Jane Austen
Spine number 01
Sense and Sensibility
Elinor and Marianne Dashwood must make a home on a reduced income, among neighbours eager to discuss their marriage prospects. Their different habits of restraint and openness give Austen a way to explore how difficult it can be to understand even a much-loved sister. An early version, Elinor and Marianne, dates from around 1795; Austen revised the novel before its publication in 1811.
1811 · book · Fiction
Spine number 02
Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth Bennet enjoys observing other people’s absurdities, and the reserved Mr Darcy gives her plenty to dislike. Their encounters unfold among five sisters, anxious marriage plans and relatives who cannot always be trusted to behave. First drafted as First Impressions in 1796–1797, the novel makes quick judgement and the practical need for a secure future part of its courtship comedy.
1813 · book · Fiction
Spine number 03
Mansfield Park
Fanny Price grows up as a poor relation in the wealthy Bertram household, where gratitude is expected and her own wishes carry little weight. The arrival of the lively Crawfords and plans for private theatricals test her place among people who find compliance much more attractive than hesitation. Cassandra Austen recorded the novel as begun about February 1811 and finished soon after June 1813.
1814 · book · Fiction
Spine number 04
Emma
Emma Woodhouse has a secure future and enjoys arranging everyone else’s, especially that of her new friend Harriet Smith. Visits, invitations and conversations become occasions for matchmaking in a village Emma believes she understands. Cassandra Austen dated its composition from 21 January 1814 to 29 March 1815. The book went on sale on 23 December 1815, with title pages dated 1816.
1815 · book · Fiction
Spine number 05
Northanger Abbey
A first visit to Bath brings Catherine Morland new friends, dancing partners and plenty of chances to misunderstand polite conversation. Her enthusiasm for Gothic novels adds another set of expectations when she is invited to Northanger Abbey. Written in an early form around 1798–1799 and sold to a publisher in 1803, the manuscript remained unpublished until after Austen’s death. It appeared with Persuasion on 20 December 1817, in volumes dated 1818.
1817 · book · Fiction · Posthumous
Spine number 06
Persuasion
Anne Elliot has spent years accommodating her family after accepting advice to end an engagement to Frederick Wentworth. His return brings remembered intimacy into the awkward routines of visits and polite conversation. Written in 1815–1816, the novel gives Austen’s comedy of rank and manners a particularly close attention to regret. It was published with Northanger Abbey on 20 December 1817, in volumes dated 1818.
1817 · book · Fiction · Posthumous
Spine number 07
Lady Susan
A recently widowed woman needs hospitality, money and room to manoeuvre, and knows how to write a persuasive letter. Her hosts and confidante receive different versions of her intentions, making this short novel a brisk contest of charm, suspicion and family interest. Written earlier in Austen’s life, it first appeared in the expanded 1871 edition of her nephew’s memoir.
1871 · novella · Fiction · Posthumous
Spine number 08
The Watsons
Emma Watson, after years with a wealthy aunt, is sent home to a clergyman's household of limited means. The novel watches her navigate sisters, suitors and the awkwardness of returning as a semi-stranger, with marriage as the practical question hanging over the family. Written earlier in Austen's life, it first appeared in the expanded 1871 edition of her nephew's memoir.
1871 · book · Fiction · Unfinished · Posthumous
Spine number 09
Juvenilia: Volume the Second
Letters, historical parody and extravagant tales turn the conventions of sentimental fiction into comedy. The notebook includes Love and Freindship, Lesley Castle and The History of England. Material appeared in Love and Freindship and Other Early Works in 1922; later editions provide the fuller notebook text.
1922 · collection · Fiction · Posthumous
Spine number 10
Sanditon
Charlotte Heywood is taken to Sanditon, a small coastal place being promoted into a fashionable resort. The novel watches speculators, invalids and newcomers collide as the town tries to invent itself, with more appetite for improvement than settled society. Austen left the manuscript unfinished in 1817. Extracts appeared in 1871, and the complete surviving text was first published in 1925.
1925 · book · Fiction · Unfinished · Posthumous
Spine number 11
Juvenilia: Volume the First
Austen's first juvenile notebook gathers short tales, dramatic scenes and verses written for a family audience. Courtship, social ambition and improbable adventures are compressed into comic experiments; the volume was published in 1933, long after its composition.
1933 · collection · Fiction · Posthumous
Spine number 12
Juvenilia: Volume the Third
The final juvenile notebook contains Evelyn and the unfinished Catharine, or the Bower. These longer experiments move between extravagant invention and a young woman's encounters with the social world. The notebook was published in 1951; this record covers Austen's writing rather than later continuations.
1951 · collection · Fiction · Posthumous
Austen’s novels differ in pace and feeling, even when their characters share a world of visits, family obligations and marriage prospects. Pride and Prejudice is a lively starting point; the alternatives offer more playful or more reflective company.
Where to begin
Start here
Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth Bennet’s quick judgments make an inviting introduction to Austen’s wit. Courtship, family embarrassment and the pressure to marry keep the story moving, while each conversation gives you another reason to reconsider the people in it.
In the collection About 8 hr 7 min at 250 words/min
For playful comedy
Northanger Abbey
Choose this if you enjoy a book that teases its own readers. Catherine Morland brings the expectations of Gothic fiction into drawing rooms and country houses, giving Austen room to explore the gap between imagined dangers and ordinary selfishness.
In the collection About 5 hr 9 min at 250 words/min
For a quieter romance
Persuasion
Anne Elliot’s encounter with a former love offers a more reflective way into Austen. Small gestures carry the weight of years, making this a good choice if you prefer restrained feeling, regret and the possibility of a second chance.
In the collection About 5 hr 33 min at 250 words/min
Read next
Sense and Sensibility
Elinor and Marianne bring different expectations to the same household, giving Austen room for both sisterly affection and exasperation. Read this next for more of the family comedy of Pride and Prejudice, with closer attention to feelings that are difficult to share.
In the collection About 7 hr 55 min at 250 words/min
Published 1811
Sense and Sensibility
book
Elinor and Marianne Dashwood must make a home on a reduced income, among neighbours eager to discuss their marriage prospects. Their different habits of restraint and openness give Austen a way to explore how difficult it can be to understand even a much-loved sister. An early version, Elinor and Marianne, dates from around 1795; Austen revised the novel before its publication in 1811.
In the collection
Published 1813
Pride and Prejudice
book
Elizabeth Bennet enjoys observing other people’s absurdities, and the reserved Mr Darcy gives her plenty to dislike. Their encounters unfold among five sisters, anxious marriage plans and relatives who cannot always be trusted to behave. First drafted as First Impressions in 1796–1797, the novel makes quick judgement and the practical need for a secure future part of its courtship comedy.
In the collection
Published 1814
Mansfield Park
book
Fanny Price grows up as a poor relation in the wealthy Bertram household, where gratitude is expected and her own wishes carry little weight. The arrival of the lively Crawfords and plans for private theatricals test her place among people who find compliance much more attractive than hesitation. Cassandra Austen recorded the novel as begun about February 1811 and finished soon after June 1813.
In the collection
Published 1815
Emma
book
Emma Woodhouse has a secure future and enjoys arranging everyone else’s, especially that of her new friend Harriet Smith. Visits, invitations and conversations become occasions for matchmaking in a village Emma believes she understands. Cassandra Austen dated its composition from 21 January 1814 to 29 March 1815. The book went on sale on 23 December 1815, with title pages dated 1816.
In the collection
Published 1817
Northanger Abbey
book · Posthumous
A first visit to Bath brings Catherine Morland new friends, dancing partners and plenty of chances to misunderstand polite conversation. Her enthusiasm for Gothic novels adds another set of expectations when she is invited to Northanger Abbey. Written in an early form around 1798–1799 and sold to a publisher in 1803, the manuscript remained unpublished until after Austen’s death. It appeared with Persuasion on 20 December 1817, in volumes dated 1818.
In the collection
Published 1817
Persuasion
book · Posthumous
Anne Elliot has spent years accommodating her family after accepting advice to end an engagement to Frederick Wentworth. His return brings remembered intimacy into the awkward routines of visits and polite conversation. Written in 1815–1816, the novel gives Austen’s comedy of rank and manners a particularly close attention to regret. It was published with Northanger Abbey on 20 December 1817, in volumes dated 1818.
In the collection
Published 1871
Lady Susan
novella · Posthumous
A recently widowed woman needs hospitality, money and room to manoeuvre, and knows how to write a persuasive letter. Her hosts and confidante receive different versions of her intentions, making this short novel a brisk contest of charm, suspicion and family interest. Written earlier in Austen’s life, it first appeared in the expanded 1871 edition of her nephew’s memoir.
In the collection
Published 1871
The Watsons
book · Unfinished · Posthumous
Emma Watson, after years with a wealthy aunt, is sent home to a clergyman's household of limited means. The novel watches her navigate sisters, suitors and the awkwardness of returning as a semi-stranger, with marriage as the practical question hanging over the family. Written earlier in Austen's life, it first appeared in the expanded 1871 edition of her nephew's memoir.
Not yet in our collection
Published 1922
Juvenilia: Volume the Second
collection · Posthumous
Letters, historical parody and extravagant tales turn the conventions of sentimental fiction into comedy. The notebook includes Love and Freindship, Lesley Castle and The History of England. Material appeared in Love and Freindship and Other Early Works in 1922; later editions provide the fuller notebook text.
Not yet in our collection
Published 1925
Sanditon
book · Unfinished · Posthumous
Charlotte Heywood is taken to Sanditon, a small coastal place being promoted into a fashionable resort. The novel watches speculators, invalids and newcomers collide as the town tries to invent itself, with more appetite for improvement than settled society. Austen left the manuscript unfinished in 1817. Extracts appeared in 1871, and the complete surviving text was first published in 1925.
Not yet in our collection
Published 1933
Juvenilia: Volume the First
collection · Posthumous
Austen's first juvenile notebook gathers short tales, dramatic scenes and verses written for a family audience. Courtship, social ambition and improbable adventures are compressed into comic experiments; the volume was published in 1933, long after its composition.
Not yet in our collection
Published 1951
Juvenilia: Volume the Third
collection · Posthumous
The final juvenile notebook contains Evelyn and the unfinished Catharine, or the Bower. These longer experiments move between extravagant invention and a young woman's encounters with the social world. The notebook was published in 1951; this record covers Austen's writing rather than later continuations.
Not yet in our collection
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose stories of courtship make room for sharp questions about money, judgement and women’s freedom to choose their lives. Her characters visit, dance and exchange apparently ordinary remarks, while her narration lets readers hear the vanity or uncertainty beneath them. The wit of Pride and Prejudice and Emma sits beside the quieter pressures of dependence and regret in Mansfield Park and Persuasion.
Born at Steventon Rectory in Hampshire in 1775, Austen grew up in a large family that enjoyed books, writing and amateur theatricals. Her teenage stories parody the sentimental fiction and improving histories she read, often with a wildness that complicates the familiar image of a decorous novelist. The family moved to Bath in 1801; after her father’s death in 1805, Austen, her mother and her sister Cassandra lived on a reduced income. A settled home at Chawton, provided by her brother Edward in 1809, gave her a base from which to revise earlier manuscripts and write new novels.
Sense and Sensibility appeared in 1811, credited simply to “a Lady”, followed by Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. Austen died in Winchester in July 1817, leaving Sanditon unfinished. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published together that December, with title pages dated 1818 and a biographical notice by her brother Henry identifying her as the author. Her surviving letters, early writings and unfinished fiction extend the picture of a writer whose careful attention to everyday life was already present in her youthful experiments.