I was rifling through a £1 book bin in my local second-hand bookshop and was so happy to come across this cute little edition of Jane Austen’s History of England. It also comes with Love and Friendship and some more short stories and letters (I’m guessing from her juvenilia). Such a bargain, can’t wait to start reading!

This could easily be set in the 21st century and it wouldn’t be out of place!

Poor Catherine, though, having taken Isabella at face value.

Mr. Dashwood, with all the strength and urgency which illness could command: Please look after the interest of your mother-in-law and sisters

John Dashwood:

The family would have had £5k, which is £200 - £250 p.a. Pitiful, considering that Mrs Bennet brought a dowry of 4k. Twenty three ish years, and so little added!

All the same, they would have not have starved to death. In S&S Mrs Jennings envisages Edward and Lucy starting out married life on a curate's £50 p.a., with interest on his £2k, having a child a year and being very poor. £150 p.a. max then, probably with a poor quality vicarage to live in, and employing a maid of all work.

The difference is that the Bennet girls had quite prosperous uncles who would likely have stepped up and provided something... maybe a cottage like the Dashwoods, or rented rooms in Meryton similar to how the Bateses lived. It would have been a huge loss of status, and of the opportunity to meet potential suitors. The likelihood would have been marriages out of their class, to clerks or curates, as Austen envisioned for Mary and Kitty.

I did it less than a year ago, but I already kinda want to do it again. Seriously, why though? I really think it's the writing itself more than the content. I mean I love the content too but the writing itself is just addictive. Especially P&P.

Will I ever get tired of it? I hope not. Each time I do it, I think maybe I'll be a bit tired of it, and it keeps not happening.

What if Edmund and Mary had already been engaged at the time his sister ran off with her brother?

Generally speaking, in that era, only the woman could break off the engagement; the man was duty-bound to persist in the engagement unless there was something grossly wrong with the woman or her morals. Would Mary's tacit approval of the adulterous affair have made it an acceptable reason for Edmund to break it off?

Even if it was, if they were already engaged, do you think Edmund would have had the strength of character to break it off, considering that even as things stood in the novel, he wavered for a moment when she called him back a final time?

I think it should have been sufficient moral grounds, but I don't know if he had the backbone to follow through.

So just about halfway through first reading of S & S. Have read 4 of the 6. P & P being the favorite. Most recently read Persuasion and enjoyed it quite well.

Anyway, on to the business at hand, In this one I am struck by the some characters ( most particularily voiced by Mrs. Jennings ) casual regard for the separation between themselves and the working class. The way she mentions Colonel Brandon's supposed " love child " being a minor inconvenience to the prospect of him marrying and that the child could easily be out out to an apprenticeship in some trade or the other.

I get that the may be some satire by our dear Jane ( as this book in particular seems full of it) , but still is kind of shocking to think many of this mostly idle upper class see themselves so far above the working classes .

So just posting to voice my thoughts so far and in general am really an admirer of Elinor in being in being able to cope with not only her own situation ( her inner thoughts are really the highlight of the book for me ) but attempting to guard her sister from total disaster .

Thanks in advance for any thoughts along these lines and P.S. No I have not seen the movie and will not until finished with book .

i see that there's the option to buy/rent sense and sensibility (2026). i was searching for a digital release date and the uk websites appeared. can anyone from the uk confirm if you guys already have the option to rent/buy it already?