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 below.) 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.)
Emma at the State Library of New South Wales
In May 2018, I was fortunate enough to be asked to host an event at the State Library of New South Wales to celebrate the Library’s acquisition of a first edition copy of Emma. I couldn’t believe my good fortune in being able to handle and look closely at this incredible book – see the photo above. In the attached excerpt from the Jane Austen Society of Australia’s Chronicle magazine, Maggie Patton, Manager of Research and Discovery, discusses the publication history of Austen’s novels, and the provenance of the Library’s extremely important acquisition.
Susannah Fullerton: Emma at the State Library of New South Wales
Lecture podcast, Art Gallery of NSW
Several years ago I presented a series of lectures at the Art Gallery of NSW. This link is an audio recording of my talk, ‘Jane Austen’s Emma’, which runs for about 100 minutes. Listen for free here.
A small incident with big impact
In this article, I write about the encounter Harriet Smith and her school friend Miss Bickerton have with gypsies — such a small incident in the novel, and yet it achieves so much. Published in 2016 by Sarah Emsley in her blog series marking the 200th anniversary year of Emma.
ABC Nightlife: The enduring legacy of Jane Austen
Jane Austen’s brilliant satire of the morals and manners of 18th century England has withstood the test of time, with books such as Pride and Prejudice and Emma providing inspiration for an endless stream of bonnet dramas and modern interpretations. I enjoyed a conversation with Margot Riley from the State Library of New South Wales to talk fans, flirting, manners and majesty with Sarah Macdonald from ABC’s nightlife.
Jane Austen Society of the Netherlands: Falling in love with Emma
In 2015, the anniversary year of Emma’s publication, I was invited to share my experience of first reading Jane Austen’s novels and how I can to regard Emma as Austen’s most brilliant work.
Jane Austen Society of the Netherlands: Falling in love with Emma
Have you read Emma? Do you have a favourite Jane Austen novel? Tell me your thoughts by leaving a comment.
Selected links for relevant websites, books, movies, videos, and more. Some of these links lead to protected content on this website, learn more about that here.
Anne Williams
I’ve just been delving into this particular section of information all about Miss Austen.
Susannah must have been disappointed when looking at the State Library report and Chronicle in 2018 when her name was not mentioned as JASA President in the first sentence. Then : Under her photo her name but no title. How rude of their reporting this event. I hope there were comments made at the time in her favour to the library, from various members of the public, as it was before I was aware of her Presidency and amazing knowledge of all thing Austen.
Cheryl
Thank you for your thoughts, Anne. As the covering introduction indicates, these pages are an excerpt from the Jane Austen Society’s magazine, Chronicle. This magazine is circulated to JASA members only so the story should be considered in its context. Susannah is well-known throughout the Society to hold the office of President, so when she is referenced within the magazine her title is rarely given as this is understood. The leading line in the article does indicate that it was the President who hosted the event for the State Library, and Chronicle’s editor would have decided that placing Susannah’s position was unnecessary in the image caption. I hope this explains the story more clearly. Regards, Cheryl