The Definitive Jane Austen

by Jane Austen

Jane Austen is one of the most celebrated authors of the Victorian Era. Her love stories, although largely formulaic, are made remarkable by the sharpness of her wit and humour. Through her works, readers are acquainted with the nuances of the social hierarchies and the ironies of their lifestyles. Hers are works fed by the intuitive observation of a clever mind that make the critique of the social arrangement quite impossible to ignore. Her deep understanding of the human nature makes her comments on human desires and tendencies relevant to this day.

The Definitive Jane Austen is divided into three parts. The first part contains two of her most famous works from her diaries (now referred to as Juvenilia), written prior to her career as a novelist. The second part contains two of Austen’s best known novels, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. The third part contains the letters of Austen to her friends and family. These letters allow readers to know Austen as a person and how she led her life. This collection provides a comprehensive collection that allows the reader a great way of understanding the world that Austen lived in.

700 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.