Emma

This beautifully designed original edition of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, twice released as a major motion picture, is about a spoiled, precocious, headstrong young woman, Emma Woodhouse, who is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people’s lives. Set in Regency England in the early nineteenth century, Emma lives with her wealthy, kindly, yet eccentric father who is quite the hypochondriac. Lovable, beautiful, wealthy and smart, Emma enjoys matchmaking and believes that she can determine people’s emotions and whom they love simply by watching them. Unfortunately, she is also a spoiled, meddlesome snob and not at all good at arranging marriages. Her rich imagination and mistaken perceptions lead her astray in this playful comedy of manners which highlights England’s country society and their obsession with social distinctions as well as the dependence of women on marriage at that time to secure their class rank and economic security. Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among England’s high society with their country estates and emphasis on social standing, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her timeless stories of the landed gentry have been turned into a host of movies and television shows, and translated into multiple languages. Her realism and stinging social commentary have cemented her historical importance among scholars and critics alike. Readers, young and old, have enjoyed being a part of that era through Austen’s rich and memorable characters as they romp through her detailed novels of English country life in the nineteenth century.