Sense and Sensibility is the first novel by the English author Jane Austen, published in 1811. On his deathbed, Henry Dashwood gets John, his son by his first wife, to promise to take care of his stepmother and half-sisters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, from his inheritance. But Fanny, John's wife, persuades her husband not to support them financially, leaving them to survive on a greatly reduced income.
Fanny’s brother Edward Ferrars comes on a visit, but when Elinor and he seem to be growing close, Fanny warns Mrs Dashwood that Edward is destined for higher things by their mother. Affronted by this, Mrs Dashwood decides to move her family to Barton Cottage in Devonshire, which has been offered her at a low rent by her second cousin, Sir John Middleton. Later, while dining with the Middletons at Barton Park, Marianne attracts the attention of a family friend, Colonel Brandon. However, he is aged thirty-five, which seems much too old to the romantic sensibility of sixteen-year-old Marianne.