Emma Woodhouse, at the age of twenty, has little to distress or vex her. Handsome, clever and rich, she believes that she has no need of marriage or love and is therefore free to manipulate the love-lives of those around her. As early as chapter 1 her father begs her, 'Do not make any more matches, ' but that does not deter her from picking up little Harriet Smith, 'the natural daughter of somebody', and giving her ideas above her station. It takes an old family friend, Mr George Knightley, to put a stop to all this, and in the way that Emma least expects. In the background a classic detective story is working itself out, enacted by perhaps the most memorable cast of characters that Jane Austen was ever to create.

If you have ever expected Jane Austen's novels to be difficult to read, the line clear edition is the one for you. Here is Jane Austen's classic novel in Jane Austen's words, made approachable by clear type and a clear layout, modern spelling and modern typography. The innovative chapter titles and contents list, derived from the text, will guide the familiar reader back to favourite passages without revealing the plot to a new reader. The cover image is taken from a Cassini Old Series map, using mapping first published by the Ordnance Survey between 1816 and 1819 (Jane Austen died in 1817), and is reproduced by kind permission of Cassini Publishing Ltd. The front cover is centred on the famous Surrey beauty spot of Box Hill, which is the setting for one of the most significant episodes in the novel. The town of Leatherhead, four miles north of Box Hill, is believed to have been Austen's model for Highbury.