This is a special author course, in which we read most of Austen’s major novels, and explore her contribution to the history of fiction. Her work appeals to a wide range of readers. We consider her work in the context of her own time and place, a complex moment in English history, while relating it to feminist and postcolonial approaches to fiction. We discuss Austen’s aesthetic genius: her precise prose, her superb use of wit and irony, and her moral certitude combined with a comic use of chance. We examine how the author embraced the female conventions of her day, and how, in more subtle ways, she challenged them.