The Jane Austen Rules

A Classic Guide to Modern Love

What’s a strong, independent-minded woman supposed to do in a world of insipid dating guides? Witty feminist and academic Sinéad Murphy responds by asking: Who has more time-tested secrets than Jane Austen, whose novels continue to captivate us—read after read—almost two hundred years later?

Whether you can recite paragraphs from Pride and Prejudice or just admire Colin Firth in his wet T-shirt, the romance of Jane Austen’s world is one you’ll never forget. Does love like that even exist today? Yes, it does!

If you look closely at Jane Austen’s books, as Murphy has, you’ll discover Austen’s countless tips for women on finding the right leading man, navigating the ups and downs of courtship, and building a happy, independent life for yourself.

You’ll also learn:

• How to flirt like a regular Lizzy Bennet.
• To lead a conversation with a man (even if he’s leading the dance).
• When to ignore advice from your girlfriends and listen to your mother.
• How to discuss your future with your own Mr. Darcy.

Whether you’re in the throes of early dating or pondering a leap in a long-term relationship, The Jane Austen Rules is your essential guide to approaching love with, well, sense and sensibility.

SINÉAD MURPHY teaches philosophy at Newcastle University. She is the author of Effective History and The Art Kettle.

 

“The world is overrun with manuals positively chock full of garbage advice about love and life. You could do much, much worse than a spot of guidance from Jane Austen.”
Jezebel

“What are we to learn from Austen’s brand of feminism? Nothing more or less than this: that feminist ideas mean very very little in the abstract, for they still require a strategy to make them work in the world… Jane Austen needed to be a feminist in action just to be a feminist in print. We are quite free to be feminists in print, but we must follow her activist example if we are ever to be feminists in fact.”
Huffington Post

“This cute, feminist dating guide is sweet and fun, and for any lit-lover with a sense of humor and an active Tinder account, this is a cute gift to add to the pile.”
Bustle, Gifts for Book Lovers

“[A] witty, brief new guide… Certainly, there is infinite wisdom to be culled from Austen.”
Flavorwire

“Murphy compiles all of the attributes readers love in Austen’s heroines into one helpful guide for navigating the dating world… For women everywhere who long for a Jane Austen romance, The Jane Austen Rules shares a formula for a love story.”
Deseret News

“Ms. Murphy has done an excellent job of blending light-hearted charm with reflections on the serious business of love and life.”
AustenProse

“A new book that tears apart the myths created by toxic dating guides… Couldn’t agree more.”
Evening Standard’s Londoners Diary (UK)

“The key to dating in today’s day and age can be summed up with one essential question: What would Jane Austen do?…Sweet and to the point, this volume makes for an enjoyable and useful read.”
Publishers Weekly

“A delightful mashup of Jane Austen and The Rules, this modern guide to romance is pure stout-hearted charm.”
Amy Dickinson, advice columnist “Ask Amy” and NPR contributor

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