The pride of high-ranking Mr Darcy, and the prejudice of middle-class Elizabeth Bennet, conduct an absorbing dance through the rigid social hierarchies of early nineteenth-century England, with the passion of the two unlikely lovers growing as their union seems ever more improbable.
With a host of Bennet sisters playing out their own triumphs and disasters, and the unforgettable tragi-comedy of their parents' marriage demonstrating just how high the stakes can be, Jane Austen's second novel has a lasting effect on the mind of everyone who reads it.