Pride and Prejudice (with the original watercolor illustrations by C.E. Brock)

This edition of "Pride and Prejudice" has been carefully formatted for your
ebook reader with a functional table of contents and contains all the original
watercolor illustrations by C.E. Brock.
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The
story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of
manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the
landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five
daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in
Hertfordshire, near London.
Though the story is set at the turn of the 19th century, it retains a
fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top of lists of 'most
loved books' such as The Big Read. It has become one of the most popular
novels in English literature and receives considerable attention from literary
scholars. Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic
adaptations and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's
memorable characters or themes. To date, the book has sold some 20 million
copies worldwide.
As Anna Quindlen wrote, "Pride and Prejudice is also about that thing that all
great novels consider, the search for self. And it is the first great novel to
teach us that that search is as surely undertaken in the drawing room making
small talk as in the pursuit of a great white whale or the public punishment
of adultery."
Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic
fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most
widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social
commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.