Fragment of a Novel Written by Jane Austen, January-March 1817: Now First Printed from the Manuscript

“Those who tell their own story, you know, must be listened to with caution.””

— Jane Austen

“He held it indeed as certain, that no person, [...] could be really in a state of secure and permanent Health without spending at least six weeks by the Sea every year.””

— Jane Austen

“The novels which I approve are such as display human nature with grandeur””

— Jane Austen

“That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big Bow-Wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and the sentiment is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!””

— Jane Austen

“As well as the usual Austen fare of balls, picnics, and dinner parties, there is the opportunity to indulge the delights of nude bathing. Austen, we should remember, was a Regency writer, not a prim Victorian.””

— Jane Austen

“We have in fact all the comfort of an excellent kitchen garden, without the constant eyesore of it's formalities, or the yearly nuisance of it's decaying vegetation. Who can endure a cabbage bed in October!””

— Jane Austen

“But people take such trouble with their faults and go to such lengths to make them fascinating to others that it is really very unkind to overlook them,' protested Sidney. 'They would much rather be laughed at on their own merits than politely ignored as members of a community.””

— Jane Austen

“Very few of us lack superficial faults and we must rely on each other's kindness to overlook them.””

— Jane Austen