The Complete Novels of Jane Austen

It is hard to overstate the importance of Jane Austen as a writer. For the last 200 years, nearly everyone who has read her novels has agreed that she was one of the best-loved and most talented novelists ever to write in English. Her subtle use of social satire, lively sense of humor, keen eye for detail, love of good storytelling and keen observation of human nature have made her books perennial favorites among readers young and old. And the irony is that while her work remained wildly popular among readers after her death, during her own lifetime Austen was largely ignored by critics, publishers and even many members of her own family. It is easy to see why: She never wrote anything flashy or shocking, nor did she denounce any notable public personage. She just told straightforward stories about ordinary people who lived in provincial English towns like Bath and Lyme Regis during Napoleonic War's era England. Austen shows us that conflict—even crisis—can exist in a world where no external disaster occurs.