It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife The opening of Jane Austen's ever-popular novel sets the tone of her sparkling comedy of manners and morals. There are five daughters in the Bennet family and marriage is the only career open to them. There is naturally much excitement when two young men of good fortune move into the district. But before there can be a happy ending, the hero must conquer his overwhelming pride and Elizabeth, the spirited heroine, her prejudices against hum. Only by taking the route to self-knowledge can they reach a mature understanding of each other and find lasting contentment.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) is often regarded as the greatest of English women novelists on the strength of her six completed novels. Noted particularly for their sparkling social comedy and accurate vision of human relationships, they are still as widely read today as they have ever been. The seventh child of a country parson, Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon in Hampshire. Her father, the Reverend George Austen, was an intelligent and sensitive man who encouraged Jane in her love of reading. From an early age she was familiar with the works of Henry Fielding, Sir Walter Scott, Richardson, Frances Burney and the poet George Crabbe. Her early attempts at writing include burlesques of popular romances. When her father retired in 1801 the family moved to Bath, which was later to feature in her novel Northanger Abbey (published posthumously in 1818). After his death in 1805 the family moved first to Southampton and then in 1809 to Chawton in Hampshire, where Jane Austen is known to have written her last three novels, Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816) and Persuasion (also published posthumously in 1818). Although her other novels were written considerably earlier, it was not until 1811 that Sense and Sensibility was first published. Pride and Prejudice, which followed in 1813, features Jane Austen's own favourite heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. Surrounded by her lively and affectionate family and wholly immersed in her writing and domestic chores, Jane Austen's life is often noted for its lack of events. She did, however, attract several suitors and even accepted a proposal of marriage from one admirer - only to change her mind the following morning. Jane Austen's self-contained life often seems reflected in her novels, which, peopled as they are by impoverished clerical families, eligible country squires, foolish snobs and husband-hunting women, seem to portray the world in miniature. Sir Walter Scott praised Jane Austen for that exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, while Somerset Maugham claimed that she had at her command the most precious gift a novelist can possess, that of keeping the reader's interest. Jane Austen died in 1817. Marriage, property and intrigue lie at the heart of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most enduringly popular novel. Met with great critical acclaim on its publication in 1813, it is thought to be a reworked version of First Impressions, an early work which was refused for publication in 1797.