Pride and Prejudice (Signet Classics)

Spirited Elizabeth Bennet matches wits and wiles of the heart with the arrogant Mr. Darcy in this entertaining portrait of matrimonial rites and rivalries in Regency England.

#LINK<># @FirstThoughtBestThought Usually a man wills his home to his wife or kids. But sometimes, he wills it to a distant relative, so when he dies, you’re out on your ass.

And then, and THEN, that distant, meddlesome priest of a relative tries to seduce one of your sisters.

Unsure why anyone would want my sisters. All they want is to hit it with the officers – what war are they even fighting in the countryside?

Though my older sister–Jane–is nice. How could she not be? Jane is such a good name. I would like anybody named Jane.

From #LINK<Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less>#

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on July 18, 1817.

As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.

Margaret Drabble is recipient of many prestigious awards for her writing, which includes works of nonfiction as well as numerous novels.