Shelfology Book Pairing

by Jane Austen

What happens when we listen to others instead of our heart? That is the subject of Jane Austen's final novel, and her most mature work. After Anne Elliot heeds the advice of her dearest friend and breaks off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, happiness eludes her. Eight years later, Anne remains unmarried, and her father's spendthrift ways have brought her family down materially in the world. When a newly wealthy Frederick returns from the Napoleonic Wars, Anne realizes her feelings remain unchanged. But will Frederick forgive her and offer Anne a second chance at love?

by Virginia Woolf

Innovative and deeply poetic, The Waves is often regarded as Virginia Woolf's masterpiece. It begins with six children--three boys and three girls--playing in a garden by the sea, and follows their lives as they grow up, experience friendship and love, and grapple with the death of their beloved friend Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing their inner lives: their aspirations, their triumphs and regrets, their awareness of unity and isolation.