An Austen for Every Age: A Book for Each Decade of Your Life

Jane Austen’s novels don’t change but we sure do. Rereading Austen at different ages feels a bit like opening the same letter and discovering new sentences have appeared overnight.

Have you loved different books as you age? I’ve always loved Persuasion and P&P, but as I get older, Mansfield Park is growing on me (at last!). I’m curious if others have shifted in their favorites too.

So, here is my entirely subjective guide to which Jane Austen novel belongs to each decade of life—and why.

(Obviously we can love any and every book whenever we want, so just take this for fun!)

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Teens 13-19: Northanger Abbey

When talking to real people is hard, you’re super into a weird genre of books, and you’re surrounded by immaturity

Catherine Morland is, of course, way more naive than most of today’s teenagers, but she isn’t an idiot. She took a deep dive into her gothic stories, and got a little carried away, but you can totally see her as the girl who stayed up late watching a horror movie her parents told her not to, and getting real jumpy when she hears a noise.

Also, in the teenage years you often have to move to unfamiliar social spaces (new school, town, friend groups, university, or work). Catherine’s agony at knowing no one, and willingness to latch onto anyone who seems friendly is so relatable. Thankfully, she falls in with Tilney, who actually is a good guy, and her reading of people is good enough that she knows it.

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Your Twenties: Pride and Prejudice

When everything feels like a test of your intelligence or independence, you have to make major life decisions without enough information, and your confidence might temporarily outstrip your abilities

Elizabeth Bennet is old enough to understand the ways of the world, her parents’ weaknesses, and her own abilities. But she also believes that being clever and observant will protect her from serious mistakes in judgement.

We root for her because she *is* so smart and funny, but we also get to travel with her as she realizes how blind she still is when flattery and insult come into play.

In your twenties, you have to make judgments rapidly: about love, about people, about everything. This is a great book for remembering to take a second look and be ready to switch course if you’ve made a mistake.

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Your Thirties: Sense and Sensibility

When you are learning to be “the responsible one,” dealing with loss and difficult finances, and your first close friends get divorced

I love Elinor Dashwood. She’s the poster child of maturity, emotional self-regulation, and dependability. This novel belongs to the years when you are learning how to balance feeling deeply with surviving practically.

But I also love Marianne! She isn’t at all like me, but she wasn’t foolish to fall in love with Willoughby. Elinor, despite her reservations about their speed, liked him too! Marianne’s devastation reminds me of the first time a close friend’s marriage fell apart. I didn’t forsee it, I couldn’t stop it–all I could do was try to be there for her. This book has really grown on my in the last ten years or so.

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Your Forties: Emma

When you are confident, competent, (hopefully) a little better off, and people are coming to you for advice

I struggled with where to place this one, but Emma Woodhouse, despite her youth, was pretty unrelatable to me in my twenties. I’ve actually come to identify with her more now that I’m older. For the first time, I am tempted to interfere and even (very lightly) matchmake. I do feel like I’m smarter, or at least more experienced, than these twenty-somethings making shy eyes at each other!

Emma is also not strapped for cash, knows her community well, and isn’t questioning who she is. For me, that makes Emma the novel of midlife comfort—the age when you have got to seriously check yourself. Certainty, Austen reminds us, is a dangerous place to live. Or to sum up, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.“

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Your Fifties: Mansfield Park

When you have the self-control to keep your mouth shut, but you know who you are and don’t compromise. Also you can tell when somebody is bad news.

This one is growing on me, although it is still far from my favorite. Mansfield Park has lots of good morals: charm isn’t the same as virtue, don’t marry somebody you don’t trust, and–last but not least–don’t isolate and abuse children!

Anyway, Fanny Price is good and kind, but her life is largely not even about herself, which also comes as we are watching our own kids grow up and marry and whatnot. This novel is barely a romance, it’s more about understanding people and their choices.

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Your Sixties and Beyond: Persuasion

When a good second chance can make you cry

Okay, so this has always been my favorite. It could go with any decade, but it does feel like the oldest of the novels. Anne has missed her chance and she feels old. She is an aunt and a caregiver both to her family and her nephews. She even has the relationship with her dad that many reach in their fifties–trying to help parents make good steps, whether it be emptying out their house or moving to assisted care.

But then we get the wonderful second chance with Wentworth! And even when Anne still thinks he’ll marry Louisa, she handles it consistently with maturity and self-possession. (In passing, I think my major gripe with the latest Persuasion is that they make Anne immature! My Anne Elliot would never humiliate herself like that.)

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In Conclusion: Jane Austen Grows With You

Austen’s heroines are all young, but her writing makes them readable at any age. Which books have you loved at different times of your life? Has it changed? I’d love to hear.

Thanks for reading!

Corrie

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