Book Salon
Emma
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This month we're reading Emma by Jane Austen. Our faculty host is John Bender.
Listen to an interview with our Book Salon host.
"My candidate for the perfect English novel is Emma. It is a page turner to keep you awake until you finish into the night. And it is a work of such brilliant technical innovation that I teach it in my course on narrative theory."
How to Participate
About this quarter's book selection
The literary classic, written by Jane Austen, one of the most widely read writers in English literature, is a romantic tale about a privileged young woman living in Georgian-Regency England. Uninterested in love herself, the leading lady, Emma, plays the matchmaker for her friends, but her excessive pride leaves her blind to the results of her romantic pairing and has disastrous results.
The story begins with Emma, identifying a suitable match for her devoted cohort, Harriet Smith. Disregarding the cautions of her closest confidant, Mr. Knightly, Emma forms a plan and conspires with Harriet, but her well-laid plans soon fall apart and Emma is left to face the dreadful consequences.
A refreshing story filled with a comedy of social errors and ironies, Emma is arguably one of Jane Austen’s most masterful pieces.
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