Mullan pays attention to everything from the ages, names, looks, reading habits, sex lives, incomes, and deaths of Austen’s characters, to the narrative techniques she uses when she shows us their thoughts, when she breaks the pattern of narration to address her reader directly, and when she departs from the consciousness of her heroine to give the point of view of another character. In the process, he demonstrates that the popular pastime of answering quizzes about the novels is not necessarily trivial, but can lead us to a deeper understanding of Jane Austen’s careful craftsmanship and her innovative contributions to the history of fiction. Mullan’s compelling analysis of detail in Jane Austen’s novels persuades us that “ Little things matter.” In a series of chapters on what he calls “ puzzles,” he asks questions about details and discusses how and why they matter. Darcy’s letter “ with the closest attention” to understand why he separated Bingley from Jane and why he doesn’t trust Wickham.

“ The closer you look, the more you see,” writes John Mullan in What Matters in Jane Austen? Elizabeth Bennet learns this lesson in Pride and Prejudice when she reads and rereads Mr.

John mullan what matters in jane austen