Pride and Prejudice

The romantic clash of two opinionated young people provides the sustaining theme of Jane Austen's 1813 masterwork Pride and Prejudice. Spirited Elizabeth Bennet is one of a family of five daughters; with no male heir, the Bennet estate must someday pass to their priggish cousin Collins. Therefore, the girls must marry well- and the arrogant bachelor Mr. Darcy is Elizabeth's elusive match. An entertaining portrait of matrimonial rites and rivalries, Pride and Prejudice is timeless in its hilarity and its honesty; readers will immediately understand why Austen herself called the book "my own darling child." Recommended for 12th grade students. 344 pp.