Jane Austen

Set against the backdrop of early 19th-century England, the novel opens with the Bennet family, a respectable yet financially modest clan residing in the rural town of Longbourn. The Bennets consist of the witty and sharp-minded Mr. Bennet, his good-natured but sometimes frivolous wife Mrs. Bennet, and their five daughters-Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. The crux of the story unfolds with the arrival of the eligible and wealthy bachelor Mr....

Contains selections from diaries, letters, plays, and books written over the last two centuries that reflect our relationship to the act and skill of reading.