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One of Jane Austen's shortest works, «Lady Susan» is an epistolary novel, a novel told entirely in the letters of its title character, her friends and family. «Lady Susan» is the story of a recently widowed woman who is actively searching for a new marriage while trying to play matchmaker for her daughter as well.

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First published in 1813, “Pride and Prejudice” is a story set in the English countryside outside of London during the early 19th century which centers on the life of Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five sisters who are all unmarried. When a wealthy and sociable young gentleman, Charles Bingley, rents the nearby manor of Netherfield Park the opportunity to find husbands presents itself. While attending a ball the Bennets meet Charles Bingley and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy for the first time. Charles and Jane, Elizabeth’s older sister, form a quick friendship, while Fitzwilliam shows little interest in Elizabeth by refusing to dance with her. Darcy is a wealthy handsome intelligent young gentleman who suffers from a social awkwardness that makes him appear to be overly prideful. In the weeks that follow Elizabeth and Darcy find themselves repeatedly forced into each other’s company allowing Elizabeth to overcome the prejudice of her first impression and open herself up to the idea of a romance between the two. A classic novel of manners, “Pride and Prejudice” is arguably Jane Austen’s most popular novel. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Collected together here are three of Jane Austen’s posthumously published works; “Sanditon”, “The Watsons”, and “Lady Susan”. These fragmentary tales show Austen experimenting with different literary styles and parodying the popular novels of her day. In “Sanditon,” Austen uses the premise of an idyllic and modern seaside town to examine its inhabitants and their various social circles with her trademark sharp social observations and wit. “The Watsons” is the story of Mr. Watson, a widowed clergyman, and his two sons and four daughters. The heroine of the tale is the spirited daughter Emma, who finds her marriage prospects lessened by both her poverty and, ironically, her sense of refinement. “Lady Susan”, the most complete of the three, is an epistolary novel which focuses on the story of its title character, a beautiful, but petty and unscrupulous woman. Lady Susan engages in constant flirtations and manipulations while she searches for rich husbands for herself and her young daughter. Also included here is a cancelled chapter of “Persuasion” and the short essay “Plan of a Novel” in which Austen sets out her capacity as a novelist and what makes up the ideal novel. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Jane Austen’s first published novel, “Sense and Sensibility” is the classic coming of age story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who have contrasting temperaments. On the surface Elinor, the older sister represents sense, or reason, while Marianne represents sensibility, or emotion; however upon closer examination we find that they both exhibit varying aspects of each characteristic. Set in southwest England, in the towns of London and Kent, the novel follows the lives of the two sisters as they struggle to find love, romance, and ultimately deal with the heartbreaks along the way. The novel ponders the question of which is the best characteristic, sense or sensibility. It is unclear ultimately what Austen intended as the answer to this question, whether or not she left the novel purposefully ambiguous or if her suggestion is that a proper temperament requires some measure of both qualities. “Sense and Sensibility” is a compelling study of character and one of the great achievements of the romantic genre. This edition includes an introduction by Reginald Brimley Johnson and a biographical afterword.

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

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Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary as well as her acclaimed plots have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics. This collection assembles all of her classics, as well as a number of early works. Included are: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY<BR> PRIDE AND PREJUDICE<BR> MANSFIELD PARK<BR> EMMA<BR> NORTHANGER ABBEY<BR> PERSUASION<BR> LADY SUSAN<BR> LOVE AND FREINDSHIP [SIC]<BR> AN UNFINISHED NOVEL IN LETTERS<BR> THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND<BR> A COLLECTION OF LETTERS<BR> SCRAPS<BR> THE FEMALE PHILOSOPHER<BR> THE FIRST ACT OF A COMEDY<BR> A LETTER FROM A YOUNG LADY<BR> A TALE<P> If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for «Wildside Press Megapack» to see more of the 250+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction – and much, much more!

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Praised by critics and studied by scholars, Jane Austen's novels endure because of their popularity with readers. The author's witty and astute observations elevate her tales of parties, gossip, and romance into matters of captivating drama, offering an evocative portrait of everyday life in the towns and countryside of Regency England. Austen's premature death at the age of forty-two curtailed her legacy, and her devotees have eagerly read and re-read her handful of books. This collection features two of her unfinished novels, an often overlooked pair of gems that enrich our appreciation of Austen&#8217;s storytelling gifts.These writings first appeared posthumously, when Austen's nephew included the texts in an 1871 memoir of his celebrated relative. The Watsons unfolds in a familiar domestic milieu, in which a spirited heroine finds her marriage opportunities narrowed by poverty and pride. In contrast, Sanditon ventures into markedly different territory. Set at a seaside resort, among a cast of hypochondriacs and speculators, it suggests that Austen's work might have taken some unexpected new directions. Even if these incomplete stories had been of little intrinsic value, they would have been of interest as literary records and curiosities. As it happens, they are of high quality and worthy of reading for their own sake, for pleasure as well as study.

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This sparkling tale of one of literature's most famous courtships focuses on a spirited family of sisters and their marriage-minded mother's attempts to see them well settled. Jane Austen's wit and shrewd observations elevate her tale of rural romance to the heights of the world's great literature. A timeless satire of nineteenth-century English country life and manners, Pride and Prejudice is the most popular of Austen's novels. Warmly received upon its 1813 publication, it remains universally admired two centuries years later. A definitive survey, this Dover Thrift Study Edition offers the novel's complete and unabridged text, plus a comprehensive study guide. Created to help readers gain a thorough understanding of Pride and Prejudice's content and context, the guide includes: &#8226; Chapter-by-chapter summaries&#8226; Explanations and discussions of the plot&#8226; Question-and-answer sections&#8226; Austen biography&#8226; List of characters and more Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

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First published in 1818, Persuasion was Jane Austen's last work. Its mellow character and autumnal tone have long made it a favorite with Austen readers. Set in Somersetshire and Bath, the novel revolves around the lives and love affair of Sir Walter Elliot, his daughters Elizabeth, Anne, and Mary, and various in-laws, friends, suitors, and other characters, In Anne Elliot, the author created perhaps her sweetest, most appealing heroine.At the center of the novel is Anne's thwarted romance with Captain Frederick Wentworth, a navy man Anne met and fell in love with when she was 19. At the time, Wentworth was deemed an unsuitable match and Anne was forced to break off the relationship. Eight years later, however, they meet again. By this time Captain Wentworth has made his fortune in the navy and is an attractive «catch.» However, Anne is now uncertain about his feelings for her. But after various twists and turns of fortune, the novel ends on a happy note.In Persuasion, as in such novels as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, Austen limned the plight of young women who could escape the constraints of family life only by marrying, and suggest the foolishness of women who believed they were free and not dependent on the financial and social resources of men. At the same time, Persuasion offers an ironic and subtle paean to the true love that enables one woman to rise above straitened economic circumstances and the stifling social conventions that restricted women to narrowly circumscribed lives in the common sitting room.Sure to appeal to admirers of Jane Austen, Persuasion will delight any reader with its finely drawn characters, gentle satire, and charming re-creation of the genteel world of the 19th-century English countryside.

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In this spirited comedy of manners Catherine Morland, a plain, unspoiled small-town girl on holiday in Bath, meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, a handsome young clergyman. Henry's father, believing Catherine to be wealthy, invites her to be a guest at Northanger Abby, the family's country estate. Catherine, who has read too many Gothic romances and who is possessed of too vivid an imagination, views the abbey as a house of nightmarish horror &#8212; an aspect of the book that gleefully parodies the fantastic Gothic romances by Ann Radcliffe and other popular writers of the period. An amusing assortment of misunderstandings and plot twists result in the satisfying romantic conclusion characteristic of the author&#8217;s works.First written in 1789-99, when Austen was in her early twenties, this novel, like Persuasion, did not see publication till 1818, in the winter after the author's death. Distinguished by its satirical wit, brilliant comedy, and complex but subtle views of human nature and morality, the book also presents a fine background picture of middle-class life in nineteenth-century England, with particularly good scenes in Bath, the fashionable watering place to which Austen's father, a clergyman himself, had retired. Northanger Abbey is a must-read for all Austen fans and students of English literature.

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