Laura Brodie
The success of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is the latest sign of a fascination for all things Austen. Today’s Janeites devour everything from novels to blogs to cultural histories based on her work. But what did Austen herself read? Below are some of the best sellers that had the greatest influence on Austen’s early novels. Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson Hailed as the father of the English novel, Richardson was Austen’s favorite author. Although she preferred the melodrama of his Sir Charles Grandison, it was the intimate epistolary style of Pamela that spawned a sensation