Austen, 2/2

[korafox]

Having just finished reading Pride & Prejudice, I kind of want to write a book where a (pause to clutch pearls) fallen woman, who has been exiled to a farmhouse by her family for her lack of morality, sneaks out and lives a double life as an infamous highway robber.  Because if society is going to be such bastards anyways, well, screw them.  (Seriously, the reaction of one of the characters to a young woman in such a situation was "it would have been better if she had died instead", which sounds like it was a common opinion in those times.)

The book was very good though.  A much truer portrayal of how real love and esteem develop than most other stories I've seen in any medium, in the modern age.  Apparently Austen had no patience for the whole "eyes meeting across a crowded room" trope, which existed back then, too.  I highly recommend the annotated edition for such insights as these.