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Books like Pride and Prejudice

Books like Pride and Prejudice share a few things: a heroine who thinks for herself, a family that is both trying and dear, and a love story that has to get past pride, money or a first impression before it can begin. This list follows that thread from Austen’s own shelf into the novels that grew up around her.

We start with three more Austens, move to Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot, then end with four newer books that clearly love the original. Pick by mood: Persuasion when you want something quieter, Frederica when you want to laugh, Longbourn when you want to see Longbourn from the kitchen.

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  1. Cover of Emma

    Emma

    Jane Austen

    Austen’s most confident heroine sets about arranging everyone’s happiness in Highbury and slowly learns how little she sees, her own heart included.

    Find it on Amazon
  2. Cover of Persuasion

    Persuasion

    Jane Austen

    The quieter, older sister of Pride and Prejudice. Anne Elliot meets the man she was talked out of marrying eight years before, and the restraint is the romance.

    Find it on Amazon
  3. Cover of Sense and Sensibility

    Sense and Sensibility

    Jane Austen

    Two sisters, one all sense and one all feeling, and a family that has lost its home. Read it for Elinor, who holds everyone together.

    Find it on Amazon

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  5. Cover of North and South

    North and South

    Elizabeth Gaskell

    If you loved the sparring between Elizabeth and Darcy, Margaret Hale and the mill owner John Thornton argue their way across a northern factory town to something deeper.

    Find it on Amazon
  6. Cover of Wives and Daughters

    Wives and Daughters

    Elizabeth Gaskell

    Gaskell’s warmest novel follows Molly Gibson through a new stepmother, a dazzling stepsister and a slow, kind love. It feels like a long visit with good company.

    Find it on Amazon
  7. Cover of Jane Eyre

    Jane Eyre

    Charlotte Brontë

    A heroine with no money, no connections and a fierce sense of her own worth. Darker than Austen, but Jane’s voice will feel familiar.

    Find it on Amazon
  8. Cover of Middlemarch

    Middlemarch

    George Eliot

    For when you want a whole town in your hands. Dorothea Brooke marries badly and keeps choosing to be good anyway, and Eliot is wise about every person she meets.

    Find it on Amazon
  9. Cover of Frederica

    Frederica

    Georgette Heyer

    Heyer’s Regency comedy pairs a bored marquis with a sensible young woman and her unruly brothers. Quick dialogue, real affection, and a dog that steals scenes.

    Find it on Amazon
  10. Cover of I Capture the Castle

    I Capture the Castle

    Dodie Smith

    Cassandra Mortmain keeps a journal in her family’s crumbling English castle, and two American brothers arrive to change everything. Funny, tender and wonderfully observed.

    Find it on Amazon
  11. Cover of Longbourn

    Longbourn

    Jo Baker

    Pride and Prejudice from below stairs. Sarah, a housemaid at Longbourn, washes the Bennet sisters’ petticoats and has a quiet story of her own.

    Find it on Amazon
  12. CURTIS SITTENFELDEligible

    Eligible

    Curtis Sittenfeld

    The Bennets move to modern Cincinnati, with Liz as a magazine writer and Darcy a neurosurgeon. A playful retelling that knows the original by heart.

    Find it on Amazon

From the Journal

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