Jane Austen’s books in order (and where you should actually start)

Jane Austen published just six novels, four in her lifetime and two after her death in 1817. That’s a small enough shelf to read in a season, and a big enough one to argue about forever. Here is the order they came out in, and the order we would actually recommend.

The six novels in publication order

1. Sense and Sensibility (1811)

Two sisters, two temperaments. Elinor Dashwood keeps her feelings locked away; Marianne lets every emotion out at full volume. After their father dies and they lose their home, both get their hearts tested. Austen’s first published novel appeared anonymously, credited only to “a Lady.”

Read it if you like: sister stories, slow-burn heartbreak, a very satisfying comeuppance.

2. Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, a disastrous first impression and the most famous opening line in English fiction. It is the funniest of the six and the one most people mean when they say “Jane Austen.”

Read it if you like: enemies-to-lovers, sharp dialogue, an embarrassing mother.

3. Mansfield Park (1814)

Fanny Price, a poor relation raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle, quietly watches her glamorous cousins and their friends make terrible choices. It is Austen’s most serious novel and her most divisive heroine.

Read it if you like: moral drama, quiet heroines, a house full of bad influences.

4. Emma (1815)

“Handsome, clever, and rich,” Emma Woodhouse decides she’s an excellent matchmaker. She is not. Austen famously expected readers might not like her heroine much, and then made her impossible not to root for.

Read it if you like: comedy of errors, a heroine who learns the hard way, a small-town cast.

5. Northanger Abbey (published December 1817)

Catherine Morland has read far too many Gothic horror novels, and when she’s invited to stay at a real abbey, she is sure something dreadful is hidden there. Austen wrote it early, but it was only published after her death.

Read it if you like: parody, bookish heroines, Henry Tilney (who is very good company).

6. Persuasion (published December 1817)

Eight years ago, Anne Elliot was persuaded to break off her engagement to a young naval officer. Now he’s back, successful, and apparently over her. Austen’s last completed novel is her most grown-up love story, and it contains her most famous love letter.

Read it if you like: second chances, longing, an ending worth waiting for.

Both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published together a few months after Austen died in July 1817, with title pages dated 1818.

The unfinished and the extras

• Lady Susan: a short novel told in letters about a gloriously manipulative widow. Written early, first published in 1871.
• The Watsons: an abandoned novel, a few chapters long.
• Sanditon: the novel Austen was writing in the last months of her life, set in a seaside resort town. She completed about twelve chapters.
• The Juvenilia: the stories she wrote as a teenager to make her family laugh. They are wild, silly and surprisingly modern.

Where should you start?

Publication order is fine, but it’s not the best way in. Our recommendation for first-time readers:

1. Pride and Prejudice. The easiest door into Austen’s world, and the funniest.
2. Persuasion. Shorter and more emotional. Read it once you’re hooked.
3. Emma. Longer and slower, but brilliant once you know how Austen’s irony works.
4. Northanger Abbey. A fun palate cleanser, especially if you love books about books.
5. Sense and Sensibility. Two heroines, twice the heartbreak.
6. Mansfield Park. Save it for last, when you’re ready for Austen at her most serious.

A few tips for first-time readers

• Read the irony. Austen’s narrator rarely says what she means directly. If a sentence sounds suspiciously polite, it is probably a joke.
• Don’t panic about the money talk. People in Austen’s world discuss incomes openly. A man’s yearly income tells you roughly how much freedom a wife would have.
• Use a good edition. An annotated edition explains the dances, carriages and social rules that Austen’s first readers took for granted.

Ready to test what you’ve learned? Find out which Austen heroine you are →