Emma

Austen writes insufferable characters well, but it does mean spending a lot of time with insufferable characters. And there are a lot of them in Emma, including the main character. I had understood from 'the zeitgeist' that Emma was a 'matchmaker' but that's not really true: she's a meddler. A matchmaker puts people together successfully; Emma just interferes.

It's also unclear quite why Emma is considered to be so eligible. Everyone praises her beauty but they also seem to think she is clever, whereas she comes across more supercilious. Maybe it's just her fortune.

Otherwise it's the usual plot - will they/won't they in bonnets and carriages. I found I didn't really care for the happiness of any of them.