Condition: New. CHECK your CD player manual BEFORE ordering. Your player must be able to play MP3 files on CD or these CDs will not play. Thank you. Audio Source: Librivox, Public Domain 1. Emma Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." In the very first sentence she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich." Emma, however, is also rather spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives, and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray. (Adapted from Wikipedia) Genre(s): Literary Fiction 2. Pride and Prejudice Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) Pride and Prejudice, first published on 28 January 1813, is the most famous of Jane Austen's novels. It is one of the first romantic comedies in the history of the novel and its opening is one of the most famous lines in English literature ?"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." [From Wikipedia] 3. Sense and Sensibility Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) When Mr Henry Dashwood dies, with his estate entailed to his son and grandson, his wife and three daughters are left in reduced circumstances. In their new home at Barton Cottage, the two older sisters, Elinor and Marianne, experience both romance and heartache. Will they find true love? (Introduction by Karen Savage) Genre(s): General Fiction, Romance 4. Love and Freindship, and Other Early Works Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) This book draws together some of Jane Austen's earliest literary efforts. It includes "Love Freindship" and "Lesley Castle" both told through the medium of letters written by the characters. It also contains her wonderful "History of England" and a "Collection of Letters" and lastly a chapter containing "Scraps". In these offerings, we may see the beginnings of Miss Austen's literary style. We may also discern traces of characters that we encounter in her later works. G. K. Chesterton in his preface, for example, says of a passage in Love and Freindship; "... is there not the foreshadowing of another and more famous father; and do we not hear for a moment, in the rustic cottage by the Uske, the unmistakable voice of Mr. Bennet?" These works are certainly worth exploring for their own sakes and not simply as historical relics. - Summary by Noel Badrian Genre(s): Epistolary Fiction, General Fiction, Short Stories 5. Mansfield Park Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) Mansfield Park features Austen?s frailest and perhaps most scrupulous heroine, Fannie Price. As the eldest daughter in a poor family, Fannie is sent to rich relatives when she?s just old enough to fully appreciate the shame of her circumstances. Without pride or prejudice, Fanny sticks to principles in all matters. And matters certainly put her to the test. (Summary by Anita) Genre(s): Romance, Satire 6. Northanger Abbey Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) Northanger Abbey is a hilarious parody of 18th century gothic novels. The heroine, 17-year old Catherine, has been reading far too many ?horrid? gothic novels and would love to encounter some gothic-style terror ? but the superficial world of Bath proves hazardous enough. (Summary by Kara) Genre(s): Horror Supernatural Fiction, Romance, Satire 7. Lady Susan Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) Jane Austen demonstrated her mastery of the epistolary novel genre in Lady Susan, which she wrote in 1795 but never published. Although the primary focus of this short novel is the selfish behavior of Lady Susan as she engages in affairs and searches for suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter, the actual action shares its importance with Austen?s manipulation of her characters' behavior by means of their reactions to the letters that they receive. The heroine adds additional interest by altering the tone of her own letters based on the recipient of the letter. Thus, the character of Lady Susan is developed through many branches as Austen suggests complications of identity and the way in which that identity is based on interaction rather than on solitary constructions of personality. (Summary from Wikipedia) Genre(s): Epistolary Fiction, General Fiction 8. Persuasion Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) Anne Elliott, Jane Austen's only aging heroine, has devoted her life to caring for her financially irresponsible family. Just when she is growing content with her uneventful lifestyle, a long-lost flame re-enters the picture -- now as the beau of her significantly younger cousin. Anne is now faced with a choice: will she watch Captain Wentworth settle into life with another woman, or will she strive to win back his love and escape her family? (Summary by Kirsten Ferreri) Genre(s): Romance 9. The Watsons Jane AUSTEN (1775 - 1817) This fragment of a novel was written by Jane Austen in 1804 and remained untitled and unpublished until her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh printed it in his A Memoir of Jane Austen in 1871. The title is from him. Mr Watson is a widowed clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma, has been brought up by a wealthy aunt and is consequently better educated and more refined than her sisters. But when her aunt contracts a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house. There she is chagrined by the crude and reckless husband-hunting of two of her twenty-something sisters. (Summary from Gesine and Wikipedia) Genre(s): General Fiction