Probably Austen's funniest novel, which is saying something. Great satire of the Gothic genre and the effect of fantastical literature (romantic, Gothic, etc) on the naive. And of course, packed with her trademark brilliant close observation of social relationships; scathing, funny, and honest. You can roll your eyes at her narrow world-view (nobody's poor, nobody's marginalized) and her rather heavy-handed men (Henry Knows All, of course) if you like, but you and I are surely just as much creatures of our time as Austen was of hers, and Austen was probably smarter and more insightful than both of us put together.

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