THREE NOVELLAS: LADY SUSAN, THE WATSONS & SANDITON

EMMA

Emma Woodhouse, who loves to interfere in the romantic affairs of others, is oblivious to the matter of whom she herself should marry – after all she is beautiful, clever, rich, and contentedly single!

EMMA: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

BBC Audio presents Emma, Jane Austen's engaging and infuriating tale. Austen famously challenged her readers with 'heroine whom no one but myself will much like', yet this dramatisation brings Emma to life with romantic meddling, social climbing and perfect happiness. Emma Woodhouse is equal parts witty, spoilt and vain, and sets her mind on matchmaking. She coaches her long suffering friend Harriet through social interactions and proposals, with disastrous consequences. Can Emma fix her flaws in time to mend her relationships?

LADY SUSAN: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

BBC Audio presents Lady Susan, Jane Austen's early novel not published until after her death. Widowed Lady Susan is an outrageous flirt and a dreadful mother, constantly controlling and embarrassing the people around her. When Lady Susan remarries, she attempts to push her daughter into a bleak marriage with a man she despises. Deceit slowly spreads through a series of letters exchanged between Lady Susan, her daughter, friends, family and arch enemies. Will the truth be unravelled in time?

MANSFIELD PARK

Fanny Price is the poor relation, taken from her home in Portsmouth to live with the wealthy Bertrams at Mansfield Park. From afar she falls in love with her cousin Edmund, but when the Crawfords move into the neighbourhood she finds herself unwittingly competing with a dazzling, clever and lovely rival.

NORTHANGER ABBEY

Catherine Morland’s chances of marriage to wealthy Henry Tilney are adversely affected by false reports on her family’s wealth. The novel ridicules the Gothic tales of romance and terror popular at the time.

NORTHANGER ABBEY: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of one of Jane Austen's most beloved works, Catherine Morland's overactive imagination makes her life more complicated than she would have wished... Catherine is obsessed with Gothic novels, often getting swept up by her taste for the dramatic and tragic. Did Mrs Tilney really die nine years previously, or has she been murdered or imprisoned in her chambers this whole time? Meanwhile, she is torn between two suitors, the handsome and clever Henry Tilney and the arrogant John Thorpe... Published more than 200 years ago, Northanger Abbey remains one of the British nation's favourite novels.

PERSUASION

Anne Elliot is the woman who reluctantly turns away the love of her life on the advice of her family as he is poor and won't be able to support her. They meet unexpectedly and she realizes that Captain Wentworth, now wealthy, has still not forgiven her.

PERSUASION: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of Jane Austen's last fully completed novel, Anne Elliot gets a second chance at love. Anne was persuaded out of an engagement with the not-yet wealthy Captain Wentworth. The Elliot family are now close to financial ruin and are forced to rent out their family home, while Captain Wentworth has returned after making his fortune at sea. How the tables have turned. Published more than 200 years ago, Persuasion remains one of the British nation's favourite novels.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Mrs Bennet’s mission in life is to see all five of her daughters married, so the arrival of the wealthy young Charles Bingley, and his friend Mr Darcy, in the neighbourhood causes a great stir in the Bennet household.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are very different in looks and temperament yet they share similar obstacles in the highly competitive marriage market. Their experiences of love and loss draw them closer together and each questions previously held values.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of one of Jane Austen's most beloved works, the devoted Dashwood sisters are forced by tragic circumstances to set about the delicate task of finding suitable husbands... John Willoughby quickly and seemingly irreversibly captures Marianne's heart. Her sister, Elinor, finds few suitors and even fewer reasons to open up in a society fuelled by social status... Published more than 200 years ago, Sense and Sensibility remains one of the British nation's favourite novels.