The book itself is a large format - bigger than a normal paperback, but a little smaller than A4 size - so there aren't too many pages, which means the book isn't too heavy. The paper quality is good, and the binding is very solid - I've been bending the cover back so I can hold it in one hand, and it's survived my mistreatment fine. :)

About the novels themselves there's not much that I need to say - if you don't know them already then there's plenty of places you can find out about them! If you've seen one of the Jane Austen movies, or the TV series of Pride and Prejudice, and you want to read the books, then this is a great place to start.

I'd recommend beginning with Pride and Prejudice and then reading Emma and then maybe Northanger Abbey or Persuasion - although Sense and Sensibility was the first published (and so it's at the front of this book), I don't think you should read it first, it's less approachable than some of the others. Emma is the real masterpiece, in my opinion.