The Wordsworth Collection of Classic Romances

Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen constructed Pride and Prejudice, with wit, social precision and an irrestible heroine. Beginning with one of the most famous sentences in English Literacture, it is a perfect ironic novel of manners.



Persuasion: Jane Austen's question "What is persuasion?" - a firm belief, or the action of persuading someone to think something else? - is the force behind this novel. Anne Elliot, one of Austen's quietest yet strongest of heroines, is also open to change.



Jane Eyre: Charlotte Brontë's poor, plain, but plucky heroine, possesses and indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order.



Wuthering Heights: Emily Brontë's tale is a wild, passionate story of intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and the adopted foundling Heathcliff. Humiliated by Hindley, Catherine's brother, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights, but in time he returns to exact a terrible revenge.



Tess od the d'Urbervilles: Set in Hardy's Wessex, Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. It tells of Tess Durbeyfield, a poor village girl, her relationships with two very different men, her fluctuating fortunes and her search for respectability.