Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles.
Whether in the electrically charged chemistry of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, or the simmering romance of Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley, no one writes love and relationships like the incomparable Jane Austen.
Pride and Prejudice
A tour de force of wit and sparkling dialogue, "Pride and Prejudice" shows how the headstrong Elizabeth Bennet and the aristocratic Mr Darcy must have their pride humbled and their prejudices dissolved before they can acknowledge their love for each other. Jane Austen's best-loved novel is an unforgettable story about the inaccuracy of first impressions, the power of reason, and above all the strange dynamics of human relationships and emotions.
Emma
Oft-copied but never bettered, Jane Austen's "Emma" is a remarkable comedy of manners that follows the charming but insensitive Emma Woodhouse as she sets out on an ill-fated career of match-making in the little town of Highbury. Taking the pretty but dreary Harriet Smith as her subject, Emma creates misunderstandings and chaos as she tries to find Harriet a suitor, until she begins to realize it isn't the lives of others she must try to transform.
Sense and Sensibility
Two sisters of opposing temperament but who share the pangs of tragic love provide the subjects for Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility". Elinor, practical and conventional, the epitome of sense, desires a man who is promised to another woman. Marianne, emotional and sentimental, the epitome of sensibility, loses her heart to a scoundrel who jilts her. A powerful drama of family life and growing up, the novel is at once a subtle comedy of manners and a striking critique of early nineteenth-century society.
Mansfield Park
Aged ten, Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthier relations, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. However, life there is not as she imagined. Treated with disdain by three of her cousins, she finds her only comfort in the kindness of the fourth, Edmund. As they grow, their friendship develops into romantic love - until the arrival of Henry Crawford and his charming sister Mary causes an emotional upheaval that no one in the family expects. With psychological insight and sparkling wit, Jane Austen paints an irresistibly lifelike portrait of shifting values and split loyalties.
Persuasion
Jane Austen's final novel is her most mature and wickedly satirical. It follows the story of Anne Elliott, who as a teenager, was engaged to a seemingly ideal man, Frederick Wentworth. But after being persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that he is too poor to be a suitable match, Anne ends their engagement. When they are reacquainted eight years later, their circumstances are transformed: Frederick is returning triumphantly from the Napoleonic War, while Anne's fortunes are floundering. Will their past regrets prevent them from finding future happiness?
Northanger Abbey
Broadly comedic and brilliantly postmodern in its lampooning of a genre, the Jane Austen classic "Northanger Abbey" tells the story of Catherine Morland, a naive young woman whose perceptions of the world around her are greatly influenced by the romantic gothic novels to which she is addicted. When she moves to Bath she sees mystery and intrigue all around her, not least of all in "Northanger Abbey" itself, the home of General Tilney and his handsome son Henry, where Catherine suspects a sinister crime has occurred.