Persuasion
Originally published in December 1817, ‘Persuasion’ is a classic novel about a second chance at love by Jane Austen, an English novelist known mainly for her six prominent novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.
Anne Elliot has unwavering integrity. Born to a landed family, she’s observant and clever. When Anne came of age, she accepted a proposal from the enterprising officer Frederick Wentworth. Unfortunately, Wentworth’s mediocre means made him a poor choice for the Elliot family, and Anne was persuaded to call off the engagement. One refused marriage and nearly a decade later, Anne has not forgotten about Wentworth. Little does she know that her fortune is about to change.
When the Elliots make ill-advised investments and lose their money, they are forced to rent out their ancestral home and move to Bath. There, Anne once again meets Wentworth, who is now a captain, in what could be her second and final possibility at love and marriage. Buttressed by the author’s benevolent characterization and thoughtful social commentary, this novel is a must-read for any Jane Austen fan.
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About the Author
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.
Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry. She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. Her artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.
Austen's works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her plots, though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social standing and economic security. Her work brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her lifetime, but the publication in 1869 of her nephew's A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public, and by the 1940s she had become widely accepted in academia as a great English writer. The second half of the 20th century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship and the emergence of a Janeite fan culture.