"Lucid, thoughtful . . . writers and teachers will learn much from it. . . . Belongs wherever Strunk and White's The Elements of Style finds frequent use."-Booklist "Writers will actually learn things here."-Los Angeles Times "Perfect for teachers, critics and general readers."-Library Journal "Required reading for all those who care about go...more
A disfigured musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House falls in love with a beautiful soprano and, in his desperation to have his love returned, embarks on some terrifying means towards that end.
Northanger Abbey was among the last of Jane Austen's novels to be published, in 1818, but the first to be written, mostly in 1798-9. Centred on the loves and friendships of Catherine Morland, an endearing young girl extremely fond of novel-reading, it remains the most youthful and optimistic of Jane Austen's novels. During an eventful season in Bat...more
Jane Austen's last and most melancholy novel was published posthumously in 1818. In PERSUASION, Austen creates a strong, mature, and independent heroine, Anne Elliot. Having foolishly broken off an engagement eight years earlier to Frederick Wentworth, a penniless naval officer, Anne at the age of 27 has remained unmarried--and secretly devoted to ...more
In SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, Jane Austen writes about two ways of looking at the world in the personalities of two sisters, Elinor the determinedly practical and Marianne the madly romantic. Forced to live in reduced circumstances with their widowed mother and younger sister, the Dashwood girls must rely on marrying well if they are to survive in the ...more
A guide to reading "Jane Eyre" with a critical and appreciative mind. Includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list.