I don’t think it’s any secret that Jane Austen is my favorite author. It’s even one of the clues in the “About Me” page on my website. June Asante is an anagram for Jane Austen. Clever? I thought so.
I’m not a person who grew up reading classics or was drawn to them in any particular fashion. I would characterize my love for classics as hard-won because I really, really didn’t enjoy reading them at first. The writing was often too dense to be appealing to me, especially considering I was used to reading the easy prose of a novel written at an 8th grade level.
After I grew out of YA I started reading a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, and eventually realized if I wanted to improve my literary knowledge, I needed a more varied diet. I began incorporating classics into my reading lists and was able to continue developing my sense of taste when I became an English Literature major in college.
I knew very early on that Jane Austen was an easy go-to for classic novels. Her books are easy to follow along and her writing style is impeccable. My favorite thing about Jane Austen is how witty and sarcastic she is. Her novels exude the confidence of a writer who knows exactly what she’s trying to critique. Every book of hers is brimming with social commentary, lively dialogue, and a sweet romance or two. There’s also a large difference in time period, considering her books were all written in the late 1800s, which has always been fun to compare with current day society.
It was through Austen’s novels that I was able to move on to more robust works, so I highly recommend her to anyone just starting to be interested in the classics. Today, I thought I would give a quick recommendation for each of her novels. Each blurb will cover the premise of the novel as well as a recommendation depending on what type of book you’re looking to read!
If you’re looking for something romantic: Pride & Prejudice
This one might be obvious, and I know all of Austen’s novels do include a bit of romance at the very least, but I think Pride & Prejudice is her most romantic novel. The relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy is an enemies to lovers arc where they must both overcome their fatal flaws (Elizabeth’s pride and Darcy’s prejudice) to be together. While the novel is most well known for the characters’ romance, the character development throughout the book is also superb. In the beginning they’re both slightly intolerable, but by the end you couldn’t have imagined ever rooting against them.
As with all Austen’s novels, there is more to the book than romance. We see an examination of family dynamics at the time through Elizabeth’s large, poor family she is frequently embarrassed by. There is also the juxtaposition between her family and the Darcy/Bingley group who exemplify rich and refined society. Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte acts as yet another juxtaposition as she represents the life Elizabeth may have had if she hadn’t met Mr. Darcy. To this last point, Austen has always done a great job of reminding the reader that while romances like Elizabeth’s and Mr. Darcy’s did happen, most women of the time couldn’t hold out for true love and were forced to settle for the most suitable offer of marriage instead.
If you like well-meaning protagonists who constantly screw up: Emma
If Pride and Prejudice wasn’t so gosh-danged good, Emma would be my favorite Austen novel. I might get some flack for saying that, but this is my blog and I will say what I wish. A lot of readers have a hard time identifying with Emma because she is meddling, obstinate, and has a superiority complex that would make Napoleon proud. However, this is precisely the reason I adore her. She sincerely believes she’s bettering the lives of the people around her, and by the end of the novel she comes to realize her actions, though well intentioned, often do more harm than good. We LOVE character growth.
The novel also contains several humorous bits caused by miscommunication or general negligence. Sometimes I find these tropes to be annoying but in this particular novel I find they add a comedic affect that helps offset Emma’s arrogance. She truly believes she has every idea of what’s going on when the reader knows she has hardly any idea at all. It’s comical and fun, and in the end everything works out for the best. While Pride and Prejudice wins in terms of romance and wit, I will pick up Emma whenever I’m in the mood for some lighthearted, feel-good humor.
If you like Gothic Horror: Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey is one of Austen’s lesser known novels, if any can be said to be lesser known, as it’s a gothic horror satire rather than a romance novel. Rest assured, the first half of the novel is largely focused on romance, so if that’s your thing, you won’t be missing out. However, the second half of a novel takes a turn as the heroine is whisked away to Northanger Abbey, a spooky, gothic home.
The novel itself is Jane Austen at her most satirical and most sarcastic. From the beginning, Austen pokes fun at her characters and their surroundings. Most of her novels are have a subtleness about them where the reader must infer the commentary, but this novel is much more brazen in it’s critique. As a lover of gothic horror myself, I really enjoyed this book because it is nice to laugh at oneself every now and again. Aside from her critique of the genre, the story she tells is interesting and, especially if you like Austen’s prose in general, the novel is worth a read.
If you like second-chance stories: Persuasion
I am glad I put off reading Persuasion for as long as I did because I don’t think I would’ve been able to identify with the story as a teenager. I was a believer that love will prevail always, and if it doesn’t, it is simply not meant to be. The idea of a second chance later in life abhorred me because if it worked the second time, why didn’t it work the first time? Why did you waste all the years in between? I had zero notions of proper timing or character growth. In my defense, all I read were YA novels where the teenage characters end up together at the end and live happily ever after, seemingly for the rest of their lives. Ah, the days of young, blissful ignorance.
As a (still pretty young) adult, I can understand Persuasion much more than when I was a teenager. The idea of characters needing to grow independently before they can be together is much more understandable to me now. This is exactly what happens in Persuasion, and I often view it as what might’ve happened in Pride and Prejudice if Elizabeth had never overcome her pride. The heroine in this story missed her first chance at love because she let others’ opinions influence her, but it is shown throughout the novel that this was necessary for her love interest to become the man he is in the present day. After their time away and separate periods of growth, their attachment is stronger and their stations in life better for it.
If you like heart-warming sister stories: Sense and Sensibility
This is the only one of Austen’s novels that I listened to as an audiobook, though I do have a physical copy in my Austen anthology. Rosamund Pike performed the book which made it highly enjoyable and I would freely recommend that version of the audiobook to anyone. The actual story is sweet with the two main characters classified by their defining traits, similar to Pride and Prejudice. One sister is the embodiment of sense, refusing to show her emotions even to those closest to her, and the other is willful and dramatic as the embodiment of sensibility.
Their relationship to each other is stressed throughout the novel and anyone who is an elder sibling will relate to sense as she constantly tries to reign in her younger sister. Both go through extreme character growth by the end of the novel and the sweet part is that they end up learning the most from each other. Through strengthening their connection as sisters, they are able to glean each other’s best traits and they progress much better for it.
Books I am indefinite about:
I’ve read both Mansfield Park and Lady Susan, but personally I did not care for either novel. In Mansfield Park the heroine is in love with her cousin, and the fact that they are cousins is mentioned too many times for me to suspend my disbelief effectively. I know things were different back then, but it’s still kind of awful. Also, the heroine is a pious, goody-two-shoes type which is her only defining character trait. I found the book boring and not really comparable to Austen’s other works.
Lady Susan is significantly more interesting, but I had the same issue of not relating to the main character of this novel. Lady Susan sucks. She’s a meddling Emma but without any of the charm or good intention. In fact, she gets off on toying with other people. By the end of the novel she’s meant to redeem herself a bit, or at least finally receive a punishment for her actions, but it doesn’t feel like enough of a redemption or punishment to invoke a satisfying ending. I finished the book underwhelmed and dissatisfied with the characters and story.
Neither book is a bad, of course, but neither were my cup of tea. I would only recommend them if you have a mission to read all of Austen’s completed novels.
I will note as well that the movie adaptations for Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma are all worth watching. The British series for Pride and Prejudice is worth watching as well, and has a better depiction of Mr. Darcy in my opinion, but I do prefer the movie to the series. I just love Keira Knightly and Rosamund Pike. I know there is also an adaptation for Persuasion but I haven’t seen it so I cannot say whether it’s worth watching.
If you’re still not sure what book to start with, here’s my list of Jane Austen’s completed novels from best to worst. This isn’t an objective critique of her books, it’s purely my own opinion based on my enjoyment while reading them. If you’ve already read her novels and your list looks different, that’s perfectly okay.
My Personal Rankings of Jane Austen’s Novels:
1) Pride & Prejudice
2) Emma
3) Sense & Sensibility
4) Northanger Abbey
5) Persuasion
6) Mansfield Park
7) Lady Susan
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