TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2025
7PM to 8PM
Open to all. Hosted online using Zoom Meetings.
TICKETS: Free, booking required.
ACCESSIBILITY: Live subtitles are available using Zoom's Live Transcript function.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Following the death of their father, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are obliged to leave their beloved family home and move to Devon with their mother and younger sister. The novel follows the actions and reactions of the sisters in their new life, especially as they experience the excitements and frustrations of falling in love. Austen’s novel tests the value of the ‘sense’ and ‘sensibility’ raised in the book’s title through the behaviours of the characters she creates.
We'll be discussing the novel with Dr Sarah Houghton-Walker from the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge.
To aide the conversation, we have prepared three 'thinking points' to consider when reading the book:
- Much of the novel’s drama is caused by promises being kept or being broken. Does the book ultimately uphold the importance of keeping one’s word whatever the cost, or does it advocate a more flexible approach?
- Where are the ‘good’ parents in Sense and Sensibility? Does Austen seem interested in the effects of good or bad parenting?
- Is Marianne Dashwood more or less attractive as a character by the end of the book than she is in its opening chapters?
This book is available in paperback, hardback, audio and ebook formats, borrowable from public libraries or to purchase. To see what printed and digital copies are available from Cambridge University Libraries (borrowable by University staff and students), search iDiscover.
About The Really Popular Book Club
The Really Popular Book Club is Cambridge University Libraries' book group. Everyone is welcome to come and discuss a really popular book with the group, library staff, and an expert on the novel. Hosted on Zoom, the book club is completely free and open to everyone, people attend from all over the world. The Really Popular Book Club celebrates the huge range of books at Cambridge University Library. We have more than 8 million books and as a legal deposit library we keep a copy of every book published in the UK, and have done since 1710.
If you haven't attended one of our book club events before, you can find more information at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/bookclub.