One of Jane Austen’s novels is creating a stir amongst period literature fans, and it is not Pride and Prejudice.
Emma, the English author’s last published novel before her death, is set in the fictional Surrey village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls, and Donwell Abbey. It is centred on the relationships among people from a small number of families. Similar to her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote: « I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like. »
The book’s blurb reads: « Beautiful, clever, rich – and single – Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protégée, Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work. »
The 1815 has come out on top in a Reddit thread titled « In your opinion, what’s the best Austen novel? »
Under the thread, one person said: « Emma is my favourite book of all time. I love it so much. »
Another said: « I’m reading it for the first time and really loving it. I know the story already from the most recent movie, but the book is obviously a different experience. I found myself continuously confused with the movie (though I really, really like it), there are so many little details in the book that make the plot points so much richer and more satisfying. I’m really into the story and characters. »
« I picked Emma because no matter how many times I read it and how much near the beginning I say to myself, ‘oh, right, here’s clues for later,’ by the time stuff really happens, I seem to have forgotten and gotten into the moment, » added a third.
One reader described it as a « masterpiece », while another said: « Emma! It’s the most complex in structure, with so much happening behind the scenes and all the clues being dropped. It has the best fleshed-out character development in Emma’s slow journey to self-awareness. It apparently pioneered the narrative technique of the third-person narrator filtered through a particular character’s point of view. And her mastery of prose is at its peak, with lots of subtle humour and nothing wasted. It’s tied with S&S for my personal favourite, but I think it’s objectively the best. »
