Emma

‘It's comfort reading at its most soothing’ Independent

‘Funny, heartfelt and very readable’ Good Housekeeping

In this reimagined modern classic, prepare to meet a young woman who thinks she knows everything…

Fresh from university, Emma Woodhouse triumphantly arrives home in Norfolk ready to embark on adult life with a splash. Not only has her sister, Isabella, been whisked away on a motorcycle up to London, but her astute governess, Miss Taylor is at a loose end, abandoned in the giant family pile, Hartfield, alongside Emma’s anxiety-ridden father. Someone is needed to rule the roost and young Emma is more than happy to oblige.

And there is plenty to delight her in the buzzing little village of Highbury. At the helm of her own dinner parties and instructing her new little protégée, Harriet Smith, Emma reigns forth. But there is only one person who can play with Emma’s indestructible confidence, her old friend and inscrutable neighbour George Knightley – this time has Emma finally met her match?

Reviews

Praise for Emma:

‘Entertaining . . . McCall Smith brings such intelligence and wit’ The Daily Mail

‘Funny, heartfelt and very readable’ Good Housekeeping

‘Funny and clever’ Fabulous Magazine

‘Delightful’ Closer

Praise for Alexander McCall Smith:

‘Witty, elegant, gentle, compassionate’
Guardian

‘The kind of simplicity one finds in the best children's stories and a fluency which reflects his practice of writing 4,000 words a day in a stint of four hours… A talent for traditional story telling’ Guardian

About the author

Like Mr Woodhouse, Alexander McCall Smith is the father of two daughters. Unlike Mr Woodhouse, he achieved global recognition in 1999 for his award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh University and served on national and international bioethics bodies. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife Elizabeth, a doctor.