Emma by Jane Austen

Another book from my Classics Challenge done and dusted, this time it was Emma by Jane Austen. This book will soon find itself back in the public consciousness as it is immortalised on screen and, much like Little Women , it was this realisation that prompted me to finally sit down and read it.

I didn’t really know much at all about Emma but, having read it, I guess she was the pre-dating app society’s answer to Tinder, swiping her way through the society trying to find a good match for everyone. What I learnt as I read on is that this isn’t just a story about matchmaking, it also tells the tale of the heroine’s ascent into womanhood.

The novel centers on Emma, who attempts to form romantic relationships between people in the village of Highbury, and the lessons she learns through her matchmaking.

I won’t lie to you, I didn’t like Emma. After liking practically every character in Little Women, I really hoped it’d be the same for the next novel in my Classics Challenge but – I have to say – it wasn’t. I just wasn’t really taken in by Emma, I didn’t find her interesting and I didn’t really care what happened to her in the book.

The book had plenty of secondary characters I thought I’d like but, as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t.

As I make my way through my Classics Challenge, I’m realising something about classics. You don’t have to like them, and frankly you won’t always like them, but you never know until you pick them up and give them a read.