250TH BIRTHDAY EDITION

‘Almost as good as finding an unpublished novel’ The Lady
'Any new book on Austen raises the urgent question, Would I get more pleasure from reading this than from re-reading my favourite Austen novel? You'll know after a few pages here that you've made the right choice' Sunday Times

Is there any sex in Jane Austen?
Why do her plots rely on blunders?
Which important characters never actually speak?

In twenty short chapters, each of which answers a question prompted by Jane Austen's novels, John Mullan illuminates the themes that matter most to the workings of Austen's fiction. Inspired by an enthusiastic reader's curiosity, based on a lifetime's study and written with flair and insight, What Matters in Jane Austen? uncovers the hidden truth about an extraordinary fictional world.

There is plenty to enjoy in this parade of Austen micro-knowledge * Evening Standard *
Highly entertaining ... reveals a quite unexpected aspect to the novelist and her books * Daily Mail *
Any new book on Jane Austen raises the urgent question, Would I get more pleasure from reading this than from re-reading my favourite Jane Austen novel? If you decide to give What Matters in Jane Austen a chance you'll know after a few pages that you've made the right choice * John Carey, Sunday Times *
[A] fine collection of essays ... Like all good literary critics, he has the happy knack of making you read even familiar works with fresh eyes, and the essays in this book are among the best of their kind * Daily Telegraph *
A detailed primer on Jane Austen's attitudes to sex, money, class and even the weather * Sunday Times Must Reads *
Fascinating ... If you love Jane Austen, you'll love this book too - it's almost as good as finding an unpublished novel * The Lady *

John Mullan is Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. He has published widely on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature, his books including The Artful Dickens (Bloomsbury, 2020). He has edited Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Emma for Oxford World’s Classics. He is also a broadcaster and journalist, writing on contemporary fiction for the Guardian. He has taught Austen to university students for over three decades, and has lectured widely to lovers of her fiction in both the UK and the US. He lives in London.