Sense and Sensibility: Austen’s timeless romance, and now a major film

by Jane Austen

Now a major HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics.

I wish as well as every body else to be perfectly happy; but like every body else it must be in my own way.

When the Dashwood family are forced into more modest circumstances, teenage sisters Marianne and Elinor also find themselves entangled in matters of the heart. Passionate and spirited, Marianne falls for the charming but unreliable Mr Willoughby. Elinor, by contrast sensible and stoic, forms a close bond with the honourable Edward Ferrars, but must cope with the news that he is promised to another. Only through their shared experiences of love and loss do both sisters learn that the key to happiness comes from finding the perfect mixture of rationality and feeling.

Sense and Sensibility was Jane Austen’s first published work when it appeared in 1811. One of her most cherished novels, the story of the beloved Dashwood sisters has been the subject of several adaptations for film and television.

368 pages, Paperback

Expected publication May 18, 2027

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.