Recommendations based on "The Sidmouth Letters"

Based on your reading history, we think you will also enjoy the following books.

By Jane Austen, David M. Shapard

The first fully annotated edition of Jane Austen’s beloved classic, presenting the complete text alongside comprehensive, detailed annotations—now revised and expanded with hundreds of new notes and illustrations A sheer delight for Jane Austen fans, The Annotated Pride and Prejudice contains the complete text of Pride and Prejudice with thousands of annotations, including: • Explanations of historical context: Rules of etiquette, class differences, the position of women, legal and economic realities, leisure activities, and more. • Citations from Austen’s life, letters, and other writings: Parallels between the novel and Austen’s experience are revealed, along with writings that illuminate her beliefs and opinions. • Definitions and clarifications: Archaic words, words still in use whose meanings have changed, and obscure passages are explained. • Literary comments and analyses: Insightful notes highlight Austen’s artistry and point out the subtle ways she develops her characters and themes. • Maps and illustrations: See the places and objects mentioned in the novel. • An introduction, a bibliography, and a detailed chronology of events   Of course, one can enjoy the novel without knowing the precise definition of a gentleman, or what it signifies that a character drives a coach rather than a hack chaise, or the rules governing social interaction at a ball, but readers of The Annotated Pride and Prejudice will find that these kinds of details add immeasurably to understanding and enjoying the intricate psychological interplay of Austen’s immortal characters.

By Jane Austen,Jane Austen

Emma Woodhouse is introduced to us as "handsome, clever and rich" and, according to Jane Austen, a heroine "which no one but myself would like". Yet such is Emma's spirited wit that, despite her superior airs and egotism, few readers have failed to succumb to her charm.The comedy turns on Emma's self-appointed role as energetic match-maker for her sweet, silly friend Harriet. Emma herself, meanwhile, is confidently immune to the charms of the male sex. Her emotional coming of age is woven into what Ronald Blythe has called "the happiest of love stories, the most fiendishly difficult of detective stories and a matchless repository of English wit".

By Jane Austen, John Davie (editor)

Austen's last novel is the crowning achievement of her matchless career. Her heroine, Anne Elliot, a woman of integrity, breeding and great depth of emotion, stands in stark contrast to the brutality and hypocrisy of Regency England. Includes a new Introduction by Margaret Drabble, famed novelist and editor of The Oxford Companion to the English Language.

By Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Soon to Be a Streaming SeriesThis comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.Like that could go wrong.New York Times Bestseller * Publishers Weekly Best Young Adult Book of the Year * Bustle Best Young Adult Book of the Year * YALSA Best Fiction for Young AdultsAnd don't miss the authors' next fun read, My Plain Jane!

By Rory Muir

What happened when Jane Austen’s heroines and heroes were finally wed?Marriage is at the centre of Jane Austen’s novels. The pursuit of husbands and wives, advantageous matches, and, of course, love itself, motivate her characters and continue to fascinate readers today. But what were love and marriage like in reality for ladies and gentlemen in Regency England?Rory Muir uncovers the excitements and disappointments of courtship and the pains and pleasures of marriage, drawing on fascinating first-hand accounts as well as novels of the period. From the glamour of the ballroom to the pressures of careers, children, managing money, and difficult in-laws, love and marriage came in many guises: some wed happily, some dared to elope, and other relationships ended with acrimony, adultery, domestic abuse, or divorce. Muir illuminates the position of both men and women in marriage, as well as those spinsters and bachelors who chose not to marry at all.This is a richly textured account of how love and marriage felt for people at the time—revealing their unspoken assumptions, fears, pleasures, and delights.

By Brenda Sneathen Mattox

Life among members of early nineteenth-century British society comes delightfully alive in this charmingly rendered paper doll collection. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's classic tale of romance set in the English countryside, is recalled with the help of eight attractive figures, among them the engaging Bennet sisters — Elizabeth, Jane, and Lydia; Mrs. Bennet, their mother (whose sole occupation seems to be finding suitable husbands for her daughters); Mr. Bingley, an eligible bachelor; Mr. Darcy, a proud and proper gentleman; Lady Catherine, Darcy's haughty aunt; and Mr. Wickham, a dashing regimental officer.A wardrobe of 48 period costumes takes the colorful characters from afternoon teas and weekend visits to neighborhood balls and a family wedding. Included are long-sleeved, Empire-styled dresses for the Bennet ladies to wear to church, along with simple daytime outfits topped by aprons for gardening; elegant evening attire for the ball at Netherfield, splendid bridal gowns edged with ruffles and lace for Jane and Elizabeth, and more. For the men, there are formal evening clothes, lengthy greatcoats, a military uniform, and fashionable morning coats, breeches, and top boots.This charming collection will not only delight fans of the Austen novel — and motion picture — but will also thrill paper doll enthusiasts of all ages.

By Paula Byrne

Who was the real Jane Austen? Overturning the traditional portrait of the author as conventional and genteel, bestseller Paula Byrne’s landmark biography reveals the real woman behind the books.In this paperback of the landmark biography, bestselling biographer Paula Byrne uses objects that conjure up a key moment in Austen’s life and work – a silhouette, a vellum notebook, a topaz cross, a writing box, a royalty cheque, a bathing machine, and many more – to unlock the biography of this most beloved author. The woman who emerges is far tougher, more socially and politically aware, and altogether more modern than the conventional picture of ‘dear aunt Jane’ allows. Byrne’s lively book explores the many forces that shaped Austen’s life, her long struggle to become a published author, and brings Miss Austen dazzlingly into the twenty-first century.

By Claudia Gray

The fourth book in New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray's Jane Austen sequel series, which finds amateur sleuths Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney caught up in the whirlwind of the London Season—and in a murderous scheme involving the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it's a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet's grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund's brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet's, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley's previously rebuffed plans to make herself—or her daughter—mistress of Pemberley. But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund's sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn't marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce—and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim.

By Jane Austen, George Saintsbury

Of all Jane Austen's books, Pride and Prejudice has earned a special place in the hearts of the reading public as her best-loved and most intimately known novel. From its famous opening sentence the story of the Bennet family and of the novel's two protagonists, Elizabeth and Darcy, told with a wit that its author feared might prove 'rather too light and bright, and sparkling', delights its most familiar readers as thoroughly as it does those who encounter it for the first time. Jane Austen's artistry is apparent, too, in the delineation of the minor characters: the ill-matched Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Charles Bingley and his sisters, and above all the fatuous Mr. Collins, whose proposal to Elizabeth Bennet is one of the finest comic passages in English literature. And while she entertains us, Jane Austen teaches us the wisdom of balance, the folly of 'pride' and 'prejudice'.

By David Lodge

David Lodge's Emma was one of the first Macmillan Casebooks and has proved one of the most popular. Three new essays have been added in this new edition, reflecting new critical approaches such as feminism and deconstruction. The new material complements the classic studies by critics such as Arnold Kettle and Lionel Trilling. A revised and extended introduction puts the changing interpretation of Jane Austen's novel in historical context and, together with an updated Bibliography, directs the student to useful further reading.