Jane Austen (1775–1817) published four novels in her lifetime and two after her death. Her subject is narrow by design — courtship, inheritance and the marriage market among the English gentry — and her method is free indirect speech: the reader lives inside a heroine’s judgment and learns, with her, how wrong it can be.
Novels on this site
- Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen, 1813 · ~122,000 words · ~6.8 hours
- Emma — Jane Austen, 1815 · ~160,000 words · ~8.9 hours
- Sense and Sensibility — Jane Austen, 1811 · ~119,000 words · ~6.6 hours
- Persuasion — Jane Austen, 1817 · ~83,000 words · ~4.6 hours
Where to start
Pride and Prejudice is the usual entry: the sharpest dialogue, the clearest plot. Emma is the most technically daring — Austen said she was writing a heroine no one but herself would like. Persuasion, her last completed novel, is the quietest and the most autumnal.
Related
- Victorian novels (the generation that followed)
- Word count and reading time database
Frequently asked questions
How many novels did Jane Austen write?
Six completed novels; four are available here, and Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park are not yet published.
Which Jane Austen novel should I read first?
Pride and Prejudice for most readers; Persuasion for a quieter, later novel; Emma if you like a heroine you are meant to misjudge.
In what order were Austen’s novels published?
Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (1818, posthumous).
Are Austen’s novels public domain?
Yes — all six are public domain worldwide.
How long does it take to read Pride and Prejudice?
About 122,000 words, or roughly 6.8 hours at 300 words per minute.
Are these editions complete and annotated?
Complete texts, with endnotes where the source edition supplies them.