The eighteenthcentury bestseller that may have inspired Jane Austens Sense and Sensibility republished for the first time in a modern edition One of the most popular and prolific authors of her time, Jane West (17581852) enjoyed her greatest success with A Gossips Story, and A Legendary Tale (1796), one of the bestselling novels of its era. Yet in addition to its significance as a lost classic by a neglected woman writer, A Gossips Story has long been recognized by scholars as a likely influence on Jane Austens celebrated novel Sense and Sensibility (1811). Wests wryly humorous cautionary tale with its themes of courtship and love, money and romance, filial piety and financial ruin centers on two very different sisters. Where Louisa proves herself to be rational and full of good sense, Marianne is driven by her emotions and romantic idealism, and their dispositions lead them to starkly different fates. This firstever annotated edition of Wests novel includes the unabridged text of the original twovolume edition, including facsimile reproductions of its title pages, together with a new scholarly introduction which argues that "whether anchored to Austens Sense and Sensibility, read on its own, or read as part of Wests vast and largely unstudied oeuvre, A Gossips Story deserves reassessment. With the publication of this edition, Wests fiction may well regain deservedly some of its former prominence."

Binding: Paperback;260 pages; Publisher: Valancourt Books; Classification: N/A; Weight: 357.23 g; Dimensions: N/A

Something not quite right? You have 21 days from the day you receive it, to send something back.

Please note, we cannot offer refunds on fashion face masks, cosmetics, pierced jewellery, adult toys, and swimwear or lingerie if the hygiene seal is not in place or has been broken.

Items of footwear and/or clothing must be unworn and unwashed with the original labels attached. Also, footwear must be tried on indoors. Items of homeware including bedlinen, mattresses, and toppers, and pillows must be unused and in their original unopened packaging. This does not affect your statutory rights.

Click here to view our full Returns Policy.