BBC Audio presents Mansfield Park, Jane Austen's perceptive study of middle class morals in the 19th century. Jane Austen's unlikely heroine Fanny Price is plucked from her impoverished family and brought up by wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park.When two outrageous and flirtatious guests arrive at Mansfield Park, Fanny's moral compass is shattered...

When Catherine Morland, a country clergyman's daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of 'Gothic novels' by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and roma...

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most beloved novels of all time. Elizabeth Bennett, the book's poverty-bound heroine has charmed readers with her wit and sincerity since the book was first published in 1813. Its hero, the handsome and wealthy Mr. Darcy, infuriates Elizabeth — and women readers around the world — with his rude arr...

When the personable Captain Wentworth reappears in Anne Elliot's life several years after she had been persuaded to break off their engagement, he makes no secret of his angry indignation but, as they come to know each other again, their feelings are rekindled. There are many obstacles in their path, however, amongst them Anne's egotistical, snobbi...

Elinor and Marianne are the main protagonists in this tale of stayed passion and the mission of courtship. The story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, whose lives are turned upside-down following the death of their father. Left almost penniless, they are forced to move out of their home, suffering loss of position and many shattered dreams. Res...

Anne Elliot is thrown back into the company of Captain Wentworth, a past love. Things didn't work out the last time they met, so it looks like it might be another bumpy ride in store for the pair... Partly autobiographical, Persuasion possesses a gentle sense of humour, and has rather a more serious tone than most of Austen's other works. Anne Eli...

Catherine Moorland is a tomboy who yearns for dark and dangerous adventure. Her first outing in society does not quite fit this specification, although she does fall decidedly in love, which is an adventure in itself. Young and susceptible, Catherine Morland expects dark secrets and many dangers to be lurking in the hidden recesses of Northanger A...

Helen Johns reads some fascinating early writings by Jane Austen from the fictionalised A Collection of Letters. A prolific letter writer herself, in this collection we see how the budding writer is experimenting, and starting to explore the medium as a literary convention.

Emma is used to ruling over the social lives of those living in Highbury, but she has a lesson to learn about trying to co-ordinate other people's lives and actions a little too much. Emma is an exquisitely crafted portrait of late 18th century society, generally considered to be Austen's most accomplished work. Set within the confines of a Surrey...

A classic love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. At 19, Anne Eliot is persuaded to jilt her suitor-Captain Frederick Wentworth-because he has neither rank nor fortune. When they encounter one another eight years later will she make the same mistake again?

Arrogant, self-willed and egotistical, Emma is Jane Austen's most unusual heroine. Her interfering ways and inveterate matchmaking are at once shocking and comic. She is `handsome, clever and rich' and has `a disposition to think too well of herself'. When she decides to introduce the humble Harriet Smith to the delights of genteel society and to f...

Jane Austen makes two appearances on this brilliant collection that also includes such revered writers as Mary Shelly and Virginia Woolf. With stories ranging from tear-jerkers to passionate tales of love and jealousy, this collection has something for everyone, young or old, male or female.

Lady Susan was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be completed. An epistolary novel in 18th century style, it tells the story of the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, intelligent but highly manipulative, who is intent on gaining financially secure relationships for both herself and her wayward but shy teenage daughter Frederica. Less known than...

When Mrs Dashwood is forced by an avaricious daughter-in-law to leave the family home in Sussex, she takes her three daughters to live in a modest cottage in Devon. For Elinor, the eldest daughter, the move means a painful separation from the man she loves, but her sister Marianne finds in Devon the romance and excitement which she longs for. The c...

Enter Austen's world to help you understand the plot, characters and themes of this classic novel. A text-specific guide packed with advice, insights and essential learning strategies.

Elizabeth Bennet is a spirited young woman with four sisters and a mother obsessed with getting them all married off. When she first meets Fitzwilliam Darcy she thinks he's arrogant and conceited, and he is completely indifferent to her charms. Will they ever see past the prejudices of their first impressions?

Fanny Price's rich relatives offer her a place in their home so that she can be properly brought up. However, Fanny's childhood is a lonely one as she is never allowed to forget her place. Her only ally is her cousin Edmund. When her cousins befriend two glamorous new young people who have arrived in the area, Henry and Mary Crawford, Edmund starts...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." When Mr Darcy comes to stay with his friend Bingley at Netherfield, Lizzie Bennet is as repulsed by his arrogance and pride as he is by her younger sisters and her mother. Their unusual and antagonistic courtship foems a warmly pe...

Elizabeth Bennett is an intelligent unmarried woman in a patriarchal and aspirational society. She has numerous proud and prejudiced run-ins with the seemingly surly and aloof Mr. Darcy, who she initially feels is a man whom she would not desire to spend more time than she might have to. However, can they start to understand each other a little bet...