What is Jane Austen's Best Novel?

by Geraldine Massey (subscribe)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged..." that Jane Austen's best novel is Pride and Prejudice. Okay - so it's probably not universally acknowledged, but the opinion is widespread.

Now that an incomplete, 68 page, handwritten manuscript of Austen's unfinished novel The Watsons, has sold to the Bodleian Library for almost £1 million, it seems timely to examine the works of the original and enduringly popular author of Rom Com fiction. So we'd like to know, which Austen novel is your favourite?



My vote definitely goes to Pride and Prejudice. In 2003 Pride and Prejudice came second in "The Big Read", a BBC competition to find Britain's best loved book (for those who are interested it was beaten by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings). This result was replicated in 2004 in Australia's "My Favourite Book" competition. So it would seem that an awful lot of people agree with me. What's not to love about the romantic trials and tribulations of the Bennett sisters and memorable characters like the strident Mrs. Bennett and the obsequious Mr. Collins?

Perhaps you prefer following the fortunes of the Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (Austen's first published novel), or the lovable but infuriating Emma Woodhouse – "handsome, clever and rich". Maybe the gothic novel parody, Northanger Abbey, is more your style. Personally I've never been able to come to terms with Mansfield Park and its annoying heroine, Fanny Price. My own second favourite is Persuasion, the story of a second chance at love for Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.

So, over to you. What is Jane Austen's best novel?

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