Emma at 200

Emma, by Jane Austen, was published 200 years ago today.  It’s worth noting because it reads as almost a modern tale. Set in the English countryside, Emma is filled with humor, misunderstandings and romance.   The tone is set from the opening lines as Austen begins the book with “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to united some of the best blessings of existence, and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. . . ”   It’s always satisfying to escape into the words of Jane Austen.