Persuasion

Jane Austen

Jan 2016 · First Avenue Editions ™

About this eBook

Anne Elliot was once engaged to Captain Frederick Wentworth, but she broke off the engagement when a family friend persuaded her that it was an imprudent match. Several years later, Captain Wentworth returns from the Napoleonic Wars, but his seeming indifference towards Anne convinces her that it is too late to win him back. Meanwhile, the charming Mr. Elliot—Anne's cousin and her father's heir to Kellynch Hall—plots to marry her to ensure he remains the sole heir to the family estate. Will Captain Wentworth rediscover his feelings for Anne, or will she be forced to marry the scheming Mr. Elliot? English author Jane Austen wrote this novel of manners in 1816, one year before her death at the age of 41. This unabridged version of her last completed novel is taken from the 1818 copyright edition.

About the author

Jane Austen's life is striking for the contrast between the great works she wrote in secret and the outward appearance of being quite dull and ordinary. Austen was born in the small English town of Steventon in Hampshire, and educated at home by her clergyman father. She was deeply devoted to her family. For a short time, the Austens lived in the resort city of Bath, but when her father died, they returned to Steventon, where Austen lived until her death at the age of 41. Austen was drawn to literature early, she began writing novels that satirized both the writers and the manners of the 1790's. Her sharp sense of humor and keen eye for the ridiculous in human behavior gave her works lasting appeal. She is at her best in such books as Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), in which she examines and often ridicules the behavior of small groups of middle-class characters. Austen relies heavily on conversations among her characters to reveal their personalities, and at times her novels read almost like plays. Several of them have, in fact, been made into films. She is considered to be one of the most beloved British authors.