This is a light-hearted and realistic comedy, the story of a self-deluded meddler. Emma is so busy planning everyone else’s lives that she’s in danger of missing out on one of her own. Emma is arguably the most complex of all Jane Austen’s characters. People either love or hate her, (figuring out your opinion will be half the fun). She's a terrible snob, but she's deeply affectionate; she's vain, but has a sharp conscience. She's an independent thinker and romance is not her aim in life, but she wants it for everyone else.

The writing is superbly clever; there are riddles, a mystery, puzzles, literary allusions, and each subsequent reading will reveal clues to secrets you didn’t see the previous time around. Since it revolves around a small handful of families in a little neighbourhood, there’s not a lot of high drama. It may take some time to get stuck into this one, but it’ll be well worth the effort. I’ve seen 3 adaptations for film/TV, and the best one is the TV series.

Persuasion is a quieter story with a more mature heroine, about second chances and a longing fulfilled, and it’s the kind of story that grows on you. (I wasn’t the least bit interested when I read it the first time, and an older woman told me at the time that I was too young to appreciate it. Which I can understand now!) In her youth, Anne gave up a relationship at the advice of friends, and now, years later, she meets him again.

There are several movies and they all do a relatively decent job of the plot, but so much of this is the heroine’s private thoughts and introspection that you really have to read the book to appreciate the beauty of the ending. This one would also be right up there with my favourites.

Of all Austen’s novels, Pride and Prejudice is probably the most fun to read. It centres around Elizabeth, who will inherit nothing but a lively sense of the ridiculous. She knows she must marry someone wealthy if she is to survive which all sounds a bit disastrous, but throw in a handful of embarrassing young sisters, a lazy father, an over-zealous mother and a host of crazy neighbours – Elizabeth hasn’t got a hope. And then she meets the rich young Mr Darcy, whose natural shyness and reserve makes him appear arrogant – and it’s hate at first sight.

This is the best romantic comedy ever to step out of the 19^th century. The movies and the TV series are all decent retellings of the story, but as always, you’ll gain a lot more from reading the book.

Mansfield Park is not a comedy but it’s richly satisfying and covers a wealth of themes still relevant today (power, vulnerability, education, relationships, virtue, vice, illusion and reality). Another one where you’ll either love or hate the heroine, and all the characters, even the good ones, are flawed. Everyone in the story has a slightly different world view and this impacts so much on the way they behave that the story reads real. Mansfield Park was for many years my favourite Jane Austen story. None of the film adaptations do it justice.