Jane Austen

LADY SUSAN VERNON TO MR. VERNONLangford, Dec. MY DEAR BROTHER, -I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your kindinvitation when we last parted of spending some weeks with you at Churchhill, and, therefore, ifquite convenient to you and Mrs. Vernon to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days tobe introduced to a sister whom I have so long desired to be acquainted with. My kind friends hereare most affectionately urgent with me to prolong my stay, but their hospitable and cheerfuldispositions lead them too much into society for my present situation and state of mind; and Iimpatiently look forward to the hour when I shall be admitted into your delightful retirement. I long to be made known to your dear little children, in whose hearts I shall be very eager tosecure an interest I shall soon have need for all my fortitude, as I am on the point of separationfrom my own daughter. The long illness of her dear father prevented my paying her that attentionwhich duty and affection equally dictated, and I have too much reason to fear that the governess towhose care I consigned her was unequal to the charge. I have therefore resolved on placing her atone of the best private schools in town, where I shall have an opportunity of leaving her myself inmy way to you. I am determined, you see, not to be denied admittance at Churchhill. It wouldindeed give me most painful sensations to know that it were not in your power to receive me. Your most obliged and affectionate sister, S. VERNON. 3IILADY SUSAN VERNON TO MRS. JOHNSONLangford. You were mistaken, my dear Alicia, in supposing me fixed at this place for the rest of the winter: it grieves me to say how greatly you were mistaken, for I have seldom spent three months moreagreeably than those which have just flown away. At present, nothing goes smoothly; the females ofthe family are united against me. You foretold how it would be when I first came to Langford, andMainwaring is so uncommonly pleasing that I was not without apprehensions for myself. Iremember saying to myself, as I drove to the house, "I like this man, pray Heaven no harm come ofit " But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and tobe as quiet as possible: and I have been so, my dear creature; I have admitted no one's attentions butMainwaring's. I have avoided all general flirtation whatever; I have distinguished no creature besides, of all the numbers resorting hither, except Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice, inorder to detach him from Miss Mainwaring; but, if the world could know my motive THERE theywould honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternalaffection, it was the advantage of my daughter that led me on; and if that daughter were not thegreatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exertions as I ou

Persuasion is the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen. It was published at the end of 1817, six months after her death. The story concerns Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of twenty-seven years, whose family moves to lower their expenses and reduce their debt by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife. The wife's brother, Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth, was engaged to Anne in 1806, but the engagement was broken when Anne was "persuaded" by her friends and family to end their relationship. Anne and Captain Wentworth, both single and unattached, meet again after a seven-year separation, setting the scene for many humorous encounters as well as a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne in her second "bloom".

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. Jane Austen is remembered for her six masterpieces of the Regency era: from the heroines of Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse, to the villains of Mrs. Norris and John Willoughby. But these characters were not born overnight. They sprung from Austen’s experiences as a young girl, and many early iterations can be found in the earliest of her writing: her Juvenilia. Austen was only a teenager when she wrote her Juvenilia. In the 'History of England', Austen champions (and laments) the great kings of England as 'a partial, prejudiced, and ignorant Historian'; in ‘Lady Susan’, she writes a titular anti-heroine that schemes and cheats her way through high society; and in ‘Love and Freindship’, Austen paints a picture of a woman looking back on her extremely unfortunate life. Writing on the cusp of literary greatness, Love and Freindship offers a fascinating – and often surprising – insight into a young Jane Austen.

Elizabeth Bennet is Austen’s most liberated and appealing heroine, and Pride and Prejudice has remained over most of the past two centuries Austen’s most popular novel. The story turns on the marriage prospects of the five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and especially on Elizabeth’s prejudice against the proud and distant Fitzwilliam Darcy. Pride and Prejudice is a romantic comedy that has been read as conservative and feminist, reactionary and revolutionary, rooted in the time of its composition and deliberately timeless. Robert Irvine’s introduction sets the novel in the context of the literary and intellectual history of the period, dealing with such crucial background issues as class relations in Britain, female exclusion from property and power, and the impact of the French Revolution. The introduction and annotations have been expanded and updated for the new edition, and a new appendix of Austen’s juvenilia has been added.

Do you want to read Northanger Abbey? If so then keep reading... A coming-of-age tale for the young and na ve 17-year-old Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey takes a decidedly comical look at themes of class, family, love and literature. Revelling in the sensationalist - and extremely popular - Gothic fiction of her day, the story follows Catherine out of Bath to the lofty manor of the Tilneys, where her overactive imagination gets to work constructing an absurd and melodramatic explanation for the death of Mrs Tilney, which threatens to jeopardise her newly forged friendships. What are you waiting for Northanger Abbey is one click away, select the "Buy Now" button in the top right corner NOW