I became Jane Austen's fan after reading Pride and Prejudice, one of the most famous novels in English history. The best thing about her works is the liveliness and humor nature of her characters. She wrote her books around 1800, yes that's approximately 200 years back!!

Books Note:-This page is under construction hence some of the contents are incomplete. Kindly adjust. Novels Emma Mansfield Park Northanger Abbey Persuasion Pride and Prejudice The story is somewhat similar to our normal tamil film, where the hero and heroine first fight because of misunderstanding and then eventually end up falling in love. But the actual book is some what superior to our films mainly because of the lively characters of Elizabeth Benet (the heroine), Mrs Benet (Elizabeth's mother) and to a small extent Mr.Darcy (the hero). Sense and Sensibility Other minor writings Juvenilia Love and Freindship Lady Susan The Watsons Sanditon Her Light Verse

Pride & Prejudice

Here is a quick overview of the story (from allreaders.com):

The Bennett family is basically a typical family in the Regency era. What made them different was that they had five girls and no boys. This means that in case Mr. Bennett dies, their property is to be entailed or given to the nearest male relative leaving no assurance of a comfortable life for those he leaves behind. This situation causes Mrs. Bennett to be quite obsessed of marrying off her notably pretty daughters to rich men, or in the abscence of rich men, any stable man. Elizabeth Bennett is the second child in that family. Young, intelligent and hard-headed, she tends to easily form fixed opinions of other people she barely knows. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a proud young man who tends to make less than perfect first impressions. The master of a great estate, he is very rich and tends to have a big influence on people. And one of these people is his friend, the much more amiable Mr Bingley.

Mr. Bingley has just bought a property in the same area as the Bennetts', and has just fallen in-love with their eldest and prettiest daughter, Jane. As Jane and Bingley fall for each other, Elizabeth and Darcy seem to detest each moment they are together. Elizabeth is sure that Darcy detests her, and pretty much returns the feeling. She doesn't care if he is rich and handsome, and she treats him like any other person she dislikes. Struck by her disregard of his position, his feelings start to point towards her. But her family is beneath his and Bingley's, so he goes away and persuades Bingley to do the same. Jane's heart is broken and Elizabeth loves her too much not to feel the pain.

But she herself was starting to fall for another man, Wickam. He tells her of Darcy's supposedly dark past dealings and cruelty to him. He shows signs of affection until he finds out that she has nothing to give him. Time passes, and Elizabeth and Darcy meet again. This time, he cannot help his feelings and proposes. But Elizabeth's refusal results in a harsh confrontation and raises a lot of questions for both of them to answer. It turns out, things aren't really what they appear. Rude pride just cannot mix with improper prejudice. Now they knew what was pushing them apart, and it'll take a lot of other entanglements before they reach their happy ending.

Trust me, if at all if you get a chance, do read Pride and Prejudice and you will not be disappointed for sure. You will evetually end up as a fan of Elizabeth Benet and Jane Austen!!!!

Others

Though my favorite is Pride and Prejudice, her other books like Sense and Sensibility and Emma are also good.

Infact 'Sense and Sensibility' is not new to Tamil people, the famous Aiswarya, Tabu, Ajith, Abbas and Mammoty starrer 'Kandukonden Kandukonden' movie is based on the same novel.

Also the stories let us understand how English & Indian culture are closely connected, something that atleast I was unaware of.

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