Today marked the 211th anniversary of the publishing of Pride and Prejudice by  Jane Austen. I was reminded of this anniversary by a friend in Canada and updated a post tonight that I had originally written in 2017.Back in January 2017  I stayed in Jane Austen Country while visiting some customers in England. The hotel I stayed at in Basingstoke had a Jane Austen suite. I did not stay in the suite, but I did walk past the door and take this picture 🙂

Tonight I am remembering the novels that Jane Austen wrote. Here is a picture of her books from my Penguin Popular Classics collection. I am missing one of them. I have not yet found Persuasion in my hunt for volumes in this series.

I would say that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite of Jane Austen’s novels. This is due partly to the different movies that are based on the book.

Northanger Abbey is also a great read, especially if you have read The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. This brings a greater understanding to the story.

I also liked Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and Mansfield Park. It is really sad that Jane died at 41 as I am sure she would have written more great books. She did have several unfinished works that have been published so we can at least read a bit more than her six core books.

Here is a picture that I took of the Steventon church where Jane’s father served as a rector and where she would have worshiped for a good portion of her life. Her brother also served as a rector there and she would often visit him after she had moved away.

Near the end of her life Jane lived in this house in Chawton which is to the east of Basingstoke. Steventon is just a little to the southwest of Basingstoke.

I am still looking to find Persuasion so that I will at least have all the Austen’s for my Penguin Popular Classics collection. I need to visit more used book stores.

Steven

WwRI