Jane Austen's novels depict and critique the life of the British landed gentry at the end of the eighteenth century. They are romances that explore the pursuit of marriage for love, social standing and economic security.

The works included are all six of Austen's major novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion, as well as her early epistolary novel Lady Susan.