Emma by Jane Austen

Title: Emma

Author: Jane Austen

Published: December 1815

Jane Austen teased readers with the idea of a 'heroine whom no one but myself will much like', but Emma is irresistible. 'Handsome, clever, and rich', Emma is also an 'imaginist', 'on fire with speculation and foresight'. She sees the signs of romance all around her, but thinks she will never be married. Her matchmaking maps out relationships that Jane Austen ironically tweaks into a clearer perspective. Judgement and imagination are matched in games the reader too can enjoy, and the end is a triumph of understanding.

Rating: 4 Stars

I really enjoyed Emma, a book which gives good insight as to how society works for women in the 1800's and what their prospects are like for marriage, and which is also a very fun read. 

Set in the village of Highbury we meet a close knit society which our heroine Emma feels herself slightly above. Oh she has a great many gentlemen friends, but not many close confidantes when it comes to women. In fact she is to replace her old governess with a young girl by the name of Harriet. 

The story begins showing Emma with a great love of matchmaking, and this is what the book is centred around. For while Emma herself is determined never to marry, she attracts a great many suitors, the majority of whom at somepoint or another she has meant for her friend Harriet. And Harriet herself is in for more than her fair share of heartbreak as she falls in turn for several men, only one of whom shows the slightest interest in her. 

The characters are wonderfully developed, and we certainly have all the village people needed. We have our village gossip, our vicar and his haughty wife who really does think she's doing everyone a favour whilst being a huge hypocrite, and our local playboy who showers attention on various females and definitely knows how to flatter everyone. 

My dislikes with Emma would be that apart from a range of matchmaking and Emma being completely oblivious to the real feelings of various characters, there really isn't all that much of a storyline. I suppose however Emma is probably the closest I can get to chicklit in 1815. 

Would I recommend this book? Yes most definitely. Not only is Austen a classic author who has stood the test of time, but her writing style is easy to read and Emma is a rather enjoyable book.