Emma thinks she knows what is best for everybody, including herself. This is one of many editions of this 1815 novel. Emma, when first published in 1816, was written when Jane Austen was at the height of her powers. In it, we have her two greatest comic creations -- the eccentric Mr. Woodhouse and that quintissential bore, Miss Bates. In it, too, we have her most profound characterization: the witty, imaginative, self-deluded Emma, a heroine the author...

"Twenty-one-year-old Emma Woodhouse loves playing matchmaker. When pretty and socially inferior Harries arrives, Emma decides to indulge her passion. Against the advice of family friend and surrogate older brother Mr. Knightly, Emma persuades Harries to reject a marriage proposal from a local farmer in order to hold out for an offer from the dashing Mr. Elton. But Emma soon discovers Mr. Elton's true motives and her advice to Harriet goes terribly...

"The summer after university, Emma Woodhouse returns home to the village of Highbury, where she will live with her health-conscious father until she is ready to launch her interior-design business and strike out on her own. In the meantime, she will do what she does best: offer guidance to those less wise in the ways of the world than herself. Happily, this summer brings many new faces to Highbury and into the sphere of Emma's not always perfectly...