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Sense and Sensibility
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Sense and Sensibility Mass market paperbound - 1999

by Jane Austen; Rosalind Ballaster (Editor); Introduction by Rosalind Ballaster

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This seller has earned a 3.80 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
3.80 / 5 (599 total reviews)

About this book

Sense and Sensibility is a novel by the English novelist Jane Austen. Published in 1811, it was Austen's first published novel, which she wrote under the pseudonym "A Lady". The story revolves around Elinor and Marianne, two daughters of Mr. Dashwood by his second wife. They have a younger sister, Margaret, and an older half-brother named John. When their father dies, the family estate passes to John, and the Dashwood women are left in reduced circumstances.

Summary

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Reader reviews for Sense and Sensibility

Review summary

This seller has earned a 3.80 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
3.80 / 5 (599 total reviews)

Reviewers were split on Austen’s first published novel. Admirers praised the sharp prose, the Elinor–Marianne contrast, and Austen’s eye for social maneuvering, with some finding it unexpectedly gripping. Critics cited slow pacing—especially in Volume II—caricatured side characters, and romance that feels underdeveloped or rushed, noting Edward’s thin presence and the late Marianne–Brandon pairing. Comparisons to Pride and Prejudice were constant, with many viewing this as a rougher, less playful precursor. The language challenged some readers, yet even skeptics acknowledged the craft. Many preferred film and TV adaptations for tighter plotting and clearer character arcs.

Readers say this book is:
divided receptionwitty proseslow-pacedcharacter-drivenuneven romancestrong social satiretedious middleadaptation-friendlypolarizing endingless humorous than P&P

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From the publisher

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on July 18, 1817.

As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.

First line

The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex.

First edition identification

The novel sold out its first print run of 750 copies in the middle of 1813, but it had a second print run later that year. 

Details

  • Title Sense and Sensibility
  • Author Jane Austen; Rosalind Ballaster (Editor); Introduction by Rosalind Ballaster
  • Binding Mass Market Paperbound
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 346
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Publication date December 20, 1999
  • ISBN 9780140434255 / 0140434259
  • Weight 0.54 lbs (0.24 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.75 x 5.06 x 0.72 in (19.69 x 12.85 x 1.83 cm)
  • Reading level 560
  • Category Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, England
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 96129729
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)

by Jane Austen; Ros Ballaster

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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)

by Jane Austen; Ros Ballaster

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Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen

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Sense and Sensibility

by Austen, Jane

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)

by Jane Austen

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Penguin Classics, 1995. Nice copy with just minor wear. Pages are clean, bright and free of markings. Binding is tight and secure. ***Shipped within 24 hours from the beautiful Baltimore inner harbor area. First class service; accurate descriptions. Most items packed in boxes, not envelopes.***. Trade Paperback. Very Good.
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)

by Jane Austen

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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)
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Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)

by Jane Austen

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Sense and Sensibility
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