Jane Austen’s Emma

It won’t be news to you that I believe Jane Austen’s, Emma to be “the greatest novel the world has ever known.” (You’ll hear these very words in my Art Gallery talk.) In my view, no other novel can equal it for brilliance, depth of psychological perception, understanding of human nature, unrivalled use of language that never wastes a word, and utterly sublime romance and comedy.

No other book has ever meant as much to me – it has shaped my life and way of thinking, provided me with behavioural models (sometimes also teaching me how not to behave), and it has given me such unutterable reading pleasure. My grandmother loved this book. My mother had a little red copy that was never far from her side and often when she came to pick me up in the car, she’d have a big smile on her face because she’d just been dancing at the Crown Inn, or the gypsies had frightened poor silly Harriet, or Emma had forgotten to think of the rights of her nephew Henry (“It is remarkable that Emma … was never struck with any sense of injury to her nephew Henry, whose rights as heir-expectant had formerly been so tenaciously regarded.”). Together my mother and I used Emma almost as a code. After one horrific wet weekend staying with a woman who hardly drew breath, she rang me and announced, “Dear, Miss Bates is alive and well!”, and we both knew exactly what she’d gone through.

Emma demands to be reread at least once a year. It changes lives, enriches lives, improves lives, and provides friends. It is “the book of books,” and in the world of literature, it reigns supreme.

I’ve gathered links to just some of the articles and presentations I’ve written and presented about this iconic work of literature. (Please note that these links may contain archived stories, so references to promotions or events in them have all expired.)