane Austen herself.It is as if she was in the room with you reading it out loud. It is the only one of its kind. It really was a shock to know that this book was published so long after it was written and was one of the first novels she completed.As I found, this book was hardly re drafted, not like the other stories I believe.It is the closest we could ever get to Austen herself, the first instinctive writings we could ever read.Raw and powerful. When it was first published long ago it was some years later when it was written, Austen being the clever lady that she was made the story timeless,, so to speak as timeless goes .. that a women like me in the year 2010 could find enjoyment and humor in a book published so long ago. Now that speaks volumes...

Delightful
Jane Austen's first completed novel is lighter and more humorous in tone than her subsequent work.It is however, as beautifully written as that later work - there was, as always with Austen, a lot of rewriting before publication, which in this case was posthumous - and it is in no sense an inferior effort.

All her novels have a sly, subversive wit, but Northanger Abbey is the one in which she employs her humor more or less throughout, although darker elements emerge as the story develops.

It is basically a satire on the Gothic novel, a genre still familiar to us through movies, and makes particular reference to The Mysteries of Udolpho.You don't need to have read that to appreciate the humor; you just need to have some idea of what a Gothic story is, with its gloomy castles, secret chambers and dastardly deeds.In fact, in the episodes that take place in the abbey, the author shows herself very capable of building mystery and tension.She could have written a splendid Gothic horror.

Austen's extraordinary insight into human nature is already evident here.In chapter 5 of this book - which has more author intervention than any of her others - she presents a defense or justification of the novel as a literary form, in which she says, "...the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties...are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language".That is certainly true of Austen's own novels.

The Signet Classics edition has an introduction by Margaret Drabble which is more an excuse for Drabble to express some of her own prejudices.You certainly shouldn't read it before the novel, because it contains spoilers.The Afterword by Stephanie Laurens is much better and is worth reading.There are no end notes or footnotes to explain the many references and archaisms in the novel.I suspect there are other editions with better editorial content.

[PeterReeve]

I guess you have to like the genre
I was mildly amused at first, but as the novel bogged down halfway through, I couldn't help but wonder if there was ever going to be an ending?What trivial and boring lives Austen satirized. Yes, this is satire, but it is not high satire.It's barely noticeable satire. I finally put the book aside, not even caring if the heroine ever gets the man who makes her heart thrill, or any man at all.

Loved it
I loved Northanger Abbey before I read this edition. It's a very entertaining story, with wholly delighful characters. This edition is very beautiful, and comfortable to read with gorgeous wee pictures :-)

Reading with Tequila
Northanger Abbey is a classic, but is able to be read with an ease usually associated with light, modern novels. It must be remembered that Northanger Abbey is a parody which can be more difficult that it sounds. Reading Northanger Abbey from a modern viewpoint and taking the action and dialogue seriously can quickly annoy the reader.

Catherine isn't very worldly and has learned of the world through the books she has read. When she goes on a trip with her neighbors, she meets Tilney and falls in love instantly. Much goes on in the love lives of all of the younger people in the books, but most obvious is Catherine's utter innocent and naivety. More often than not, her doe-eyed charm is grating rather than endearing.

Northanger Abbey is best when the characters discuss novels and reading. A lot of debate is put forth as to the worth of fiction and this discussion will strike a chord with most book lovers. Looking at it in a more specific light, this book delves a lot into the concept of the Gothic novel and readers may find themselves completely lost if they have no prior knowledge on the subject. The bulk of the humor stemming the parody aspect of the book is a take on this Gothic theme, so those who don't know the basics will miss this as well.

The romance in Northanger Abbey can't be taken seriously, because taken at face value the love story is unconvincing, bordering on ridiculous. While Northanger Abbey feels like a casual read, a lot has to be brought to the novel in order to fully appreciate and enjoy it. While Northanger Abbey provides decent entertainment, those looking for a good Austen novel would fair better with Emma or Pride and Prejudice. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a new beautifully-designed edition of Jane Austen's best-selling classic SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. 6"x9" large format. Printed on high quality paAmazon.com Review
Though not the first novel she wrote, Sense and Sensibility wasthe first Jane Austen published. Though she initially called itElinor and Marianne, Austen jettisoned both the title and theepistolary mode in which it was originally written, but kept theessential theme: the necessity of finding a workable middle groundbetween passion and reason. The story revolves around the Dashwoodsisters, Elinor and Marianne. Whereas the former is a sensible, rationalcreature, her younger sister is wildly romantic--a characteristic thatoffers Austen plenty of scope for both satire and compassion. Commentingon Edward Ferrars, a potential suitor for Elinor's hand, Marianne admitsthat while she "loves him tenderly," she finds him disappointing as apossible lover for her sister:

Oh! Mama, how spiritless, how tame was Edward's manner in reading to uslast night! I felt for my sister most severely. Yet she bore it with somuch composure, she seemed scarcely to notice it. I could hardly keep myseat. To hear those beautiful lines which have frequently almost drivenme wild, pronounced with such impenetrable calmness, such dreadfulindifference!

Customer Reviews (198)

bratty girl
I've been a fan of Austen for 20 years and this is one of my favorites. It can appear to be a little stilted due to the time period it was written in, but the story is timeless and that's why movies keep getting made with it as a base story. I do have to admit that I think Marienne is a spoiled brat who doesn't know a good man when she sees him. Always go for substance over lipstick!

A Tale of Two Sisters
Sense & Sensibility tells the story of the Dashwood sisters: Elinor-the level headed elder sister and Marianne the impulsive, emotional sister. When the girls' father dies unexpectedly, they and their mother are obliged to move out of their house now occupied by their half brother John and his self centered wife Fanny. They are offered a cottage at Barton by a distant relative which while cozy, suits the Dashwood women well.

Elinor wonders if she saw more into the attachment she formed with Fanny's brother Edward before they departed their old home. Marianne meets the dashing Willoughby and soon falls in love with him but suffers great heartache when he abandons her unexpectedly. The Dashwood sisters spend the next three months at numerous social engagements. Elinor discovers that Edward had a courtship with another woman while Marianne finds that Willoughby was not who she thought. She is so distraught at the turn of events that she rebuffs the affections of the kind Colonel Brandon.

Growing tired of the social scene in London , Elinor and Marianne agree to leave for Cleveland , the estate of one of their acquaintances. On the way Marianne falls gravely ill. Colonel Brandon confesses his true feeling for her but it remains to be seen if the girls will find a true happy ending or not.

Jane Austen can always be relied on for a good romance story with subtle nuances. I really enjoyed the characters of Elinor and Marianne as their personalities reminded me a lot of me and my older sister. The cast of characters are what you would expect for the time period and for a Jane Austen novel-the deserving girls who fall on multiple misfortunes in their lives, the snooty society people who refuse to accept them, the silly society girls, the handsome gentleman who is secretly a rogue and the dashing gentleman (or men) who come in at the end to sweep the much loved heroines off their feet.

I find the whole courtship rituals of this time period fascinating. This book also provided a few twists to keep it interesting. Even minor misunderstandings (such as Mrs. Jennings, the older woman the girls are travelling with mistaking some good news delivered to Elinor by Colonel Brandon as a marriage proposal) are well played. I don't think this one was quite as good as Pride and Prejudice as that book and its irreplaceable Mr. Darcy will always hold a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf but I really enjoyed this one.

What a book!
"Sense and Sensibility" is a book about two girls who are looking for someone to love. I believe that this can relate to a lot of girls in today's culture. All of the girls in today's culture are always looking for love. They are always seeking for a boyfriend. This book is about two older women who are searching for the love of someone. This book can also relate to the lives of people today because it is about broken hearts and finding the right person. A lot of people today think that the first boy that they date, they are going to marry. That is not true in a lot of cases and that is a lesson that can be learned from this book.
This book is about two sisters. Marianne and Elinor are both looking for someone to marry. They are at the age when it is time for them to be married and that is what they want. In the beginning of the book, Elinor has fallen for a man named Edward Ferrars. He is a respectable gentlemen who Elinor falls on love with at first site. When Elinor and her family move away, he promises to come and see them soon. He never comes and only sends a letter. This makes Elinor very upset. While all of this is happening, Marianne meets a man. His name is John Willoughby. He is also very respectable and helps Marianne when she falls down. He carries her home because she cannot walk. This is when it happens. When John meets her family, they instantly like him. He hangs around and is then called out of town. Then, before they know it, Willoughby is called out of town.

When the two sisters go into town for a few months, they hear some devastating news. They hear that Willoughby is marrying another woman and so is Edward. This devastates both of the girls and they are in a wreck. In the end, They both ended up getting married. You will have to read the book to see how the end turns out because I don't want to give away the ending for those of you who have not read it yet.

In the end, The book was good and I would recommend it to some people. I would not recommend it to all people because as I would put it: "The book is a chick flick". I would recommend this book to people who like romance and fiction. This book I think would best fit teenage girls. This is what I feel about the book.

Kindle edition--easy (and free) to read
The Kindle edition was well-formatted with only two recurring issues:(1) every 4-5 pages or so, some sentences or phrases were repeated on separate lines near (but not perfectly next to) where they first appeared or were about to appear, but they were easy to spot and ignore; and (2) bracketed numbers appeared occasionally within the text, but it was unclear what they referred to. Content includes table of contents with chapter titles and a somewhat antiquated preface (not by Austen, of course) from the out-of-copyright text.

With respect to the content itself, Austen's story and story-telling is amusing and witty, her language is ornate and sometimes a bit tedious, and most (though not all) of the characters are sketched vividly. This was the first Austen book I've read (and the first she published), but I rather doubt it would have remained so popular without the success of her other books; I would recommend Pride and Prejudice or another of her books as a first read. Nevertheless, though I'm primarily a non-fiction reader and a reader of science fiction and adventure otherwise, I found the book to be enjoyable and very satisfying.

A great and easy read
I've read only Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen before, and I am a huge lover of that novel. As such I've been somewhat (stupidly) hesitant to read other Austen novels - for surely nothing could live up to that book!

I finally have read Sense and Sensibility and I am sorry that I did not read it earlier. I must say that S&S was a very easy and accessible book to read. The plot wasn't overly complex and it did not feel bogged down and dense like some old classic novels can. I think this would be a great book for someone who wants to read classics but who is worried or scared to.

The two main characters are easy to love and I was wondering what would happen the whole way through. Without saying anything specific, Austen kept me on my toes and I was very satisfied with the ending.

Now I'm off to read more of Austen's books! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery
Jane Austen. Her name is practically synonymous with classic, understated romance, as well as comedies of manners with a subtle, sly sense of humor.

And the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Austen's "The Complete Novels" brings together the full complement of Austen's finished novels, from the little-known "Lady Susan" to the classic bestseller "Pride and Prejudice" (and everything in between). This collection is flled with lovably flawed heroines, beautiful formal prose, and some rather unconventional love stories.

"Pride and Prejudice" become a problem when Elizabeth Bennett takes a dislike to the handsome, aloof Mr. Darcy -- and her prejudice against him builds after he sabotages her sister's love match, and the charming Wickham drops some shocking claims about Darcy's nastiness. But the facts are very different -- and when scandal hits the Bennett family, Darcy may be their only hope. And "Sense and Sensibility" clash when the two very different Dashwood sisters, smart Elinor and romantic Marianne, both fall in love -- one with a man she can't have, and the other with a guy who may be horribly unsuitable.

Anne Elliott has a problem with "Persuasion," since she was once engaged to the impoverished sailor Frederick Wentworth, but was persuaded to break it off. Now he's returned from war as a wealthy hero... and Anne still loves him. "Mansfield Park" is the backdrop for shy Fanny's life with her rich relatives, who usually treat her as a servant -- except for her kindly cousin, Edmund. But when the flirtatious, fashionable Crawfords arrive in the neighborhood, it unbalances the lives of everyone at Mansfield Park.

And "Northanger Abbey" is a fitting location for Austen's spoof on gothic romances, in which the hyperimaginative Catherine Moreland is taken under the wing of the Tilney family, and especially handsome Henry -- and learns a lesson about the difference between fantasy and reality. "Emma" is a frothy romantic comedy about a rich, somewhat spoiled young lady who tries to arrange the lives of people around her so that everyone is happy. The problem is, life isn't that simple -- and neither is love. And as an addition to Austen's main body of work, this edition includes the novella "Lady Susan," who is sort of the evil sociopathic twin of Emma -- a brilliant and manipulative widow who seduces, plots and schemes. Yummy stuff.

The omnibus collection displays the range and depth of Austen's writing skill beautifully; though each story is very unique they're laced together by common themes. Except for "Lady Susan," each story is a love story, tempered with some clever commentary on the society of Austen's day (example: entailment, which plays a part in several plots), and a biting, sharp-edged wit (the mockery of the toadying Mr. Collins and the obnoxious Elliott family).

And despite the formal stuffiness of the time, Austen painted her stories vividly -- there's a bit of roughness in "Lady Susan" and "Persuasion," but nothing too dramatic. Each one has powerful emotions and vivid splashes of prose ("The wind roared round the house, and the rain beat against the windows"), as well as deliciously witty dialogue ("I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine"). But she also weaves in some intensely romantic moments as well ("Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you").

Austen also had an interesting range of heroines -- quiet ones, melodramatic ones, intelligent ones, naive ones, and mildly spoiled ones who think they know best. But each one has a major character flaw that must be overcome before she can find true love and happiness And she has an equally fascinating range of love interests: the quiet shy Colonel Brandon, the sexy and clever Henry Tilney, the blunt Mr. Knightley, the generous and honest Edmund, and especially the smart, sexy Mr. Darcy (who has a flaw of his own to overcome alongside Lizzie).

Jane Austen's "Complete Novels" draws together all her finished novels, and let readers explore the mannered society and obstacle-filled love lives of her heroines.

What the kindle was meant for
I had a copy of the Complete Illustrated Novels of Jane Austen before I bought the Kindle.It was a pain to have to drag the 1200+ page book around with me.The book itself is easy to use, and it's great to have all the novels together.This was the first book I bought on the Kindle and I'm really happy with it. Thank you, Kindle, for lightening my purse considerably!

With Austen You Can't Go Wrong!
What a wonderful book to give, receive and to read and read again.One of my all time favorites.Highly recommended.

Loved the book, but one drawback for the Kindle.
I appreciated rereading Austen's work over the summer, and it was a natural choice for me to get it on my new Kindle.The pages look great and the type is adjustable.The one drawback was the size of the illustrations.Condensed onto the Kindle's screen they were difficult to appreciate.The fact that the book in e-version is so light to carry made up for this.It also made a difference in that the Kindle helped me look up the word "eclaircissement" as I was reading it.

Novels by Jane Austen ~ Kindle eBook
Complete Illustrated Novels by Jane Austen
I love Jane Austen. This is an excellent ebook to have. Kindle friendly edition from Mobilereference. THANKS! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a beautiful new edition of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". Complete and unabridged. Printed on high quality paper.Amazon.com Review
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick,"Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride andPrejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. And certainlywhat Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing theintricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British matingrituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye.As usual, Austen trainsher sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, theBennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley,a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is evenricher. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival asan opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley iscomplaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy,however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and theuntoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see thetrue worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive prideoffends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other peoplehave to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in thevillage, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall onfertile ground.

Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then bringsin her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, thesycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her bestfriend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy'sinsufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth'slow-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedycomes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classesand economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so manysocial interactions. And though the novel is rife with romanticmisunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and arequisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets socarried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economicrealities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages forpenniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy,who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she firstbegan to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly knowwhen it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing hisbeautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than alittle truth to her sentiment, as well.Jane Austen considered ElizabethBennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers ofPride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --AlixWilber ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1110)

History buffs, take note! But, if you're into a "quick read," pass...
This is a wonderful work that definitely is a window into the life of the 18th century. However, the reading of it is bogged down a little because of the speech ( wonderful, but tedious at the same time). Not for immediate gratification people but I will be reading all her works in due time...

NOT a children's version
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JMLFLW/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

This puzzles me: In a society in which (a) Jane Austen is more popular than ever; and (b) more than half of all babies born in the United States are born out of wedlock, how can a book remain this popular when the key sentence to the entire book is this:

"But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture."

Pride and Prejudice, to the best of my knowledge, has not been out of print in over 200 years. That means that not only is it telling an entertaining tale, it is also calling to something deep in the readers' souls. Examination of available books shows that at least a dozen sequels to it have been written; I have reviewed one and will soon review another, but I am not going to buy and read all of them. Therefore I might be missing something I would enjoy.

But what I am not missing is this: Jane Austen believed in sense and sobriety. She believed that the happiest marriage was one between a man and woman who were intellectually and spiritually in tune with one another.

To the readers, I say: Go thou and do likewise. Read the book. Then do what Elizabeth and Jane wold approve, and you will find yourself happier in the long run than those who ignore the principles Pride and Prejudice is meant to exhibit.

Shallow and Pretentious
I understand that Pride and Prejudice is an honored classic.However, for me personally, I finally listened to myself and put the book away after reading about half of the story.The problem is that the characters are shallow and pretentious, and are simply not very likable or compelling. I think the novel, with all its gossipy nature, is the 1812 version of celebrity gossip television shows.

I have read most of the English classics from the 1800s, including truly great romance novels such as Wuthering Heights or Tess of the D'UrberVilles, but sadly, found Pride and Prejudice to be boring and not worth my time. Full disclosure, as a middle-aged male, I may not actually be the target audience for the book. However, it should appeal to young women about the same age as the protagonists.

Austen's masterpiece
I've been a fan of Austen for 20 years and this is one of my favorites. It can appear to be a little stilted due to the time period it was written in, but the story is timeless and that's why movies keep getting made with it as a base story. This is my all time favorite Austen story!

Beloved Classic
I never tire of this story. Give me a romance based on humility any day!

Rather than review Pride and Prejudice or Jane Austen, I would like to compliment Bethany House Publishers on the margin notes in this Insight Edition. The editors supplemented this beloved classic with notes on historical and cultural details, facts from Austen's life that parallel or illuminate the novel, modern (including films) references, tips for love, themes of faith, comments on the characters and plot, and "parts of the novel that just make us smile." ... Read more

Product Description
Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen and first published in 1813. The novel follows the principal character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, moral rightness, education, and marriage in her aristocratic society of early 19th century England. Although set in early Victorian England, the story retains a fascination for modern readers as reflected in the novel's enduring popularity. This publication of Pride and Prejudice is part of the Qualitas Classics Fireside Series, where pure, ageless classics are presented in clean, easy to read reprints. For a complete list of titles, see: http://www.qualitaspublishing.comAmazon.com Review
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick,"Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride andPrejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. And certainlywhat Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing theintricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British matingrituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye.As usual, Austen trainsher sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, theBennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley,a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is evenricher. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival asan opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley iscomplaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy,however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and theuntoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see thetrue worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive prideoffends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other peoplehave to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in thevillage, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall onfertile ground.

Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then bringsin her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, thesycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her bestfriend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy'sinsufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth'slow-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedycomes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classesand economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so manysocial interactions. And though the novel is rife with romanticmisunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and arequisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets socarried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economicrealities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages forpenniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy,who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she firstbegan to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly knowwhen it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing hisbeautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than alittle truth to her sentiment, as well.Jane Austen considered ElizabethBennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers ofPride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --AlixWilber ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1110)

History buffs, take note! But, if you're into a "quick read," pass...
This is a wonderful work that definitely is a window into the life of the 18th century. However, the reading of it is bogged down a little because of the speech ( wonderful, but tedious at the same time). Not for immediate gratification people but I will be reading all her works in due time...

NOT a children's version
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JMLFLW/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

This puzzles me: In a society in which (a) Jane Austen is more popular than ever; and (b) more than half of all babies born in the United States are born out of wedlock, how can a book remain this popular when the key sentence to the entire book is this:

"But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture."

Pride and Prejudice, to the best of my knowledge, has not been out of print in over 200 years. That means that not only is it telling an entertaining tale, it is also calling to something deep in the readers' souls. Examination of available books shows that at least a dozen sequels to it have been written; I have reviewed one and will soon review another, but I am not going to buy and read all of them. Therefore I might be missing something I would enjoy.

But what I am not missing is this: Jane Austen believed in sense and sobriety. She believed that the happiest marriage was one between a man and woman who were intellectually and spiritually in tune with one another.

To the readers, I say: Go thou and do likewise. Read the book. Then do what Elizabeth and Jane wold approve, and you will find yourself happier in the long run than those who ignore the principles Pride and Prejudice is meant to exhibit.

Shallow and Pretentious
I understand that Pride and Prejudice is an honored classic.However, for me personally, I finally listened to myself and put the book away after reading about half of the story.The problem is that the characters are shallow and pretentious, and are simply not very likable or compelling. I think the novel, with all its gossipy nature, is the 1812 version of celebrity gossip television shows.

I have read most of the English classics from the 1800s, including truly great romance novels such as Wuthering Heights or Tess of the D'UrberVilles, but sadly, found Pride and Prejudice to be boring and not worth my time. Full disclosure, as a middle-aged male, I may not actually be the target audience for the book. However, it should appeal to young women about the same age as the protagonists.

Austen's masterpiece
I've been a fan of Austen for 20 years and this is one of my favorites. It can appear to be a little stilted due to the time period it was written in, but the story is timeless and that's why movies keep getting made with it as a base story. This is my all time favorite Austen story!

Beloved Classic
I never tire of this story. Give me a romance based on humility any day!

Rather than review Pride and Prejudice or Jane Austen, I would like to compliment Bethany House Publishers on the margin notes in this Insight Edition. The editors supplemented this beloved classic with notes on historical and cultural details, facts from Austen's life that parallel or illuminate the novel, modern (including films) references, tips for love, themes of faith, comments on the characters and plot, and "parts of the novel that just make us smile." ... Read more

Product Description
Jane Austen is without question, one of England's most enduring and skilled novelists. With her wit, social precision, and unerring ability to create some of literature's most charismatic and believable heroines, she mesmerises her readers as much today as when her novels were first published.
Whether it is her sharp, ironic gaze at the Gothic genre invoked by the adventures of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey; the diffident and much put-upon Fanny Price struggling to cope with her emotions in Mansfield Park; her delightfully paced comedy of manners and the machinations of the sisters Elinor and Marianne in Sense and Sensibility; the quiet strength of Anne Elliot in Persuasion succeeding in a world designed to subjugate her very existence; and Emma - 'a heroine whom no one but myself will like' teased Austen - yet another irresistible character on fire with imagination and foresight. Indeed not unlike her renowned creator.
Jane Austen is as sure-footed in her steps through society's whirlpools of convention and prosaic mores as she is in her sometimes restrained but ever precise and enduring prose. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

The Complete Jane Austen
I was very pleased with this purchase.It arrived on time and in wonderful condition!

Thick book, thin fragile pages
I love Pride and Prejudice, so I thought I'd try out Jane Austen's other novels. I started with Mansfield Park. It was very difficult to get through. I gave up halfway. I may return to it if the mood hits me.

Better to stick with Pride and Prejudice
There are not many books I finish that I regret reading but I'm sorry I read through a version of Jane Austin's complete novels. I always preferred "Pride and Prejudice" to "Emma" (although Clueless did a lot for Emma) but Austen's other heroines leave a lot to be desired and the claustrophobic atmosphere of society and poverty close in around one. I much preferred my less realistic view of her characters when I'd read "Pride" and abandoned "Emma".

The complete works of Jane Austen
Great series.If you love her movies, the stories are even better.I read most when I was younger, but was delighted to reaquaint myself.Print is small so be prepared for that.I didnt' have a problem reading it and I am 71 with glasses.Enjoy, Sandi Shields

Jane Austen novels
Composite book of the Jane Austen novels - in wonderful shape.I purchased it for a gift and was very pleased! ... Read more

Product Description
The Complete Works of Jane Austen contains all her writings in one, convenient ebook.

Major works: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion.

Minor and unfinished works: Sanditon, The Watsons, and Lady Susan.

Juvenilia: Frederic & Elfrida, Love and Freindship, Lesley Castle, The History of England, A Collection of Letters, Scraps ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Nice Kindle Version
This is a nice version for Kindle.It has a great navigable table of contents.It does not have the Watsons and a few other more obscure writings, but it does have Lady Susan which another reviewer said it did not have.It also has a few early letters.Jane Austen is a skilled observer of human nature and has a keen ear for dialogue.I love her writings for their comments on human nature and relationships, and the snappy dialogue.Happy to have her almost-complete works on my Kindle.I think it will satisfy most readers.

Jane Austin fan
Great to be able to purchase the complete works and what a bargain.Read them over and over.

Missing what it is supposed to contain
I received this book today very excited because I love Jane Austen and was very interested in reading her letters and unfinished works.

I am sad to say that this book does NOT contain the following:

Minor and unfinished works: Sanditon, The Watsons, and Lady Susan.

Juvenilia: Frederic & Elfrida, Love and Freindship, Lesley Castle, The History of England, A Collection of Letters, Scraps --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition. nfinished works.I have already read all but one of her completed works.I am sad to say it does not contain

It does state that the book contains this, in the description.Don't be fooled.

can't beat the price
You can't beat the price on this but one thing I found annoying was that you don't see the title of the book you are actually reading, because the title of this book comes up as "Complete works of jane austen....), not Emma or Pride and Prejudice. That kept throwing me off.I might have looked for another source to get each individual book for free just because of that.

Jane Austen
This is an excelent English classic literature book. There are six novels in one book. It is thick with 1098 pages, but easy to manipulate. There dosen't seem to be any typos or mispelled words.I gave it five stars, but would have given it six if I could. It was published by Magpie Books, London. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a new beautifully-designed edition of Jane Austen's best-selling classic PERSUASION. 6"x9" large format. Printed on high quality paper.Amazon.com Review
Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something wecan all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. Inthis case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted familyfriend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, socialstationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some sevenyears after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. Butthen the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. Asalways, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help butallow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (207)

More mature characters=very satisfying story
At 27, Anne Elliot doesn't have any reason to suspect she will ever be married. Her dad, Sir Walter, another of the ineffectual fathers in the Jane Austen canon (Mr. Bennett is sharp-witted and has a certain charm, but he praises his smart kids while making fun of his dumb kids and not even attempting to help shape their characters; Mr. Dashwood isn't perceptive enough to know that his daughters will be left destitute after his death, thanks to his weak-willed eldest son; Mr. Woodhouse is a slightly dotty hypochondriac, etc.), is obsessed with his own importance and appearance, and doesn't have hopes for Anne's ever making a flattering alliance. Anne herself has only loved once, but she was persuaded to turn down Frederick Wentworth's proposal, since he was a young man in the navy and had no rank or fortune. Anne never gets over Frederick, and when he re-enters her social circle eight years later as Captain Wentworth, she has to try to quiet her feelings as he entertains other young ladies, because she knows he can't possibly retain any affection for her. In this incredibly moving final Austen novel, a worthy, mature heroine and a worthy, mature hero find love after almost a decade apart.

It's important to note that Anne's flaw isn't pride. Her problems arise not from thinking she's better than Captain Wentworth, but from thinking she's not as smart or perceptive as her friend Lady Russell, who convinced her to turn down his proposal. Lady Russell is a true friend, though, and while she inadvertently put Anne in a horrible, lonely position, her intentions were kind and she couldn't have known that quiet Anne wouldn't get any more desirable offers of marriage, or that Sir Walter would fritter away the family resources, putting Anne at an even further social disadvantage. But whatever hardships she might have endured as a young wife, Anne now believes she would have been much happier if she'd married, especially since by this point in time, Anne isn't even valued by her own family. Her father is especially caught up in his own status as a baronet, which is hilarious when you consider that "baronet" is the lowest rank in the peerage system--it actually exists in the societal no-mans-land beneath the peers of the realm and above the merchant class, and is a purchased title that only existed because King James I needed money and wealthy commoners wanted to buy a higher station in life.

If Captain Wentworth seems a bit cold in his behavior toward Anne, he has ample reasons. The woman he loved basically rejected him because he couldn't provide for her--this is not like being turned down for a coffee date, it's a wounding event. But as the two of them get reacquainted with each others' characters, it becomes apparent how complimentary their personalities are. Anne is sweet, smart, and agreeable, helps everyone, is great with kids, is an aid to the sick (and also to people like her sister Mary who are only under the impression that they're sick), while Captain Wentworth is a stronger, more dynamic person who still has a practical side. Little things like him helping her into a carriage while she's exhausted or tending to her boisterous toddler nephew when the child won't leave her alone to tend to his sick brother show Captain Wentworth's care for her. Also, the episode with the kids makes this the only Austen novel I can recall that explicitly shows the potential parenting skills of the main couple--she will be gentle enough to nurture a young family, and he will be forceful enough to discipline them, so in they'll be successful in this venture, too.

Though Anne and Captain Wentworth think they would have been much better off if they'd married when they were first in love, I tend to think of their circumstance as a literary case of felix culpa, the "fortunate fall," where misfortunes add up to make for a much happier ending than could be achieved otherwise. Anne and Fredrick will never take each other for granted, because they know what it's like to live long, joyless years alone. Their happiness is all the more triumphant because they've known sadness, which makes Persuasion all the more moving and believable as a novel.

"You perce my soul, I'm half agony, half hope"WOOOW!!
I'm slowly becoming a Jane Austen fan. My first book was Pride and Prejudice and then I decided to give 'Persuasion' a shot...and I'm glad I did!

This book tells the story of Anne Elliot. A woman of 28 who found love at 21 and lost it because she was persuaded by the family friend and her own family. But the story starts when she sees her former love eight and a half years later...it's a great journey.

Captain Wentworth's letter just made me bawl like a baby!!!

Amazing book, glad I picked it up!

Inspiring!
Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth were happily in love and ready to be married - until Anne's friend Lady Russel persuades her that Captain Wentworth, a poor man in the army, is not the man for her. Eight years later, however, society brings them together again. Anne still loves him, and she must divulge if he still loves her, a hard task considering all the lovely young women who would do anything to marry the handsome and now wealthy Captain. Persuasion is a story filled with jealousy and uncertainty, as well as passion, simple joy, and a powerful, unconditional love.


Persuasion is my third Austen novel (the first being Pride and Prejudice, then Sense and Sensibility); I loved it. It kept me up late at night - midnight and later. I finished it in four days, which is a record for me as I do not read classics very quickly.

In one word, I would say this is a simple book, in the best sense. It is written well and the way the events of the story are played out build the characters' personalities, their way of living. The story progresses in just a way that mirrors Anne's feelings for Wentworth... In the beginning, there is no word of a Captain Wentworth, and Anne's life is happy. At least, on the outside. As everything falls into place, however, Anne becomes more and more unnerved and unable to conceal her love, the love she's had all along. The tension between the Captain and Anne Elliot was substantial and realistic. I was very impressed and am every excited to read and re-read all of Austen's wonderful novels. They're sitting on my shelf...waiting!

yearningtoread on blogspot

Extremely Disappointed
I almost feel ashamed that I did not like this book, after all it is Jane Austin! I loved Pride and Predujice, I loved Emma but I found Persuasion tedious. The charaters were not interesting, the story rather disjointed and lackluster. I made myself finish it thinking perhaps it would get better, it did not.

A Wonderful Classic Novel
Ms. Austen writes a fantastic story for the most part. The gossip was a little much at times. And the stereotypical situations and feelings were accurate even if a little annoying. The story flowed fairly well. I was impressed with keeping all the different characters and traits separate. Just a lot going on and different story lines. I was impressed with how much was in the book and everything was wrapped up neatly. Some things hadn't happened yet but you knew what was going to happen.

I truly felt for Anne. She was trying to follow the influence of a friend since her mother was dead. I understand but she finally had to figure out for herself what was right and stick to it. Things seemed to go better now that she was older. Family and friends didn't fight things for her so much. Of her family members I loved her older sister Mary the best. She had her moments where she would get "sick" or get frustrated with her husband for making plans when plans were already made. But she had to learn to speak up as well. The women just kind of sat back and did nothing sometimes.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. The drama was a little bit overwhelming but I had to find out how it ended. I wanted to know if Anne and Fredrick would end up together. I could see how things would all play out or at least how I hoped it would end up. Ms. Austen is an amazing author and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
... Read more

Product Description
Six peoplefive women and a manmeet once a month in California's Central Valley to discuss Jane Austen's novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but each of them is wounded in different ways, they are all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitableunder the guiding eye of Jane Austen a couple of them even fall in love 'A thoroughly delightful comedy of contemporary manners' Entertainment Weekly ... Read more

Customer Reviews (310)

What Good Storytelling is All About
This story revolves around the monthly meetings of six people, five women and one man, who gather to discuss Jane Austen's novels. The are: Jocelyn, their leader who is a single dog breeder; Bernadette, a loquacious sixty-seven-year-old woman who has been married several times; Purdie, a married French teacher; Sylvia who has been dumped after thirty-two years of marriage; Allegra, Sylvia's gay daughter and Grigg, the only male in the group. Together they form the "Central Valley/River City all-Jane-Austen-all-the-time book club."

As the chapters roll by, Ms. Fowler uses a different Jane Austen novel to bring one of the six members to life. We learn that Jocelyn has horrible memories of being abandoned by her parents and of abuse when she was young. She got the club together mainly to cheer up Sylvia, whose husband has just asked for a divorce. We learn that Allegra is self-centered and addicted to thrill sports and is upset because her partner has stolen her stories, submitted them and had them rejected. We see Bernadette, an elderly woman who acts a bit nutty, talking aimlessly, because she believes she over the hill. We watch Purdie as she fights to keep from falling apart. And then there is Grigg, who was unwanted by the group at first, but in the end wins the group over. He is a man who is strangely single.

The members grow and change as they face their own challenges dealing with life and death, friendship and love, subjects that made Jane Austen such a fine storyteller, subjects that make Ms. Fowler one as well. It's been a week since I've finished this novel and still I can't keep these people out of my mind. They sneak in at the oddest times. I wonder about them, they are so real and that is what good storytelling is all about.

Ho Hum.......
I'm on page 159 of The Jane Austen Book Club, and I'm not sure I'm
going to finish it.Being a book lover, having read the great
reviews on the front and back covers, and having always wanted to
be in a book club, I was eager to read this book.Granted, I'm
not a Jane Austen enthusiast per se.I did read Sense and
Sensibility, saw the movie, saw Pride and Prejudice, (alright,
alright you Austen fans don't bash me too badly...), both of
which I liked very much, and have Persuasion on my bookshelf
for a future read.Since I'm not well-acquainted with Austen,
I wouldn't presume to dissect or criticize the author's references
to her books.I expected the JA Book Club to tweak my curiousity
about Austen's books, as well as provide a good read in itself.
That wasn't the case.
I found the story to be a meandering non-story and the characters
to be self-involved and annoyingly "quirky".I've kept reading just
because the book is an easy enough quick read, not because I feel
any particular curiosity about the characters or sympathy with them.
I've given it two stars only because I've managed to read it this far.
Luckily Austen's popularity, reputation, and immortality don't depend
on this trite book for support.

Don't bother
Since I love Jane Austen books, I thought this would be similarly enjoyable.Sadly, it was not.

Movie Is Better
Let me preface this review by saying that I bought the movie first. I found the movie to be engaging, funny, charming and truly worthy of any Austen fan.

The book, however, is none of those. It is boring, a struggle to get through and had I bought the book first I would have never bought the movie.

The movie presented a balance of the characters lives versus the disussions of the novels themselves. The book is more about the characters and less about the novels.

In short, had I known, I would have never purchased the book and been content with the movie.

occasionally witty
At first this seemed like a formulaic "chick lit" book with unmemorable characters.Even though I still think the characters were not all that memorable, the book did get better as I read on.Fowler has a wit that occasionally comes out; I didn't have any huge belly laughs but every so often there was a modest, five-second laugh. ... Read more

Product Description
Jane Austen is without question, one of England's most enduring and skilled novelists. With her wit, social precision, and unerring ability to create some of literature's most charismatic and believable heroines, she mesmerises her readers as much today as when her novels were first published. Whether it is her sharp, ironic gaze at the Gothic genre invoked by the adventures of Catherine Morland in "Northanger Abbey"; the diffident and much put-upon Fanny Price struggling to cope with her emotions in "Mansfield Park"; her delightfully paced comedy of manners and the machinations of the sisters Elinor and Marianne in "Sense and Sensibility"; the quiet strength of Anne Elliot in "Persuasion" succeeding in a world designed to subjugate her very existence; and Emma - 'a heroine whom no one but myself will like' teased Austen - yet another irresistible character on fire with imagination and foresight.Indeed not unlike her renowned creator, Jane Austen is as sure-footed in her steps through society's whirlpools of convention and prosaic mores as she is in her sometimes restrained but ever precise and enduring prose. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Complete Novels of Jane Austen
I bought this for our home library. The cover is almost linen like and the pages are nice and heavy not thin paper so to speak. Beautiful book!

Do not buy from this company!!!!!!!!
It took forever to get this book.Contacting them was impossible.The book itself is as big as a dictionary but a great book.

The Complete Novels of Jane Austen
I had seen several of her books made into movies but never read her novels (what a travesty!).Although I loved the movies and BBC mini series, it was just not the same as reading the original works.I'm loving the books, but do find the bulk a little much sometimes.Not really something you take to the doctor's office to read while you're waiting (smile). I definitely love it's look and of course the content, but think I'll also order them individually for re-reading.Great price and wonderful quality.

Loved these books.
I decided that I would read all of these books that I hated in High School, now 10 years later.I have found a new appreciation for the classics.Great Books!

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery
Jane Austen. Her name is practically synonymous with classic, understated romance, as well as comedies of manners with a subtle, sly sense of humor.

AndAusten's "The Complete Novels" brings together the full complement of Austen's finished novels, from the little-known "Lady Susan" to the classic bestseller "Pride and Prejudice" (and everything in between). This collection is flled with lovably flawed heroines, beautiful formal prose, and some rather unconventional love stories.

"Pride and Prejudice" become a problem when Elizabeth Bennett takes a dislike to the handsome, aloof Mr. Darcy -- and her prejudice against him builds after he sabotages her sister's love match, and the charming Wickham drops some shocking claims about Darcy's nastiness. But the facts are very different -- and when scandal hits the Bennett family, Darcy may be their only hope. And "Sense and Sensibility" clash when the two very different Dashwood sisters, smart Elinor and romantic Marianne, both fall in love -- one with a man she can't have, and the other with a guy who may be horribly unsuitable.

Anne Elliott has a problem with "Persuasion," since she was once engaged to the impoverished sailor Frederick Wentworth, but was persuaded to break it off. Now he's returned from war as a wealthy hero... and Anne still loves him. "Mansfield Park" is the backdrop for shy Fanny's life with her rich relatives, who usually treat her as a servant -- except for her kindly cousin, Edmund. But when the flirtatious, fashionable Crawfords arrive in the neighborhood, it unbalances the lives of everyone at Mansfield Park.

And "Northanger Abbey" is a fitting location for Austen's spoof on gothic romances, in which the hyperimaginative Catherine Moreland is taken under the wing of the Tilney family, and especially handsome Henry -- and learns a lesson about the difference between fantasy and reality. "Emma" is a frothy romantic comedy about a rich, somewhat spoiled young lady who tries to arrange the lives of people around her so that everyone is happy. The problem is, life isn't that simple -- and neither is love. And as an addition to Austen's main body of work, this edition includes the novella "Lady Susan," who is sort of the evil sociopathic twin of Emma -- a brilliant and manipulative widow who seduces, plots and schemes. Yummy stuff.

The omnibus collection displays the range and depth of Austen's writing skill beautifully; though each story is very unique they're laced together by common themes. Except for "Lady Susan," each story is a love story, tempered with some clever commentary on the society of Austen's day (example: entailment, which plays a part in several plots), and a biting, sharp-edged wit (the mockery of the toadying Mr. Collins and the obnoxious Elliott family).

And despite the formal stuffiness of the time, Austen painted her stories vividly -- there's a bit of roughness in "Lady Susan" and "Persuasion," but nothing too dramatic. Each one has powerful emotions and vivid splashes of prose ("The wind roared round the house, and the rain beat against the windows"), as well as deliciously witty dialogue ("I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine"). But she also weaves in some intensely romantic moments as well ("Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you").

Austen also had an interesting range of heroines -- quiet ones, melodramatic ones, intelligent ones, naive ones, and mildly spoiled ones who think they know best. But each one has a major character flaw that must be overcome before she can find true love and happiness And she has an equally fascinating range of love interests: the quiet shy Colonel Brandon, the sexy and clever Henry Tilney, the blunt Mr. Knightley, the generous and honest Edmund, and especially the smart, sexy Mr. Darcy (who has a flaw of his own to overcome alongside Lizzie).

Jane Austen's "Complete Novels" draws together all her major finished novels, and let readers explore the mannered society and obstacle-filled love lives of her heroines. ... Read more

Product Description
Jane Austen wrote her novels in the midst of a large and sociable family. Brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, friends and acquaintances were always coming and going, which offered numerous occasions for convivial eating and drinking. One of Jane’s dearest friends, Martha Lloyd, lived with the family for many years and recorded in her “Household Book” over 100 recipes enjoyed by the Austens. A selection of this family fare, now thoroughly tested and modernized for today’s cooks, is recreated here, together with some of the more sophisticated dishes which Jane and her characters would have enjoyed at balls, picnics, and supper parties. A fascinating introduction describes Jane’s own interest in food, drawing upon both the novels and her letters, and explains the social conventions of shopping, eating, and entertaining in late Georgian and Regency England. The book is illustrated throughout with delightful contemporary line drawings, prints, and watercolours.

Authentic recipes, modernized for today’s cooks, include:
• Buttered Prawns
• Wine-Roasted Gammon and Pigeon Pie
• Broil’d Eggs
• White Soup and Salmagundy
• Pyramid Creams
• Martha’s Almond Cheesecakes ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Authentic, well-researched
WOW.This cookbook is so much more than a cutsie tribute to Austen and her works.The author, a culinary historian, thoroughly outlines the eating habits and customs of the day and provides recipes in the language of the era.So if you're looking for something both academic and entertaining, this is the perfect book.It's NOT just a quickly produced theme-based cookbook; it's the real deal!

Jane Austen's world: The Meals!
Any fan of Jane Austen's novels would do well to read, or at least sample, this book. Austen's work is the story of domestic life of her time, and this book provides a lot of useful information about an important context of her novels: food, meals, and dining. What is a nuncheon? How do cooks cope without refrigeration? And how, specifically, does one prepare many of the foods familiar to Austen's world? This book addresses these questions, in a well-written and well-researched style. It is physically attractive, and soundly based on contemporaneous records and recipes ('receipts') of the time, although these were recorded in ways foreign to us.

great mix of cooking and literature
I haven't tried any recipe yet, but any Jane Austen's reader will enjoy such a fun way to get into her world. It's a good reading and I hope it'll be practical too.

A great book to own
This cookbook is charming.It has useful recipes in it, along with modern-day interpretations of the recipes, and interesting stories about food.It even explains how people preserved and bought food in Jane Austen's day.That is quite interesting, I love to learn more about lifestyles in different historical eras.It's not only a cookbook, it's a history book.It's worth it, you won't be disappointed!

Nice little introduction to Jane Austen's food and culture
This is a lovely and shortish introduction to cooking and culture of eating and entertaining for the late Georgian period when Austen was alive. I loved the fact that this was about cooking and eating rather than some of the less universally approachable subjects (letters, literary criticism). Maggie Black and Deidre Le Faye have both written Jane Austen style and culture type books before so both understand the period and are able to draw on a large resource of appropriate information.

The introduction is very much about how people ate - what was available, how it got to houses, and why this was so. There is some division by class (upper class, middle class and lower class are all discussed) but also the divisions by Geography - whether coastal with access to fresh fish, or inland - how food was transported, and even in terms of access to market towns. Even 5 miles away was almost impossible for those trying to get up a dinner from 'scratch' so to speak if someone was coming around.

The introduction also talks about the types of food and dishes which were eaten, and that the whole culture of dining was completely different. Not only were meal times different, but how they dined. The explanations are simple and there is good use of quoted material throughout, the diaries and letters of the time providing a strong and occassionally humourous voice.

Where possible leFaye and Black have used diaries and 'receipts' from Austen's friends and family and point out that in the days before recipe books were published these books of receipts would be handed down from mother to daughter and one family's speciality would be renowned - they were truly heirlooms.

The last section of the book is a collection of recipes - these are taken from books of reciepts. The original receipt is usually fairly interpretative, that is the measurements are not generally noted, nor how to put them together or cook them. So there has been experimentation and the recipe is re-written with the details put in. These essentail details would have been handed down in a practical manner, but in the days before temperature gauges you would have needed to rely on simple temperature variations, quick, moderate and slow oven to dictate just when to cook it.

Most of these recipes are actually very useable for today - they don't have many potted meats, but mostly roasted meats, cakes, egg dishes and still room crafts. There are some things we dont' see these days like Syllabub - which is quite tasty

There are other books of this kind around - Margeretta Ackworth's cookbook for instance, which is interesting too - but I would recommend this is a good modern cookbook and an interesting historical look at the culture of food in this period. ... Read more

Product Description
English professor Emma Grant has always done everything just the way her minister father told her she should -- a respectable marriage, a teaching job at a good college, and plans for the requisite two children. Life was prodigiously good, as her favorite author Jane Austen might say, until the day Emma finds her husband in bed with another woman. Suddenly, all her romantic notions a la Austen are exposed for the foolish dreams they are.

Denied tenure in the wake of the scandal and left penniless by the ensuing divorce, Emma packs up what few worldly possessions she has left and heads to England on a quest to find the missing letters of Jane Austen. Locating the elusive letters, however, isn't as straightforward as Emma hoped. The owner of the letters proves coy about her prize possessions, sending Emma on a series of Austen-related tasks that bring her closer and closer to the truth, but the sudden reappearance of Emma's first love makes everything more complicated.

In the end, Emma learns that doing the right thing has very little to do with other people's expectations and everything to do with her own beliefs. Laced with fictional excerpts from the missing letters, Jane Austen Ruined My Life is the story of a woman betrayed who uncovers the deeper meaning of loyalty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (55)

Cute Story. I Will Now Review It. Sort Of.
Here is what this tale lacked: poetry. Poetry like this below:




I wonder if it is a fact, uh,
That Jane Austen was a virgo intacta.



See, now wouldn't that have livened this book even more?

Truth in advertising abounds in this quick little novel, for truly Jane Austen has ruined more lives than anyone can count. Yes, my fellow earthlings, I am glad someone finally had the courage to say so and to say it in a title no less.

Here is what this book is about: sex. Sex and the feeble attempts of men to get it. And this seriously flies in the face of Jane Austen's sexless-though-randy heroines. (Like Marianne Dashwood. C'mon, ya can't say her knickers weren't perpetually damp!) Think about that. Wouldn't half of them have gladly scampered off to Gretna Green if they had half a chance? Come to think of it, didn't half of them do that anyway?

Jane Austen clearly hated virgins and spent her literary efforts in depicting the ruination of so many of them. One after another they go from purity to the state of marriage. It's there, folks, if you look for it. Austen-hated-virgins!

Well, in reality this book was less about all that than it was talking about sex. But I've already said that. So, well, ok. There.

Somewhat interesting, sometimes a little boring - not worth reading
I had high hopes when I started reading this novel.The plot is intriguing and could have led to a great story, but didn't.I only kept reading to the end to find out more about the guardians of the letters rather than the main character Emma, who I started taking a dislike to after the first two chapters.For having a PHD, Emma did not seem to be too bright, have any money smarts or have many friends.None of the people in the book seem to have much depth of character and would simply react to situations as opposed to thinking them through, more like character actors in a poorly directed play with the main character, Emma, at the center stage at all times.The ending left a bad taste as Emma chose to move in with her parents, which for a 30ish divorced woman nowadays is a poor option.

awful book
Being a Jane Austen fan, I decided to read this book.It was so bad I wanted to put it down many times but kept reading it so that I could unequivocally state this... It is the worst book I have ever read.It reminded me of an elementary school student's work, both in the writing and the plot development.It was so silly.How much do I have to read about what the lead character ate and drank?? So bizarre.Was she just trying to fill the pages?The love story in it was so contrived that it was laughable.Maybe I've been spoiled by reading a lot of prize-winning authors lately, but this book definitely stood out as being truly awful.If you're a Jane Austen fan, you'll be much happier rereading one of her literary classics than this garbage.

Tons of Jane Austen facts woven into a treasure hunt for original letters....and sense of self
I thoroughly enjoyed this story even though there were some plot twists that seemed difficult to believe---yet I still enjoyed it, and read it all in one setting.I liked the protagonist, even though she had some kooky moments, and of course loved that was balanced out by the fact that she is an Austen scholar, knowing all sorts of facts about Jane Austen's life.I liked that she was a bit confused about where she fit in, seeking to "right" herself after betrayal by her professor spouse.The story is one of redemption, seeking one's true self, and realistically this is usually a time in life when one does some silly things, is confused, and is somewhat erratic....all of which the main character is at one time or another.And yet...Jane is always center stage, in the book and in the character's mind.

The purported focus of the plot is on a treasure hunt, on which she is required to go "seeking"to "prove herself worthy" to see authentic Jane Austen letters, unseen by the world. What is she really seeking, however....ah...that is the undercurrent of the book.And with a potential romance thrown into the plot, I felt it was cleverly balanced.

This is the only book I've ever read that has woven in detailed facts about Jane Austen's life, her birthplace, the Chawton rectory, and other details of her life (and other surmises--and there are some interesting ones that the character discovers) into the fiber of the plot.I could see the field of Jane's birthplace, and I could imagine standing there and wondering, like the character, why no bronze plate marked it as a historic site.Definitely a modern work, but entwined with Jane Austen in more ways than simply mentioning her, the book is about Jane Austen's life, and following in, predicting, and considering her (possible) footsteps as a woman as well as an author.Enjoyable read, and thought provoking.

Love it!!!!
Don't worry, no spoiler alerts here.You can read the book jacket.Just a simple statement of fact...a great book.I loved it.I'm a Jane Austen snob and I would recommend this book to all single women, happily married or not so happily married and newly divorced. I'm 42 and understand the little complexities here and there that a younger woman might read over.We all hope for the happy ending...but now I'm dreaming of the happy beginning. ... Read more

Product Description
But even if the whole world was against them, it would not matter. They were together—again. And this time they would remain together. Until death do them part and, of course, long after that.

What if Austen had believed in reincarnation and vampires? Join four bestselling romance authors as they channel the wit and wisdom of Jane Austen.

Almost Persuaded

In this Regency tale of Robert and Jane, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh brings together former lovers who have seen beyond the veil of forgetfulness to their past mistakes, and are determined to be together in this life, and forever.

Northanger Castle

Caroline's obsession with Gothic novels winds up being good training for a lifetime of destroying the undead with her newfound beau, in this Regency by Colleen Gleason.

Blood and Prejudice

Set in the business world of contemporary New York City, Liz Bennett joins Mr. Darcy in his hunt for a vampire cure in New York Times bestselling author Susan Krinard's version of the classic story.

Little to Hex Her

Present-day Washington, D.C., is full of curious creatures in Janet Mullany's story, wherein Emma is a witch with a wizard boyfriend and a paranormal dating service to run. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A delight even for someone who has never read Austen.
I've never actually read Jane Austen's work. Isn't that the most blasphemous thing to say when opening a review of Austen-inspired short stories? Sadly, it really is the truth. I'm just not a big fan of Regencies so they just keep being pushed back on that list of "I really should read this" books I have. So please forgive me for reading and reviewing Bespelling Jane Austen with such ignorance of the source material. I couldn't help it! I may not have read Emma or Persuasion but I think I've seen enough films and know enough of the basic storyline to appreciate them from afar.

What brought this book to my interest was the paranormal twist. I adore seeing classics retold and what better tales to add an element of the freakish and supernatural to? I am very pleased to report that Bespelling Jane Austen was anything but a disappointment.

Beginning the collection Mary Balogh's ALMOST PERSUADED takes Austen's Persuasion to interesting depths. As lovers are reunited through-out time only to be torn apart over and over they begin to question the very nature of love. Reincarnation, romance and brilliant writing made this one emotional and solid. I've never read Balogh's work before but if this short is any example of what she has to offer I hope she can be tempted to dabble in the paranormal palette again. 5/5 stars

In Colleen Gleason's NORTHANGER CASTLE--a spin on Northanger Abbey--both Austen lovers and fans of the Gardella Vampire series get a taste of imagination run wild. Around every corner Caroline finds a reason to believe that vampires, evil widows and monsters are out to get her and the other young women of Bath, England. Tongue-in-cheek funny and with all the guts and gusto of the series it ties in to this was my favorite of the stories offered in this collection. If you love Gleason's work it's worth buying for this one alone. 5/5 stars

BLOOD AND PREJUDICE is the story that started it all. Probably the most retold of Austen's tales, this version of Pride and Prejudice has a contemporary Lizzy and Darcy sorting out the matter of a pharmeceutical company and oh yeah, he's a vampire. I hate saying it because I know everyone loves this story in general but I hate it and this retelling didn't help change my mind. I think fans might like it but I found the paranormal element felt a bit after-the-fact for me as a paranormal junkie. 3/5 stars

Rounding out the offerings is Janet Mullany's LITTLE TO HEX HER in which a modern Emma plays match-maker to a host of magical folks. Matches are made and curses fly as our heroine and her Knightley suitor try to ward off trouble. I'm unfamiliar with Mullany's work before this but her release just a couple of weeks before this one, Jane and the Damned, has had good reviews and features Austen as a vampire herself! Looks like that should be the next stop for readers or vice versa. This story was a little take-it-or-leave it for me. It wasn't thrilling nor awful either. 3/5 stars

As a collection I recommend this anthology to any paranormal fan looking to dabble in the Austen waters a little. It's entertaining to even a novice in the world of Jane, such as myself. But I'd also recommend it for the opposite... those Janeites who might want to sample their favorites with a preternatural or contemporary twist. Better yet, if you like both paranormal romances AND Jane Austen this is a musn't miss.

**Notes: I requested and received a copy to review via netGalley.**

All Things Considered...More Blessing Than Mixed
I'm a devoted Janeite, and while I'm not a purist, I'm quite selective when it comes to Austen sequels and variants. I recognize there are (relative) classics and clunkers in the ones set in Regency times and more modern settings, but I find myself consistently preferring the updated-to-contemporary-period retellings and revisions. I suspect it is because there's less of a direct comparison to the original Austen oeuvre--and no one alive benefits from that comparison in my fond eyes and heart.

In BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN, one gets two novellas of each era...with the twist of paranormal activity enthreaded in each tale. Mary Balogh, a Regency romance writer of great repute, returns PERSUASION's Anne Elliot to her time period, but renames her Jane (!) Everett. Captain Wentworth has also been renamed (Captain Mitford). Using reincarnation as her "supernatural" device, Jane and Captain Mitford have loved but lost one another again and again in past lives, but determine not to do so this time around. Jane is "Almost Persuaded" (the name of Balogh's novella), but...

Colleen Gleason (whose Gardella series has made me a devoted fan) upgrades NORTHANGER ABBEY to NORTHANGER CASTLE. I think revisioning one of the Thorpes into a vampire is perfect casting--I just wish she had chosen a different Thorpe. But then, both are innate bloodsuckers, so it works brilliantly. I won't say what profession Thaddeus Blanchard (ne Henry Tilney) has now taken up, but he is related to Victoria Gardella. Catherine Morland is now Caroline Merrill, and while they both have a penchant for reading Gothic novels and possess wild imaginations, Caroline is braver and more observant in many ways. She deserves her mate! While there are one or two allusions to the Gardella series, you should not have any problem following this story even if you've never read any of them.

The last two novellas (the modernized ones) are written in first person, as opposed to the third person that the first two are written in. This augments and furthers the sense of freshness and modernity. BLOOD AND PREJUDICE is quite faithful to the names of the original P&P characters and on the first page, we learn that Lizzy works at Longbourn Books. How perfect is that? The author, Susan Krinard, is faithful to Austen's innate values as well--that is, if Austen had written Darcy as a vampire. I find Krinard more faithful to Austen than vampiric traditions, and that's my preference as well.

I was surprised that my favorite of these four is EMMA, updated as LITTLE TO HEX HER, by Janet Mullany. She is not as faithful to EMMA as Krinard is to P&P, even though she, too, kept the names of most characters (Miss Bates is now Missy Bates, however). This Emma Woodhouse runs a dating service in Washington, DC (again, the perfect occupation!) for the magical--Naiads, Witches, Vamps and Werewolves, for example. George Knightley works in high finance and owns the building in which Emma is living; they dated in college but Emma broke up with him shortly after they made love for the first time. Not very Austenesque. However, whilst not as true to structure, Mullany truly gets the spirit of Jane Austen yet modernizes the situation in such a way that I could appreciate it as a stand-alone, without constantly thinking about the original. And oddly, I find that works best of all for me in this particular genre.

As I thought about this review, I have discovered one other thing about my preferences: I really prefer full-length novels to novellas. You can not possibly have the wonderful character development that takes place in any of Jane Austen's novels, even NORTHANGER ABBEY, in 100 pages or less.

One last note: often, in a book with four different authors, you feel there is a weak link. I did not feel that way with BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN. Perhaps the authors managed to bewitch me, too.

four fun paranormal twists
"Almost Persuaded" by Mary Balogh.Robert Mitford and Jane Everett recognize their love now and in a past life together.

"Northanger Castle" by Colleen Gleason.Caroline Merrill loves gothic novels starring vampires; she believes that Mr. Blanchard is an Undead while he has no time for literature or love as he battles vampires.

"Blood and Prejudice" by Susan Krinard.In modern day New York City, Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy dislike each other but team up to fight vampires.

"Little to Hex Her" by Janet Mullany.In DC paranormal matchmaking witch Emma Woodhouse needs the help of the wizard Mr. Knightley.

These are four fun paranormal twists of Jane Austen classics with the best being Janet Mullany's entry.

Harriet Klausner

Truthful to the Spirit of the Originals
Bespelling Jane Austen / 978-0-37377-501-9

I've always been fond of Jane Austen, and I've enjoyed the paranormal Jane Austen novels that have been coming out of the woodwork; I felt that zombies was precisely what "Pride and Prejudice" was lacking the first time around, and I absolutely adored "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters". And while "Bespelling Jane Austen" looks at first glance to be capitalizing on all the hype, this collection of novellas is really quite solid, and I enjoyed very much the chance to read the Advance Review Copy that was sent to me from the publisher.

This collection of novellas is not, unlike "PPZ" and "SSSM", a direct port of Austen novels, with new text woven in and around the original Austen text. Instead, these shorter renditions of Austen's novels are more like modern `adaptations' of her stories, not unlike the Shakespeare adaptations that maintain the underlying themes but with new settings, characters, and dialogue. Austen "purists" will likely not enjoy these adaptations, if only because of the more modern emphasis on physical passion and sensuality, but Austen lovers who enjoy seeing her delightful themes in new situations and experiences will find much here to enjoy.

"Almost Persuaded" by Mary Balogh, takes a serious and surprisingly deep look at the theme of reincarnation, applied against Austen's backdrop of marriages impeded by social distance. Two soulmates come together in the persons of Jane Everett and Captain Robert Mitford. The captain is of relatively low station and the lady is the daughter of a proud baronet, and yet they come to know - supernaturally - that they are immortal souls who have been trying and failing over a series of lifetimes to chose their eternal love over the concerns and trivialities of mortal lives. Though each party recognizes their mutual love and the importance of their choice, it is difficult to cast aside their social training to satisfy an attraction that does not make logical sense.This first novella in the series is, in my mind, easily the best - and it was here that I realized that "Bespelling Jane Austen" is not another Austen parody like "PPZ", but rather a serious adaption of her themes. Although there is no indication that Austen believed in reincarnation, "Almost Persuaded" seems very much like a story she would write, if she had.

"Northanger Castle" byColleen Gleason, is a fun little story that stars as protagonist the character of Caroline Merrill - a young girl who has read far too many gothic novels and whose overactive imagination fancies every man she meets a letch who locks up his madwoman wife in the attic, or a deserving orphan girl with a terrible secret, or a scheming lady slowly poisoning her unsuspecting husband's tea, or - worse of all - a vampire with red eyes and long fangs. The twist, of course, is that Caro's daytime fancies are not too far off from the truth - a twist that the reader can hardly fail to see coming, but which is cute in its own right. This story does not contain the same depth and complexity as the previous one, but is a fun romp to the end, even if the end is a bit abruptly resolved.

"Blood and Prejudice" by Susan Krinard, is another "Pride and Prejudice" adaptation featuring Mr. Darcy as a vampire - not the first adaptation to do so, but if the premise lacks originality, it does at least nicely account for Darcy's self-importance and egotism in a modern setting (given that the social birth position must vanish somewhat with modern American settings). The adaptation isn't a poor one, although I confess to not being the biggest of "Pride and Prejudice" fans. The writing isn't stellar - young lady protagonists in modern settings realistically probably don't reference "Casablanca" and "The Seven Year Itch" that often, but the character in question is an antique book buff, so I'll let it go. Authorial intrusion lines, though, such as "Since this story is rated for general audiences, I won't say what I really thought of Darcy," are really inexcusable, and lines like "I sat frozen, my mouth as dry as a quote from Oscar Wilde," really do feel like the writer is trying too hard. Overall, though, the story isn't too bad - although the elements are lifted so strongly from Austen, with just a vampire theme added, that long-time fans may get a little bored at the repetition. The ending, too, somehow left a bad taste in my mouth - likely because I'm more of a "Sisters of the Moon" fan (where Elizabeth's actions would fall under the moniker of "blood whore") than a "Twilight" fan (where Elizabeth's actions line up nicely for the Team Edward fans).

"Little to Hex Her" by Janet Mullany, is an "Emma" adaptation, which I was wary of - for one, because the premise (protagonist runs a dating service in a Fantasy Kitchen Sink setting in Washington D.C.) seemed a little overly zany, and for another because I've never really like Emma or Mr. Knightley. Surprisingly enough, Mullany address the later problem head on in the foreword, and makes good on her word by giving both the characters a bit of a status upgrade to not be quite so tedious. As for the former, the zany setting is handled surprisingly well, and comes off as some of the better world-building and world-mixing techniques that I like so much in the "Sisters of the Moon" series. The plot isn't entirely without holes - I can't help but feel that Knightley could be a bit less of a jerk about Emma being potentially date raped by a vampire (short story: she agreed to the sex, but not - to her recollection - the biting) - but the overall presentation is fun and enjoyable. This novella is definitely the one with the highest sex content, however, so be aware of that going in.

Overall, I enjoyed this series, and it's nice to see a paranormal Austen adaptation that doesn't take the easy route and republish an entire Austen novel but with some random fantasy element copy-pasted in.

Note: I received a free Advance Review Copy of this book from the publishing company via NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

Interesting Combination of Authors
I wasn't really sure what to expect from Bespelling Jane Austen. I don't generally go for paranormals, but I love Mary Balogh so I decided to try it out. If you enjoy paranormal romance I think you'd like this anthology more than I did, but I'd recommend it to anyone. It was an interesting read, the different styles worked well together in keeping me reading.

Mary Balogh's Almost Persuaded is more of a reincarnation tale than a paranormal. I liked it but I think she could have taken the fantasy element a little farther. 4 stars.

Susan Krinard's Blood and Prejudice was easily the best of the bunch, embracing vampires and corporate drama to retell the Bennett's & Mr. Darcy. 5 stars.

Colleen Gleason's Northanger Castle is set in a series I don't read, so I think some of it was lost on me. But I enjoyed this vampire hunter anyway. 4 stars.

Janet Mullany is usually a win for me but I couldn't get into Little To Hex Her. A paranormal dating service goes wrong. I think a paranormal reader would really like it, it's just completely not to my taste. There was nothing drawing me past the paranormal elements. 2 stars.

Bespelling Jane Austen was easy fun, just the sort of thing I like to read when I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for and I want to try something a little different. ... Read more

Product Description
Emma, by Jane Austen, is a comic novel about the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively 'comedy of manners' among her characters.Amazon.com Review
Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride andPrejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; CatherineMorland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense andSensibility's Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma islovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed sixnovels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances formaking a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whoseprospects if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "EmmaWoodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happydisposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; andhad lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distressor vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly findto say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot.

For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such a high opinionof her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The storyrevolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a youngwoman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image.Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations inlife, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look ashigh as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitiousvicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into aflirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends,and thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful JaneFairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies inthe village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surgeout of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, theWoodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor.Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myselfwill much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see herthrough her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able tolearn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Janeare all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly notsadder), and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen atthe height of her powers. --Alix Wilber ... Read more

Customer Reviews (286)

I didn't like it.
A lot of people have said that Emma is one of their favorite books but I would have to differ. This book put me to sleep every time I picked it up.It was dull and boring, this is only my opinion. I would not let this book effect and make me not want to read Jane Austen again. Since it is only one book out of many of hers. I felt this book was for a different crowd of people. Maybe I should have waited till I was older and grasped the concept more.
Miss. Taylor Emma's good friend and governess get's married and move's out. Emma has no clue what to do with herself. Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's father, gets upset and thinks Miss. Taylor now known as Mrs. Weston is making a huge mistake of leaving the family and things will never be the same without her living at the house. Emma then meets a girl named Harriet Smith, who is not as smart as Emma but she likes how she is willing to learn and listen to what she had to say. They went on daily walks around the town. Mr. Martin a very dull farmer that Emma's brother-in-law works proposes to Harriett who has had a crush on him before Emma tried to set her up with Mr. Elton. Emma influences her to refuse the offer of marriage, so she does. This was before n and got to know each other very well.
Emma thinks she can match anyone up with love, if they gave her a chance. She herself has vowed to remain single. She tries to set Harriet, up with Mr. Elton, but Mr. Elton likes Emma instead of Harriet and wants to marry her. Emma refuses and Mr. Elton leaves and gets married to some person who nobody thinks is worthy of him. When Emma finds out Mr. Elton got married she doesn't want Harriet to find out since she is still hung up on him they found out Mr. Elton had married. Emma is very controlling when it comes to love, and this is one reason why I didn't like the book she aggravated me.
Mrs. Weston's stepson is coming she is nervous he won't like her and confides in Emma. Emma is out for a carriage ride and she gets stuck. Mr. Churchill Mr. Weston's son comes and helps her get out, he doesn't tell her who he is till after and she is amazed by how good looking he is. She is confused with hr feelings for him after that. She thinks she may be in love but she doesn't feel like she is. Mr. Churchill likes a woman named Jane who is staying with Miss. Bates, a dear friend of Emma.Emma doesn't really like Jane since she always has one over her. For example at a party that was thrown they asked Emma if she would like to play the piano, when she is done Jane is asked to play the piano and everyone loved Jane's when people only like Emma's performance.
At a picnic with Jane, Mr. Churchill, Miss. Bates, Mr. Elton, his wife, and Mr. Knightly, Emma's very good friend.Emma insults her friend, Miss. Bates. Mr. Knightly tells Emma off. Emma realizes she loves Mr. Knightly but is worried he loves Harriet. They secretly have feelings for each other but neither of them do anything. Finally they do confess there feelings and they get engaged. Harriet ends up with Mr. Martin and Mr. Churchill ends up with Jane.
Mrs. Weston becomes pregnant and Emma does not want anyone to know about her and Mr. Knightly's engagement until the baby is born. Jane and Mr. Churchill are also keeping their engagement a secret.
I couldn't really relate to this book. I would have done a lot of things different then what she did. For starters I would not have gone and meddled into every ones love life. Its their life and people need to respect that and not mess with it. I understand she thought she was helping everyone but truth be told she wasn't and it just was annoying to see how she kept going off and doing that throughout the book.

Austen's longest, and perhaps most rewarding, novel
Emma Woodhouse has it all. She's the only Austen heroine who doesn't seem to need anything. All the other heroines are either in difficult financial straits or they're going to be, but Emma is actually wealthy. She's the only lady in her home, and since her father is an aging hypochondriac, she makes all the important decisions and has a degree of power and independence. Despite her singleness, Emma has great social standing as the chief well-bred lady of her small town of Highbury, and she's admired and respected by all. On top of that, she's young, smart, and attractive. So what could this heroine possibly need that she doesn't already have? Humility and empathy. Five weddings, a half-dozen major misunderstandings, and 400 pages pass before she gains them, but Emma's ending is as happy and triumphant as the close of Pride and Prejudice.

While most Austen heroines get to travel around some, either because they've been displaced from their homes, invited on vacation, or both, Emma is firmly rooted in Highbury, influencing her neighbors and being influenced by them. Emma's flaws are insidious because no one but friend-of-the-family Mr. Knightley notices that she has them. Everyone around her thinks she's angelic, accomplished, and positively brilliant, so when she decides to find a husband for her young friend Harriet, she naturally assumes that her advice and discernment are flawless. Emma nudges Harriet into refusing one man's proposal and setting her heart on another gentleman, but nothing turns out as Emma hopes.

Most of Emma's plans and notions ultimately tie back to feeding her own ego. She may say--and may fully believe--that she wants Harriet to make a good match simply out of friendship and kindness, but if Harriet, a girl without a dowry or advanced social skills, makes an excellent match, it'll be entirely due to Emma's influence. That's why it's so fortunate that her plans don't work out--it would be bad for Emma's character if she was vindicated in playing God. But though Emma is proven wrong several times, this is a light, optimistic story, so she is never humiliated. She's embarrassed and humbled a little, but the new understanding she gains makes her a better, stronger person.

The other big schemer in the book is Frank Churchhill, whose actions aren't honorable even if his intentions are. He's not villainous, but he's careless and inflicts a good deal of pain on those who love him most by pretending to like Emma and pretending to disdain his secret fiancée, Jane Fairfax. It's bad enough that he deceives all of Highbury into thinking he wants to court Emma, but it's another matter altogether when he helps keep his and Jane's secret by insulting Jane when she's away and feeding unpleasant rumors about her. Even though concealment was vital, it seems like Frank went too far in playing his role, and he's ultimately rewarded with his aunt's fortune and Jane's love despite his poor behavior. He's a bit of a Karma Houdini, as TV Tropes would call it; he always evades the unpleasant consequences that should be coming his way.

I've heard that endings in fiction should always be unexpected, but at the same time inevitable, and Emma is a brilliant example of this convention. All the matches that come about are not the ones that Emma expects (it's not just her--Harriet and Mr. and Mrs. Weston also make wrong guesses about who will marry whom), yet at the same time, they are the only suitable and reasonable matches. Mr. Elton is only pretending to be a good-hearted man, so he marries a rich, obnoxious woman who fits better with him than sweet little Harriet would. Mr. Martin is a kind, humble farmer who will never look down on Harriet for her illegitimate parentage, so he's an excellent husband for a girl who has a gentle temperament and good looks, but not much else to recommend her. Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill seem the most mismatched of the group, but they get by since they're complimentary opposites; she has all the wisdom in the relationship and he has all the energy and zest for life. And Emma and Mr. Knightley make the ultimate perfect-yet-surprising match, mainly because they were both totally content to be single. But Emma needs someone who will call her on her occasional rudeness and pride, and Mr. Knightley is almost too self-sufficient and rigid and needs to soften a little and incorporate another person into his daily life.

Emma is longer than Austen's other books, but it's lovely from start to finish. It's a comedy of manners that ends with the heroine not just receiving, but earning, her happily ever after. It's an old favorite of mine and I hope you'll like it, too.

Excellent, but falls short of Pride and Prejudice
When Jane Austen sat down to write Emma, she had a tall order. Her previous work, Pride and Prejudice, is one of the great masterpieces in English literature. Unsurprisingly, Emma does not measure up to P&P, but is still a delightful read in its own right. The same themes that readers have come to associate with Jane Austen are all present in Emma: courtship, marriage, Victorian reserve, and, of course, social status. The biggest problem I had with Emma is that the characterization is not near as solid as in Austen's previous work. The only truly interesting character is the main protagonist, Emma, whose wit and vivacity sparkle throughout. The only fair way to read Emma is to do so without comparing it to Pride and Prejudice. Doing so, this book stands just fine upon its own merit. Just don't expect lightning to strike twice.

Great novel
Thank you for the quick shipment!The novel is in great condition and will be a nice edition to my library.

Great writing, great story
I think most people are already familiar with the story of Emma, and many are probably also familiar with the back-story, which is that Jane Austendecided to write about a character which she thought "nobody but myself will much like." I dare say there are plenty of people who indeed do not like Emma Woodhouse, but I have loved plenty of books, TV shows, and movies centered on a character I disliked (or even hated) far more than Emma, whose faults do not, at least, include witlessness, stupidity, or true ugliness of character.

Added to Emma's attractiveness as a protagonist and other well-rounded characters that we may love orhate, is Jane Austen's excellent prose and story plotting, and, most importantly, her cutting humor and social commentary. Oh wait, perhaps most important is the love story--or love stories--that touch the readers' hearts. Or at least touched mine. All of those elements are there, and so I enjoyed the book. While not my favorite book of Austen's, Emma is far from my least favorite (ahem, Mansfield Park). ... Read more

Product Description
The restorative power of the ocean brings Jane Austen and her beloved brother Henry, to Brighton after Henry’s wife is lost to a long illness. But the crowded, glittering resort is far from peaceful, especially when the lifeless body of a beautiful young society miss is discovered in the bedchamber of none other than George Gordon—otherwise known as Lord Byron. As a poet and a seducer of women, Byron has carved out a shocking reputation for himself—but no one would ever accuse him of being capable of murder. Now it falls to Jane to pursue this puzzling investigation and discover just how “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Byron truly is. And she must do so without falling victim to the charming versifier’s legendary charisma, lest she, too, become a cautionary example for the ages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know
Stephanie Barron's tenth Jane Austen mystery sends Jane, in the company of her brother Henry, to the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, where she takes an Innocent under her wing and attempts to acquit the infamous Lord Byron of murder. The contrast between Lord Byron - "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" - and Jane - resolutely practical, but not entirely unsusceptible to the poet's wayward attraction - lends interest and charm to the story. Needless to say, Jane solves the mystery. Her intervention, though, turns out to have but little effect on the denouement.

Apart from Jane's too-passive role in it, the story exhibits the many charms of diction, style, and period interest that her fans have come to expect from Stephanie Barron; it's a worthy addition to the series.

Definitely not a quotidian mystery novel.
Curious about the title?Well, I absolutely love it when an author writes a book that treats me as an adult.I came across this word while reading this book and it stopped me in my tracks.Naturally I had to look it up.Here's what I found:quotidian - 1. daily; of every day; 2. commonplace; trivial.And I can tell you this book is definitely not commonplace or trivial.It is a delicious, exciting mystery story written in the style of Jane Austen.If you love Jane and all things regarding Jane, this book will give you hours of reading pleasure.If you have yet to make a foray into the fascinating world of Austen fan fiction, this can be your very satisfactory starting point.

How could I lose with a novel that combines two of my very favorite subjects?Stephanie Barron has one of the best Jane Austen voices I've read in a long time and she mixes that with an honestly good mystery.The characters are a mixture of true and fictionalized characters with very good descriptions of the places and culture of 1813 England.Jane has convinced her brother Henry that what he needs to help him over the first dark period of grief for his wife Eliza is a short stay in Brighton.Henry repays her kind solicitude by suggesting that she accompany him.On the trip to Brighton Jane rescues a young woman who is being kidnapped by none other than George Gordon, Lord Byron.Has the man gone mad?How did this young girl who is probably fifteen years old become the prisoner of the man who is the toast of all England and the favorite of the ton?I love mysteries and I read a lot of them so I'm really glad to say that the plotting for this story was well thought out and made me work hard for the solution.Definitely not an obvious murderer who stood out in the first moments of being introduced into the narrative.

Given that I've stated so many things I enjoyed about the book you may be wondering why I have assigned four stars instead of what you might have expected, the full five stars.Well, it is simply because the mystery took quite some time to show up.Granted the novel was interesting and I was enjoying it, but ultimately I wanted the mystery to begin.And it didn't for a little too long.I understand why, but it still made me a little restive.Once it began though, it was absolutely perfect from my standpoint.I do highly recommend this title as well as the other books in this series.References are made throughout the book to other mysteries Jane has been involved in and they are sure to pique your interest also.

Another wonderful story for the romantic mystery lover
I've enjoyed all ten of these Jane Austen mysteries because I love reading about this period of history. I love the language, the social mores (although I'm glad I don't have to live them!), and the people of the time. I especially love Jane Austen, and imagining her an amateur detective makes it even more fun.

In this story, Jane and her brother, Henry, visit Brighton, to help Henry recover from losing his wife after a long illness. While there, they meet George Gordon, the real name of poet, Lord Byron. Byron is regarded as being "mad, bad, and dangerous to know."

You'll not get very far in the story before you realize he really is a womanizer, but is he a murderer? Jane will find out!

The attention to period detail may slow you down, but if you enjoy learning about that period, you'll love the book. This is wonderful mystery for the romantic at heart.

Georgette Heyer meets Miss Marple
Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron is the tenth in a series of mysteries featuring Jane Austen, told in her own words through the medium of her diary. In this adventure, Jane accompanies her brother Henry to Brighton to take in the sea after he loses his wife to breast cancer. The "trendy" resort seems to be peopled by everyone of note in society, including the Regent and the poet Lord Byron. Given the libertine ways of both, it may come as no real surprise that a young woman of good family is found dead in Lord Byron's bed, and Byron is accused of her murder. Although she strongly disapproves of Lord Byron's character, Jane cannot refuse a friend's request to find the truth and clear the poet if he is indeed innocent.
This installment of the Jane as Sleuth series is more Georgette Heyer than Miss Marple. The social scene in Brighton is vivid, and fascinating descriptions of the social order of the time make for interesting reading. The murder does not occur until more than a third of the way into the book, and even after the body is found the investigation takes a backseat to descriptions of the social life of the bon ton and the mores of 1813. The description of society was entertaining, but the primary plot element of murder was not gripping enough to make this a truly engrossing read, especially in the absence of any secondary element such as a love story.
Character development could also be stronger. Jane's brother Henry and her friend Mona gain some life, but too many of the other characters are pure cardboard. Even in the social culture of the times, it is especially difficult to believe that so many mature and powerful men would be so besotted with one fifteen-year-old girl, no matter how attractive she was. The girl herself also seems too clueless to be credible. Her fatherthe General, in turn, lacks any redeeming social value and is rude enough that I suspect he would have been ostracized despite his rank.
Despite some weaknesses, if you are a comedy-of-manners fan of authors like Georgette Heyer or Jane herself, you will probably find a lot to like in this book. True mystery fans would probably be happier elsewhere.
Jane's language has a feel of authenticity, but I felt unsure enough of my command of early-nineteenth-century English that I wondered how much I could depend on its verisimilitude. An interview with Stephanie Barron included at the end of the book convinced me that Ms. Barron has done her homework. I especially appreciate an author of a historical novel clarifying for me what is authentic and what is pure fiction. In case you wonder, Lord Byron was NOT accused of murdering a young woman in Brighton, but it makes for a good story.Enjoy.

Murder in Brighton
Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron is a multi-layered Regency mystery, and the sleuth is none other than Jane Austen. Following the death of Henry Austen's wife, Eliza, Comtesse de Feuillide, Jane and her brother make arrangements to visit the seaside town of Brighton. However, their plans for a quiet interlude fall by the wayside when a stop at a posting inn results in Jane and Henry rescuing a young lady, Catherine Twining, from a forced elopement with the scandal-ridden Lord Byron. When the girl's body is discovered a few days later, a drowning victim, who is sewn into a canvas shroud and deposited in the bed of Lord Byron, the poet becomes the prime murder suspect.

Jane, who had befriended the fifteen-year-old Twining, finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation, one that is thrown into greater confusion when Lady Caroline Lamb, the former and nearly mad lover of Lord Byron, puts in an appearance, as well as his current paramour, Lady Oxford. Jane's investigation takes her to the residence of the Prince Regent. Is the prince or one of his associates involved or did Byron murder the girl who had rejected him?

This novel is interesting on so many levels. It is a tale so rich in Regency minutiae that it is like tapping into a mother lode of information, and Stephanie Barron is very clever in weaving these facts into her story so that you are seeing the beautiful clothes of the era, tasting the food, walking the streets of Brighton, and dancing to music in grand assembly rooms. But the most interesting scenes are those in which Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron are front and center. A conversation between the grieving Byron and his inquisitor, Jane Austen, is fascinating, and scenes of Lady Caroline's growing mental instability are chilling.

If you are a fan of Regency-era novels and mysteries, then you are in for a treat because this book delivers for enthusiasts of both genres. ... Read more

Product Description
The Los Angeles Times bestseller that has Austen lovers hooked

After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up to find herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

Not only is Courtney stuck inside another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. For her borrowed body knows how to speak without slaying the King’s English, dance without maiming her partner, and embroider as if possessed by actual domestic skill.

But not even Courtney’s level of Austen mania has prepared her for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, a suitor who may turn out not to be a familiar species of philanderer after all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (111)

Creative and Off-Beat!
An incredibly off-beat and light-hearted novel with definitely one of the more imaginative 'Jane Austen' concepts I have seen.There were parts of the story that I had wished the author extrapolated more like the depth of Courtney and Wes's relationship, as well as more witty tete-a-tetes and convos between Jane and Edgeworth as seen with Lizzy and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice to give the chemistry more spice.The novel is humorously well-written with many parallelisms and references to Jane Austen's novels. It's a surprisingly enjoyable read and I found myself unable to put the book down due to the creative writing flare and surrealism.*

Deserves credit for enjoyability
I enjoyed this book. I did read it in one sitting; it's that kind of book. But I liked it and was provided with emotional justice at the end. It kept me engaged. With a premise like the one this boook sports, what else could you expect? If you want something light and fun, check it out. Easily re-readable, so worth a buy.

fun fast pase
fun and fast paced, cant stop reading until i was done with the book or until my eyes lids got heavy. excellent and i cant wait until the next story which i already bought. <3

Waste of time and money
Flat caracters, the heroine is rude and vulgar and if she had read Jane Austin books as many times as she claims, half of her mishaps ( and half of the book) wouldn't happen.

There is no plot line, you don't know why she falls in love with the hero, just that he is hot ??? no secundary plots... nothing,and I have to skip parts because it was BORING!! I don't even know how she got published

I've Got a Confession
I don't rightly no where to start.It's hard to put into words the kind of there-ness this book had for me.Being a girl who isn't a fan of shades of great I don't like stating that I'm ambivalent about a book, but honestly, I kinda am in this case.I didn't love it, didn't hate it.Like I said, it was just kinda.....there.

The story is great in concept, though not entirely new, where a young twenty-first-century woman wakes up in nineteenth-century England.Some of what you would expect was present -- comparisons to the different worlds, freaking out about why she was there, and stuff like that.But what there wasn't a lot of was exploration of how she got there.I know that isn't the point of the story.The point was to have that fish out of water become more comfortable in her surroundings and in that way the story did what it set out to do.But I still wanted to know.

I also wanted to know more about Courtney.In fact, the most interesting chapters were those that showcased her life back in LA. I found the two(ish) chapters of her back-story far more compelling than the bulk of chapters that were set in the time of Jane.I understand that this was a conscious choice on the part of the author, mainly because Courtney's story is offered up in a second book, but without knowing that on the front end a reader could definitely walk away with this feeling of much being untold here.

Courtney as a character was alright.There was little told about her life but that's not surprising given the fact that she was living Jane's.She had wit and her internal dialogue was an interesting and entertaining way to learn more about the story.But the story itself was a bit meh.I did like that it seemed realistic, that the pitfalls of living in Regency England weren't romanticized a great deal.It was smelly, hygene was not on the forefront of people's mind, and the clothes weren't comfortable.

Despite the story being somewhat blase for me, I find myself wondering if my ambivalence towards this book is the direct result of having listened to the audio version.Would I have liked it better if I'd been able to use my imagination more through the pages?

The narrator volleyed between whiny and what sounded like breathless angst.There was no real change in tonal inflection of voice between Jane/Courtney and some other characters.This isn't a prerequisite of a narrator but I found her rendition to be tedious.As a result, I think it might have unduly influenced my overall feeling towards the book.There is a follow-up, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, which I already have.I'm going to give it a try to see if reading it on paper will make a difference in the tone of the story.

In the end, as I said I didn't love this book and I didn't hate it.I think if you are a fan of Jane Austen or of stories that revolve in some way around Regency England you'll enjoy this story.It had a unique twist to it and had some fun and funny passages. ... Read more

Product Description
R.W. Chapman's fine new edition has, among its other merits, the advantage of waking the Jane Austenite up.... The novels continue to live their own wonderful internal life...freshened and enriched by contact with the life of facts. His illustrations are beyond all praise.--E.M. Forster, Abinger Harvest.This beautiful set provides the definitive text of Austen's six great comic masterpieces and her minor works (the latter include three high-spirited efforts written at about age fifteen; a charming fragment, The Watsons, which has been thought to be a sketch for Emma; and a tantalizing fragment, Sanditon, written in the last year of her life). All six volumes feature splendid early 19th-century illustrations as well as Chapman's detailed explanatory notes. Chapman has collated all the editions published in the author's lifetime and previously unpublished manuscripts, establishing an authoritative text that retains the punctuation, the spelling, and division into volumes of the originals.In addition, at the end of each work he supplies notes on textual matters and appendixes on such matters as the modes of address, or characters, or carriages and travel, as these seem warranted by the text.Additional changes have been incorporated by Mary Lascelles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Quite worth it.
Yes, they are expensive. I bought these as a gift for my girlfriend, though, and she LOVES them. She's a huge Austen fan in the first place, so she's likely biased, but she loves how gorgeous the books look and feel. I don't think she'll actually read these - she told me she'd rather bead a ratty old version to keep these pristine and beautiful - but she treasures them very much. Good for brownie points, guys!

Great
I bought this for my wife for Christmas.Obviously I'm not going to review the books, but this edition is small enough to fit in a purse but with readable type and it is quite an elegant set on the shelf either in or out of the dust covers.One annoying thing I've learned is that the first word of every page is printed at the bottom of the page before it.This is distracting while you are reading but a friend of mine said it is how her books were originally published and everything back then was like that.

Magnificent, the true original, unedited words of Jane Austen.
Having read many versions of all of Jane Austens novels over the years, and recognizing some differences in them, I was quite happy to come across this set.R. W. Chapman's successful attempt to recreate the full collection in it's original state is to be commended and enjoyed.

To those who are "most familiar" with Austens works, these will be a refreshing change. There are definite changes in newer editions.Obviously some editors over the centuries believed they could improve on Jane Austen's writings. To the uninitiated, this is the best place to start your affair with Jane Austen.

The only thing that would have made this purchase better is if they had actually come across another, as yet, unpublished version of an additional novel, which alas, we have no hope of.So we will all just have to keep reading them over and over again.

No publishing error. Facsimile of earlier editions.
The point of this review is simply to correct a previous reviewer in the claim that his copy came with an alleged publishing error, namely an "erroneous word" at the end of every page. This is a not an error at all, but the result of an accurate facsimile edition which represents a standard publishing practice at the time of the first edition. Every page has at its bottom the first word of the next page, just like the first edition. Exactly as intended.

Amazing Compilation
This review is based on the physical description, and not so much on the content (which most are familiar with). I originally purchased this set for their aesthetics, as I have the penguin classics version which I carry in my bag (they get quite battered).

The books are all hard covered, with a jacket of a different colour and pattern resplendent of wallpaper, with the famous portrait of Austen on the cover (although there has been much debate as to the accuracy of this). The font used is smallish, but still easy to read, it is reminiscent of the original texts, so the authenticity is pleasing.

The word at the bottom right of the page is the first word on the next page, and not a type error. It does take getting used to, but should not deter your decision here.

Furthermore, there are some interesting appendixes, such as "Modes of Address" in Pride and Prejudice and "Reading and Writing" in Sense and Sensibility, as well as an index of characters at the end of each volume, with the page number the characters were introduced on (very handy). However, the thing that I was most pleased and amazed with was the inclusion of the whole play "Lovers' Vows" and the end of Mansfield Park, anyone who has read this knows how pivotal this play is to the plot, and this inclusion amazed me!

In addition, there are some charming black and white sketches throughout the texts, which just add to the already pleasing aesthetics.

The only thing I would suggest would be a ribbon bookmark, which I often expect of hardcovers.

In conclusion, this is a very good set if you'd like to start reading Jane Austen (although I do prefer the penguin classics for the extensive footnotes) or if you'd like a comprehensive and impressive set for your book shelves. I highly reccommend this set. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in Penguin Classics—a treasure trove of Jane Austen’s novels

Few novelists have conveyed the subtleties and nuances of their own social milieu with the wit and insight of Jane Austen. Here in one volume are her seven great novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride andPrejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Lady Susan. Through her vivacious and spirited heroines and their circle, Austen vividly portrays English middle-class life as the eighteenth century came to a close and the nineteenth century began. Each of the novels is a love story and a story about marriage—marriage for love, for financial security, for social status. But they are not romances; ironic, comic, and wise, they are masterly evocations of the society Jane Austen observed. This beautiful volume covers the literary career of one of England’s finest prose stylists of any century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Fast and excellent product
Book was sent in a timely fashion.It arrived promptly and was in great condition.

Love!
These stories are classic and great, so basicly they are classicly great! I love that they have combined them all into one large book, i thought it would intimidate me at first but you really just get sucked in to the jane austen world from the first page. And for me just reading one story at a time and then taking a break in between or reading another book really helped to keep it fresh and interesting everytime! They were so easy to read, and you just fall in love with the charecters. You will feel so compelled to read them over and over again!

Great novel set.
I never really got Jane Austen when I was young, but now find something new to reveal itself about her in all her heroines.Must read!

Lotta Jane!
I got this after seeing Jane Austen Book Club. Because of the size, I couldn't carry it too many places, but have enjoyed reading when I am in the mood for Jane! Great for my library!

A beautifully presented volume
Jane Austen is Jane Austen--no surprises here :)

What I do wish to say, is this: this is a beautifully bound and presented book.

It's a good quality paperback (nice thick cover), with beautiful rough-cut/uneven edges to the pages, and a very pretty cover, and it looks lovely on the shelf and in the hand. It opens beautifully (without the stiffness you sometimes find in very large books).

Although not overly bulky for such a large collection, it achieves this by having long pages with a lot of text. This is only my only reservation--and it's slight: if you have difficulty with very full/long pages, perhaps this edition is not for you. There is still enough space to leave it readable, but still, it's a consideration. ... Read more