內容簡介
★珍‧奧斯汀出版的第一部長篇小說《理性與感性》
★同名電影由奧斯卡金獎導演李安指導，榮獲多個奧斯卡獎項提名
戴希伍德家因為父親去世，由長男約翰繼承所有的財產與房子，但長嫂芬妮‧費拉斯是個勢利鬼，慫恿自己的丈夫違背諾言，硬是要把他的繼母和三個女兒從房子裡趕出來。
個性柔軟、感情豐沛的戴希伍德夫人於是帶著三個女兒離開原本的家，搬到堂兄的房子借居，並時常拜訪堂兄的巴頓莊園，因此認識年紀稍長的布蘭登上校，布蘭登上校對戴希伍德的女兒瑪麗安一見鍾情，或許因為妹妹瑪莉安總是那麼熱情大方、活潑浪漫，向孩子一樣直白地表達感情；反觀姊姊艾莉諾則保守拘謹，充滿克制與理性的智慧，總是舉止得宜、聰慧明理。
芬妮假意派弟弟愛德華‧費拉斯去關心慰問戴希伍德一家，個性靦腆、正直的愛德華在艾莉諾心中留下深刻的印象，但他們都太過小心翼翼，將彼此戀慕的情感藏在心中；而妹妹瑪麗安則在一次意外事件中被英姿煥發、帥氣瀟灑的約翰‧魏洛比英雄救美，兩人立刻墜入愛河。
察覺愛德華和艾莉諾正在來往的芬妮十分不滿，決意要想盡辦法拆散這對情侶；另一方面，一直以為魏洛比遲早會向自己求婚的瑪莉安，卻發現魏洛比其實對她隱瞞了天大的謊言...
交錯的人物與複雜的劇情安排，充滿記憶點的角色設定和鮮明的性格，讓這部小說更加完滿，李安執導的《理性與感性》上映後引發熱烈回響，也讓許多讀者重新檢視這部與《傲慢與偏見》一樣雋永的故事。
For Elinor Dashwood, sensible and sensitive, and her romantic, impetuous younger sister Marianne, the prospect of marrying the men they love appears remote. In a world ruled by money and self-interest, the Dashwood sisters have neither fortune nor connections. Concerned for others and for social proprieties, Elinor is ill-equipped to compete with self-centred fortune-hunters like Lucy Steele, while Marianneˊs unswerving belief in the truth of her own feelings makes her more dangerously susceptible to the designs of unscrupulous men.
Through her heroinesˊ parallel experiences of love, loss, and hope, Jane Austen offers a powerful analysis of the ways in which womenˊs lives were shaped by the claustrophobic society in which they had to survive.
