Emma

Whatever age you are, Austen has something for you. I would go further, in fact, to assert that a reader never comes away from an Austen novel empty-handed—Joanna Trollope

That young lady has a talent for describing the involvements of feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with—

I'd like to write a play as perfect as Emma—

Austen's characters are unquestionably one key to her greatness. Her understanding of the human heart is forensic and also frosted with the necessary detachment that gives deeper meaning to her rendering of human frailty—Guardian

It is the cleverest of books. I especially love the dialogue - every speech reveals the characters' obsessions and preoccupations, yet it remains perfectly natural...absolutely gripping—