How well do you know the novels of Jane Austen? (Spoiler alert!)

The rom-com

Joanna Trollope's much-anticipated contemporary reworking of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility will launch The Austen Project, and be one of the most talked about books of 2013. 'It's hugely exciting to attempt the reworking of one of the best novels written by one of our greatest novelists,' says Trollope, calling it 'not an emulation, but a tribute'. In 1995, director Ang Lee adapted the novel into a hugely popular film starring actresses Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson.

Authentic Austen

Best known as a comedy of manners, Sense & Sensibility tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, and the love and heartbreak they experience while living in a distant relative's meagre cottage. With this story, Austen uses an ambiguous title that leaves the reader wondering whether good sense and sensibility are more closely related than one would imagine.

Buy the complete works of Jane Austen for the special price of £29.99 from the GH Bookshop

The one that gave us Mr. D

Austen’s Mr Darcy is such a heartthrob that Bridget Jones's author Helen Fielding recreated a modern version in the form of Mark Darcy. Not to mention the BBC's famous adaptation of the novel, which will forever be remembered for the moment Elizabeth stumbles upon Darcy (aka Colin Firth) emerging from the lake at Pemberley. The scene was so effective that some modern day readers actually believe it exists in the novel (it doesn’t).

American author Curtis Sittenfeld will release her modern remake of Pride and Prejudice next Autumn and, of course, the novel was also made into a Hollywood blockbuster starring Keira Knightley.

Authentic Austen

Perhaps Austen’s most famous social commentary, this tale ponders the ways in which matters of status can enable or prevent a romantic union. In this case, Austen’s disregard for social hierarchy comes to the fore when the aristocratic Mr Darcy falls for the ‘ordinary’ Elizabeth Bennett.

For the social butterfly

Persuasion has been adapted for television not once but twice, first by the BBC in 1995, and then by ITV in 2007. The BBC version received praise for its realistic attention to the period, while the ITV film, designed to be the first of three for ITV’s Jane Austen season, premiered to mixed reviews.

Authentic Austen

The superficial social hub of Bath is the setting for Austen’s final completed novel, which marks a break from the other five in the sheer cynicism of Austen’s appraisal of contemporary society. This tale explores the possibilities for women to pursue a more outgoing and fulfilling life through the action of its heroine, Anne Elliot.

The Marmite one

Emma was recreated on film by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who starred as the meddling young heroine in 1996, and the story was also given a modern revamp for the 1995 chick-flick Clueless, with Alicia Silverstone.

Authentic Austen

Of the central character, Austen said: ‘I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.’ Love or hate her, Emma Woodhouse is almost the antithesis of many of Austen’s other heroines. She has an unfortuante tendency to over-involve herself in the matrimonial affairs of her friends but, as with all of Austen’s novels, love and happiness eventually prevail over the necessity of a ‘good match’.

The whodunnit

For The Austen Project, crime writer Val McDermid brings a ‘frisson of fear’ to one of Austen’s lesser-known novels. Val’s knack for creating suspense is perfect for this murder mystery, and the tale of the imaginative Catherine Morland.

Authentic Austen

The first of Austen’s novels to be completed for publication, Northanger Abbey tells the story of Catherine Morland, whose vivid imagination is fed by her love of Gothic literature. This leads her to trouble when she becomes a guest of the Tilney family at Northanger Abbey, where she suspects all sorts of foul deeds take place. Fortunately, her romance with the young Henry Tilney overcomes her folly, and they marry at the end of the novel. 

The political hard-hitter

There is a 1999 film version of Mansfield Park that is loosely based Austen’s novel, but it diverges sharply from the original novel in that it attempts to incorporate the life of Jane Austen herself into the plot.

Authentic Austen

This is known as Austen’s most controversial novel, for its casual acceptance of slavery and the material benefits of imperialism. The novel’s heroine Fanny also received a mixed reaction, with Austen’s own mother calling her ‘insipid’. Fanny is from a relatively poor background, but is raised by her wealthy uncle and aunt at Mansfield Park. However, she is not allowed to shake her previous ‘lowly’ status and, consequently, becomes embroiled in matters surrounding her relatives' unscrupulous social circle and an adulterous affair.

The best of the biogs...

If you read one biography on Jane Austen, make it Claire Tomalin’s Jane Austen: A Life.

In this biography, Tomalin proves that Austen’s brother Henry was entirely wrong when he said: ‘My dear sister’s life was not a life of events.’ Quite the opposite, in fact. This exciting read reveals Austen as complex and endearing, well-travelled, sometimes unlucky in love and, of course, highly intelligent - a modern woman in many ways.

If you're going to enjoy the modern-day rewrites of Austen’s classics, this biography by Tomalin is the perfect addition to understanding the lively characters, rollercoaster romances, tragedies and humour that run through Austen's timeless writing. A great gift for those who enjoy the 21st-century Austen remakes and long-term fans alike.

Buy the complete works of Jane Austen for the special price of £29.99 from the GH Bookshop