Vanity Fair: Unabridged edition - Paperback

by William Makepeace Thackeray (Author)

Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero is a novel by English author William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847-48, satirising society in early 19th-century Britain. It follows the lives of two women, Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, amid their friends and family. The novel is now considered a classic, and has inspired several film adaptations. In 2003, Vanity Fair was ranked 122nd on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's best-loved books. Rebecca Sharp ("Becky") is a strong-willed, cunning, moneyless, young woman determined to make her way in society. After leaving school, Becky stays with Amelia Sedley ("Emmy"), who is a good-natured, simple-minded young girl, of a wealthy City family. There, Becky meets the dashing and self-obsessed Captain George Osborne (Amelia's betrothed) and Amelia's brother Joseph, a clumsy and vainglorious but rich civil servant home from the East India Company. Hoping to marry Sedley, the richest young man she has met, Becky entices him.

Author Biography

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) was an English novelist. He is famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society. Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, India, where his father was secretary to the Board of Revenue in the British East India Company. During the Victorian era Thackeray was ranked second only to Charles Dickens, but he is now much less widely read and is known almost exclusively for Vanity Fair, which has become a fixture in university courses, and has been repeatedly adapted for the cinema and television. His other works include The Book of Snobs, The Luck of Berry Lyndon, Men's Wives and The History of Henry Esmond.