LoveReading Says
While Pride and Prejudice may sit at the top of many people’s favourite Jane Austen books, Emma has to be a contender for the title too. For me Emma has a little more bite, it isn’t quite as comfortable a read as Pride and Prejudice, and that makes it more interesting. In terms of lead characters Emma is right up there, she may be headstrong, snobbish, convinced she knows best, yet because of those characteristics, because she isn't perfect, she also feels so very real. Emma is a bright, beautifully written novel with real heart and I love it.
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Liz Robinson
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Emma Synopsis
The exquisite illustrations of Marjolein Bastin meet timeless text in this elegant special edition of an English masterpiece.
The Marjolein Bastin Classics Series is a chance to rediscover classic literature in collectible, luxuriously illustrated volumes. For the first time ever, the internationally celebrated artwork of Marjolein Bastin graces the pages of the timeless classic, Emma, the story of the well-meaning matchmaker of Highbury village. Beyond bringing these stories to life, Bastin's series adds elaborately designed ephemera, such as letters, invitations, and more. Whether an ideal gift for an Austen devotee or a treat for yourself, The Marjolein Bastin Classics Series, as a set or individually purchased, is perfect for anyone who feels a connection to these enduring literary gems.
Discover anew the dramatic world of Emma. Emma Woodhouse is the most influential young woman in the tranquil village of Highbury, where she lives with her father. As a rich heiress, she is absolutely determined never to marry, though she entertains herself with all kinds of matchmaking attempts for her friends and acquaintances. Doing so causes a number of misunderstandings and embarrassments, to the point that Mr. Knightley, the family's closest friend, intervenes and sharply criticizes Emma. While Emma admits her mistake and makes attempts at gradual damage control, she falls in love after all. . . .
About This Edition
About Jane Austen
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817.
As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.
Fellow novelist Katharine McMahon on Jane Austen...
I can't not choose her. And whichever I've read last is always my favourite. The nuance of emotion, the understanding of human nature revealed by Austen constantly delights me. When I reread Sense and Sensibility recently, for the first time Elinor came across as quite prissy and destined to marry a rather spineless husband. I wonder if that was intended?
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