Emma

When her former governess finds happiness as the bride of a local widower, the
brilliant and beautiful Emma Woodhouse — one of Jane Austen’s immortal
creations — flatters herself that she alone has secured the marriage and that
she possesses a special talent for bringing lovers together. The young heiress
next busies herself with finding a suitable husband for her friend and
protégé, Harriet Smith, setting off an entertaining sequence of comic mishaps
and misunderstanding in this sparkling comedy of English-village romance.
Beneath its considerable wit, the novel is also the story of a young woman’s
progress toward self-understanding. “Emma” abounds in the droll character
sketches at which Jane Austen excelled. In addition to the well-intentional
heroine and her hypochondriacal father, the village of Highbury during the
Regency period is populated by an amusing circle of friends and family —
kindhearted but tedious Miss Bates, a chatterbox spinster; ambitious Mr.
Elton, a social-climbing parson; Frank Churchill, an enigmatic Romeo; Mr.
Knightley, Emma’s brother-in-law and the voice of her better nature; and a
cluster of other finely drawn, unforgettable personalities. The author’s skill
at depicting the follies of human nature in a manner both realistic and
affectionate elevates this tale of provincial matchmaking to the heights of
scintillating satire. Of all great writers, Jane Austen is the most difficult
to catch in the act of greatness. —Virginia Woolf Jane Austen’s masterpiece.
—Rex Stout Jane Austen is my favourite author! I read and reread, the mouth
open and the mind closed. —E. M. Forster How could these novels ever seem
remote... the gaiety is unextinguished today, the irony has kept its bite, the
reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished, as comedies they are
irresistibly and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be. —Eudora Welty It
is the cleverest of books. I especially love the dialogue — every speech
reveals the characters’ obsessions and preoccupations, yet it remains
perfectly natural... absolutely gripping. —Susannah Clarke