Let these Jane Austen Books Bewitch You, Body and Soul
If the sentences, “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more,” or “my heart is, and always will be, yours,” send flutters through your chest, consider it a sign. It’s time to get into Jane Austen classics. It’s just a matter of finding the right one to start!
A Bit About Jane Austen
Jane Austen is widely considered one of the most adored female writers of all time—but her career was short-lived. Though she’d written a few stories in her teenage years, her now-popular novels weren’t published until 1811.
After the success of Jane Austen’s first book, Sense and Sensibility, she spent the last years of her life writing and publishing as many stories as she could before passing away in 1817. Her last two official publications were released posthumously and were the first titles that actually credited Jane Austen.
How Many Books Did Jane Austen Write?
It seems shocking that, for an author with such a dedicated fanbase, Jane Austen only ever published six full-length novels, but it’s true! Jane Austen’s books, while often confused with being simple love stories, take an analytical perspective on love, marriage, money, and society amongst the English gentry of the early 19th century.
With strong female heroines, sharp wit, and captivating plots, Jane Austen’s classics have become beloved among readers around the globe. Head to our bookstore in Rochester, Michigan, to grab one for yourself.
Additional Classic Stories by Jane Austen:
- ‘Lady Susan’
- ‘Jack and Alice’
- ‘Henry and Eliza’
- ‘Love and Friendship’
- ‘The History of England’
- ‘Catharine, or The Bower’
- ‘Evelyn’
- ‘The Watsons’
- Sanditon
A Look at Jane Austen’s Classics
It doesn’t matter whether you prefer to listen to Jane Austen’s books on audiobook or annotate a physical copy like you’re back in high school English class—there are countless ways to enjoy the Jane Austen classics. See which title below tickles your fancy and dive in!
Sense and Sensibility
Between attractive, witty, and charming Elinor Dashwood falling for the self-effacing and dull Edward Ferrars and her heart-on-her-sleeve sister, Marianne Dashwood, pining after the dashing yet unsuitable John Willoughby, the Dashwood sisters can’t seem to understand one another. Experiencing love for the first time (and all the loss associated with it) in a society where status and money inform every decision is no easy task. If they’re to find any chance of happiness, the two sisters will have to face their own faults and learn to blend sense and sensibility, in Jane Austen’s first book, Sense and Sensibility.
Pride and Prejudice
When Elizabeth Bennet meets Fitzwilliam Darcy, the town’s most eligible bachelor, finding him aloof, arrogant, and incredibly conceited, she’s determined to dislike him. Especially when she discovers Darcy has involved himself in the blossoming relationship between her beloved sister, Jane, and his friend, Bingley. But as the two are forced closer and closer, she inevitably learns that you can’t always trust first impressions. Maybe, just maybe, there’s more to Darcy than meets the eye.
Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the most-requested Jane Austen book—and it’s not just because of the beloved 2005 movie adaptation! If you’re in the mood for a Jane Austen classic that’s as witty as it is romantic, this is the title for you. Pick it up at your nearest indie bookstore today.
Mansfield Park
When young Fanny Price is unceremoniously uprooted from her humble upbringing and dropped into the aristocratic household of her uncle, she must grow up learning to navigate tumultuous social dynamics and her own budding feelings for her cousin, Edmund Bertram. But when the Crawfords move into the neighborhood, bringing glamorous tales of London, she must try to resist the allure of the charming Henry—and all the gossip and scandal that come with.
What does it take for two people destined for one another to overcome chaos and face the love they have for one another? Start a book club with your friends and find out together in Jane Austen’s classic, Mansfield Park.
Emma
Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her single life. When you’re beautiful, clever, and rich, what need do you have for love and marriage? Yet nothing excites her more than meddling in the romantic lives of others. When arranging a suitable match for her young protegee, Harriet Smith, goes wrong, she finds herself in the messy midst of misunderstandings.
When faced with the truth, will she be able to confront her innermost fears once and for all? Fall in love with Jane Austen’s classic, Emma today.
Persuasion
Eight years ago, Anne Elliot was happily engaged to the handsome, penniless Frederick Wentworth. That is, until her friend, Lady Russell, persuaded her he was “unworthy.”
Now, at 27 years old, Anne is no longer considered young enough for romantic prospects to pursue, and her family is on the verge of bankruptcy. When Frederick returns, now a wealthy captain in the navy, she realizes her love for him never went away.
But what if her past mistakes keep them from finding their way together again? Find out in the last book Jane Austen ever completed, Persuasion.
Northanger Abbey
Though she may not be cut out to be a heroine of one of the Gothic novels she and her new friend, Isabella, read, young and naïve Catherine Morland is delighted by her first season in society. When the Tilney siblings invite her to their father’s mysterious house, Northanger Abbey, she finds her imagination running wild. Unable to read other people and falling in love with the wry and witty Henry, Catherine remains blissfully unaware of the inevitable disaster that awaits her.
Will she ever learn to distinguish fact from fiction? Tune into this Jane Austen book on audiobook and see for yourself!
Check Out these 3 Popular Retellings of Jane Austen Books:
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith: A retelling of Jane Austen’s classic where feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet must navigate falling for the haughty Mr. Darcy, the dangers of society, and most notably, the bone-crunching zombie mayhem at her front door.
- The Emma Project by Sonali Dev: In this reimagined Emma, after a ten-year-long fake relationship, Knightlina Kohli wants two things from life: to never have anything to do with her ex’s family again and to bring economic independence to millions of women in South Asia. But just when her dreams are about to come true, her ex's brother shows up with a plan—and a toe-curling proposition.
- Sex, Lies, and Sensibility by Nikki Payne: When Nora and her sister’s reputations are left in ruins after the reveal of their father’s secret child at the reading of his will, the two escape to the middle of nowhere, where they must revamp their inherited rustic inn before Labor Day or lose it all. But everything grows more complicated when the tall, dark stranger, eco-tour guide Ennis “Bear” Freeman, shows up and sparks start flying.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re enjoying an imaginative retelling of a Jane Austen classic or reading your very first Jane Austen book: her titles have something for every reader. Stop by Novel in Rochester Hills to pick one up today!