Jane Austen: Emma

Pretty, rich young Emma Woodhouse is very pleased with herself when her closest friend, Miss Taylor, marries Mr Weston. Emma thinks that these two people have fallen in love because of her. She decides to find good husbands for her other friends as well.

Soon things begin to go wrong. Mr Elton, who is supposed to marry Emma's friend Harriet, falls in love with Emma. Emma persuades Harriet to think that the farmer she loves is not good enough for her. Emma's good friend Mr Knightley gets more and more angry with her for all this matchmaking. Then Emma herself begins to think that handsome young Frank Churchill is in love with her. But Frank has a secret ...

Jane Austen: Emma. Oxford Progressive English Readers; Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992

Grade 1 (1,400 headwords)