New to Jane Austen? Here's a Curated Reading List.

Suggested reads for the total newbie, the partly seasoned, and everyone who watched Bridgerton and wants to read what came first.

So you want to put some Jane Austen on your summer reading list, but you haven’t read anything she wrote since high school — or you’ve never read any of her books at all. Perhaps my little guide will come in handy! Or at least it may divert you for a short time. Read on.

If You’ve Never Ever Read Austen, Start Here

If you’re in the mood for a light summertime comedy of manners, perhaps something you can take to the beach, try…

Pride and Prejudice, Austen’s most famous novel for good reason. The OG enemies-to-lovers romance!

If you want a darker, more melancholy novel which will keep you up at night to find out what happens next, with sardonic humor sprinkled throughout, try…

Sense and Sensibility, a more contemplative and slow-moving story about two very different sisters and their approach to life and love.

If you aren’t sure satire and social commentary is really up your alley, try…

Persuasion, Austen’s posthumously published story of lost love and second chances. It’s still dotted with her trademark wit but is in general less flippant and more subdued than her earlier work.

If It’s Been a While, Start Here

If you read Pride and Prejudice in high school…

…then go for Emma! It’s got a similar vibe of “light, bright & sparkling” comedy while also delivering a satisfying story about a somewhat unlikable heroine coming of age and developing her character.

…or go back to P&P!

If you got good grades in English class and know something of Gothic literature…

…read Northanger Abbey, a comical send-up of melodramatic, lurid “horrid novels” of its era. It’s the perfect satire of the Regency equivalent of vampire fiction. Plus, the heroine is so incredibly likable despite being dumb as a shelf in the closet. (Stephenie Meyer could have taken some notes.)

If You’ve Read One Austen Novel and Want More, Start Here

If you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice’s wit and vivacity, and you want a new and humorous read, Northanger Abbey or Emma will fit the bill.

If you read Sense and Sensibility first, then you must read its companion Pride and Prejudice. They are not written with the intention of being read together — there is no crossover of characters — but they are Austen’s first published works (S&S was the very first of all, in 1811) and were written in close proximity to one another and provide a lot of insight into her literary choices early in her (sadly all-too-short) career. And anyway, everyone who likes Austen ought to read P&P. She didn’t call it “my own darling child” for nothing!

If the old-fashioned language didn’t deter you from the novel you read first (whichever it may be) then try out Mansfield Park. This is perhaps Austen’s least-liked novel, and I can understand why (the heroine is maddeningly prudish to many modern readers) but it’s still a well-crafted story with a lot of humor and relatable problems, and a reader comfortable with Austen’s oevre should be right at home in it.

(You may notice I do not recommend MP at all to a complete novice. It is an acquired taste and might scare off a new reader.)

If You’ve Seen a Film or Two, Start Here

This tip is pretty straightforward. Did you see Autumn de Wilde’s 2020 Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy? Then you’ve got a good sense of Emma’s storyline and can start there. Do you love Ang Lee’s 1995 Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and the late great Alan Rickman and a heck of a lot of random sheep? S&S is the one for you. (You’ll be delighted by how much more is in the novel, even though the movie does a lovely job in two hours!) Are you a fan of the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice that came out in 2005? Yeah, you know what I’m going to say. Read P&P… but I recommend getting an annotated edition and paying attention to the notes because the 2005 film takes a lot of liberties with the text.

If you watched Bridgerton…

…well, let’s first make sure you are aware Bridgerton is based on a series of romance novels written in the early 2000s and is not at all affiliated with Austen, nor is it actual Regency literature or even historically accurate. But if you liked the balls and gowns and high-society gossip, then Pride and Prejudice is a good starting point to dip your toe in some of the real Regency waters. Which, come to think of it, would be better done in Bath. Maybe go with Persuasion, then. (No, but for real, P&P is better suited to a taste hungry for more humor and gossip.)

If You Hate Nineteenth-Century Literature and Don’t Know Why You Clicked On This, Start Here

Just give P&P a try. What do you have to lose, really? You might like it.

If You Were Keeping Track of How Many Times I Used the Word “If” In This Piece, Stop Here

Please consider logging off and reading a book.

If You’ve Read All of Austen’s Novels (Maybe Multiple Times), Start Here

You made it all the way to the end because you can’t resist the Janeite content, can you? You’re my kind of people. Thanks for reading.

---

This post is a part of The Summer of Jane Austen, a literary-inspired endeavor that will (I hope) fuel both a journey of the mind and my own journey to the Jane Austen Society of North America’s Annual General Meeting. More here.