250TH BIRTHDAY EDITION‘Almost as good as finding an unpublished novel’ The Lady''Any new book on Austen raises the urgent question, Would I get more pleasure from reading this than from re-reading my favourite Austen novel? You''ll know after a few pages here that you''ve made the right choice'' Sunday TimesIs there any sex in Jane Austen? Why do her plots rely on blunders? Which important characters never actually speak?In twenty short chapters, each of which answers a question prompted by Jane Austen''s novels, John Mullan illuminates the themes that matter most to the workings of Austen''s fiction. Inspired by an enthusiastic reader''s curiosity, based on a lifetime''s study and written with flair and insight, What Matters in Jane Austen? uncovers the hidden truth about an extraordinary fictional world.