What Matters in Jane Austen?

''Any new book on Jane Austen raises the urgent question, Would I get more pleasure from reading this than from re-reading my favourite Jane Austen novel? If you decide to give What Matters in Jane Austen? a chance you''ll know after a few pages that you''ve made the right choice'' John Carey, Sunday Times

''Almost as good as finding an unpublished novel'' The Lady

Is there any sex in Jane Austen?
Why do her plots rely on blunders?
And which important characters never actually speak?

In twenty short chapters, each of which answers a question prompted by Jane Austen''s novels, John Mullan illuminates the themes that matter most to the workings of Austen''s fiction. Inspired by an enthusiastic reader''s curiosity, based on a lifetime''s study and written with flair and insight, What Matters in Jane Austen? uncovers the hidden truth about an extraordinary fictional world.