Philip's evocative illustrations appear at intervals throughout the classic book and are painted with fluidity and feeling. Philip hadn't read the book prior to the commission and says "I have different feelings for different periods of English history and the Regency era certainly has a good resonance for me, and I am sure Jane Austen is one of the main reasons for that.

I like the delicate and precise use of words, the lack of apostrophes. I like the feeling that there is no war raging or even imminent, and that fashion, culture and manners are Classical with Gothic nibbling around the edges." See the book.