Showing results by author "Jane Austen" in All Categories

At just ten years old, Fanny Price is sent from her poor Portsmouth home to live with the family of her wealthy uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, in the vast grandeur of Mansfield Park. Timid and fragile, Fanny is neglected by the indolent Lady Bertram, belittled by her conceited cousins Maria and Julia, and constantly reminded of her lowly status by her ever-critical Aunt Norris. Her only comfort is the kindness and attention shown by her cousin Edmund, and her sole strength the sense of her own moral integrity. But this strength is tested when the alluring Henry and Mary Crawford arrive.

The plot follows the usual trajectory of a young girl falling in love and the relationship becoming compromised by unforeseen circumstances. In this case, Austen’s heroine is a naïve country girl, Catherine Morland, who has an addiction to reading the Gothic horror novels which were so popular in the Regency period. When she is invited to stay at the family seat of her love interest and discovers it to be a vast and ancient castle, her romantic imagination runs riot. What secrets lie hidden in this vast pile over which the widowed head of the house exercises an iron control?

Emma Woodhouse is pretty, clever and rich and sees no reason why she would ever need to get married. But she loves matchmaking for her neighbours, despite the advice of her friend Mr Knightley, who warns her against meddling. Her latest success - the wedding of her governess - makes her certain that she can find the right match for anyone. Can Emma's lucky streak continue? Or will best laid plans unravel...as they always seem to do?

This timeless collection brings together three of the finest works in the literary canon, read in full by some of the very best audiobook narrators. With over 38 hours of unmissable storytelling, tracked by chapter so you can easily find your place, this is the ideal way to enjoy these classic masterpieces.

Penguin Classics presents Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Joanna David. “No sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes ...”

Lady Susan is a short, epistolary novel by Jane Austen. Lady Susan Vernon is a selfish, attractive, and unscrupulous woman, who tries to trap the best possible husband while maintaining a relationship with a married man. As a widow, she seeks a match for herself, as well as husband-hunting for her daughter. Lady Susan is not only beautiful but intelligent and witty; she's highly attractive to men and her suitors are always significantly younger.

Jane Austen's first major novel, a parody of the popular literature of the time, is an ironic tale of the romantic folly of men and women in pursuit of love, marriage, and money. The humorous adventures of young Catherine as she encounters "the difficulties and dangers of a six weeks' residence in Bath" lead to some of Austen's most brilliant social satire.

Emma is a vivacious twenty-year-old, who has spent her life in the pleasant seclusion of a village community and who lives with her widowed valetudinarian father. Most of the neighbors admire and approve of her, except for George Knightley, a local landowner, who often expresses his disapproval of Emma’s highhanded and controlling tendencies, in particular her assumption of the unofficial role of matchmaker.

This early novel is often called Jane Austen's Gothic parody. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers are quintessential gothic ingredients; but the listener is also rewarded with Austen's typical and wonderful sense of satirical humor! Our heroine is Catherine Morland, a seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey.

During an eventful season at Bath, young, naive Catherine Morland experiences the joys of fashionable society for the first time. She is delighted to make new acquaintances, including flirtatious Isabella, who shares her love of Gothic romance and horror, and the sophisticated Henry and Eleanor Tilney. When the Tilneys invite her to their family's mysterious home, Northanger Abbey, she's eager to visit. But once there, her imagination, which has been influenced by gothic novels of sensation and intrigue, makes her suspect their father, General Tilney, of committing terrible crimes.

Welcome to Austen Chat, the podcast of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). Join us each month as we interview scholars, authors, and subject experts on a wide range of topics related to Austen’s writings, her life and times, and more. There is always more to learn and enjoy about Jane!

Jane Austen's Persuasion focuses on the regret and loneliness of Anne Elliot, who had rejected a proposal of marriage upon advice of a dear friend, from the one man she truly loved. The story takes place less than a decade after the proposal, following her simultaneous anticipation and dread of the rejected lover's return to the community. She struggles between the validity of the reasons for the old rejection and the flittering hope that their love had persevered.

Jane Austen's enduring tale of romantic entanglement, read by Sophie Thompson. Emma is considered by many to be Jane Austen's finest work. Its heroine is fascinating, selfish, and manipulative, running riot with other people's emotions and relationships. The author employs her greatest skills to bring about Emma's consequent crisis, her awakening, and a happy resolution.

Anne Elliot has grieved for seven years over the loss of her first and only love, Captain Frederick Wentworth. When their paths finally cross again, Anne finds herself slighted and all traces of their former intimacy gone. As the pair continue to share the same social circle, dramatic events in Lyme Regis, and later in Bath, conspire to unravel the knots of deceit and misunderstanding in this beguiling and gently comic story of love and fidelity.

Are you a fan of classic literature and romantic comedies? Look no further than Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey! This delightful novel offers a witty and charming look at love, friendship, and self-discovery. With its relatable characters and engaging plot, Northanger Abbey is a must-listen for fans of Austen and anyone looking for a heartwarming and enjoyable audiobook experience. Don't miss out on this chance to lose yourself in the world of Northanger Abbey – start listening today!https://www.solgood.org - Check our our Streaming Service for our full collection of audiobooks, short stories...

While Mrs. Bennet pursues husbands for her daughters, the course of the courtship of the proud Darcy and Elizabeth never runs smoothly. The writing takes us on a roller-coaster ride of emotions that often accompanies a relationship in bloom.

In Northanger Abbey, a young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart. Austen's first, this is considered by many to be among her most charming novels.

Mansfield Park is the third published and perhaps most subtle of Jane Austen's novels. It tells the story of Fanny Price, who, at the age of 10, is sent from her impoverished household to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle and be raised alongside her cousins. Fanny grows up as a misfit, not truly a member of the Bertram family, but too genteel to feel comfortable with her parents.

Miss Frances, the youngest Ward sister, "married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune, or connexions, did it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice." Some years later, pregnant with her ninth child, Mrs. Price appeals to her family, namely to her eldest sister and her husband, Sir Thomas Bertram, for help with her over-large family. Sir Thomas provides assistance in helping his nephews into lines of work suitable to their education, and takes his eldest niece, Fanny Price, then ten years...

Persuasion was the last novel completed by Jane Austen and was first published posthumously in December, 1817. The story represents an interesting configuration of Austen’s characteristic narrative patterns. The heroine, Anne Eliot, is something of an old maid—she is twenty-seven years old, still single and is considered by family and friends to have lost her youthful beauty. Several years earlier, her engagement to Captain Frederick Wentworth had been broken off, due to the insistence of her family that the Captain lacked the wealth and status needed for a suitable husband.