“This is the flowering of the English novel. It is witty and wise; there is not a single flaw in this book, or a single moment that you do not relish.” —Colm Tóibín

“I read all of Jane Austen's novels very early on and learnt to love her economy of style and precision. She still seems to me the finest writer in the English language. Pride and Prejudice always bears another reading, and I think in many ways it is a perfect rendition of the novel form.” —Philippa Gregory

“Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers... very acute, very perceptive, and writing in close and honest detail about the tiny preoccupations of women's lives – preoccupations which speak of much larger social and human issues.” —Helen Fielding