The recap
In a quiet corner of Regency-era Hertfordshire, Mrs. Bennet has one mission: to marry off her five daughters before the family home passes to a distant male cousin. When a wealthy, good-natured bachelor rents the grand house nearby, the whole neighborhood hums with possibility, and he arrives with a friend, the even richer and far less charming Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth Bennet, the quick-witted second daughter, takes an instant dislike to Darcy after overhearing a careless slight at a country ball. What follows is a comedy of misreadings: overheard remarks, persuasive newcomers, meddling relatives, and two proud people who each believe they have the other figured out. Austen writes with a light, needle-sharp touch, skewering snobbery, money-minded matchmaking and the narrow choices open to women of her day. Two centuries on, the sparring dialogue still crackles, and the question of whether first impressions can ever be trusted feels entirely modern.
Why read it
For anyone who loves sparkling dialogue, slow-burning attraction and a heroine who thinks for herself, and for readers who feel they already know this story but have never actually read it.
Fun facts
- 01
Austen drafted the novel in the late 1790s under the title First Impressions; when her father offered it to the London publisher Thomas Cadell in 1797, it was turned down by return of post.
- 02
After years of revision she sold the copyright to Thomas Egerton for £110, and the book finally appeared in January 1813.
- 03
Writing to her sister Cassandra the day after publication, Austen fondly called the novel her darling child and admitted she thought Elizabeth one of the most delightful heroines ever put into print.
- 04
The 1995 BBC miniseries with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle is still often called the definitive screen version, while Joe Wright's 2005 film earned Keira Knightley an Oscar nomination as Elizabeth.
“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”
