At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.
Persuasion
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"Excellent introduction; a nicely laid out, affordable edition." --Tim Peltason, Wellesley College
--This text refers to the Leather Bound edition.
--This text refers to the Leather Bound edition.
Book Description
Written in her final illness, Persuasion is Jane Austen's finest novel.
--This text refers to an alternate
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First Sentence
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into a Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into a Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book came into my life at a time I really needed it. Perhaps that makes me partial to it, but I found it compelling, compassionate, and greatly moving. Not a general reader of Austen, but compelled to pick it up after viewing the movie, I was impressed with it's insight and its emotional and social commentary. But more than social commentary it is, though to some it may sound trite, a book of the heart and soul. For me it was spiritually cleansing and emotionally purifying. A book of beauty and love, a work which has become a personal favorite.
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like all of her novels, Jane Austen's PERSUASION is essentially a comedy of manners--a work in which the characters must negotiate a complex code of conduct in order to survive, much less achieve their ends. And in a certain sense the novel is indicative of Austen's great talent, razor sharp, laced with irony and wit, and remarkably phrased. And yet PERSUASION is quite unlike Austen's other novels in the story it tells.
Eight years earlier, Anne Elliot fell in love with a man named Wentworth. Her family and friends disdained the match, arguing that the man was below her in station and lacked any fortune with which to maintain Anne in her accustomed mode of life. Persuaded to reject him against her own will, Anne broke off the engagement--and thereafter found herself unable to love another even as she endured the follies of her father and two sisters. But Wentworth has returned, having made his name and fortune with the British navy, and it is now his turn to reject her.
Published in 1816, PERSUASION is the last novel Austen completed before her death a year later, and it is remarkable for a very autumnal tone. Unlike such Austen masterpieces as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and EMMA, the herione is not a spirited, quickwitted young women on the verge of matrimony; the hero is not a dashing gentlemen of great estate; there is no verbal duel between the sexes. It is instead the story of a commonsense and pleasantly ordinary woman who considers herself past the likelihood of marriage--and who now wishes only to escape the emotional pain and humiliation visited upon her by a suitor from long ago.
... Read more ›30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By Lovborg
Format:Paperback
Less well-known than "Emma", "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility", this is an absolute gem of a novel, and my favourite of all of Jane Austen's works. It has all the flair and comic brio of her other, more celebrated work, but a sadness and delicacy of tone that elevates it to a different level. Anne is a magnificent character, with an intelligence steeped in experience coupled with a good and true heart, and is at the centre of a novel that offers absolutely everything that you could wish for in a novel. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Nebelfischer
Format:Audio CD
I bought this item as "unabridged", but I know the novel very well and am very sure that certain passages are missing. Unfortunately, some of these passages are great favourites of mine, so I was very disappointed on finding they were simply left out. For example, the highly entertaining passage relating Mary's complaints about "her mother-in-law's way with the children" and Mrs. Musgrove's complaints about "her daughter-in-law's way with the children" is left out - I can only wonder why exactly this very amusing chapter is missing. Another missing passage is the description of the Admiral's driving (when they take Anne home after her long walk with the Musgroves) - so better don't look forward to his wife's entertaining exclamations, there is no "My dear, we will certainly take that pole!"
However, the novel is read in a very good style - it is very easy to forget that only one voice is speaking.
However, the novel is read in a very good style - it is very easy to forget that only one voice is speaking.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By SDR
Format:Audio CD
Like millions around the world, I love all of Austen's novels. I know Pride & Prejudice is the usual no.1, but Persuasion tops my list and has done so for over 30 years, since I first read it age 14. Persuasion has a sweetness, a poignancy and a wonderfully broad cast of characters. Austen's tender portrayal of a happy marriage (Admiral and Mrs Croft), her fun with the hilariously vain Sir Walter Eliot, the forgiveable, misguided maternal nature of Lady Russell's care of the heroine Anne, the cold scheming of Mr Eliot alongside his genuine love for Anne, and above all Anne herself, the neglected middle daughter expected to fall in with everyone's own selfish schemes, yet keeping her sense of humour and, with the odd struggle, her confidence in her own judgement... This is a book certainly written by a woman no longer in her first flush of youth, taking a shrewd look at family life as it really can be, and the dismal prospect of family servitude for a woman who didn't get married. Even the hero, Captain Wentworth is far more believable to me than other Austen heroes. He has a brightness, a zest for life - and a somewhat hasty temper which explains why he never came back to Anne - and also why they are so well suited. Juliet Stevenson is simply superb as the narrator. Her voices for each character are spot on. This is a book to be savoured and read again and again for its subtlety. But some of us have very busy lives, and having Persuasion read to me by a top actress means I can enjoy the book on long car journeys or even short ones, or after a hectic day when I want to wind down before going to sleep. This audio CD set is my top favourite (well, jointly with "Middlemarch"!).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
my second favourite austin so far.
reasonable characters with a good story line - the typical incredible writing we've all grown to expect. definitely one i'll revisit.
Published 3 days ago by Bea Bathe
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old favourites never fail...
Jane Austen at her very best. Although I have read this many times it still has me holding my breath and willing things to work out for Ann and her Captain Wentworth.
Published 6 days ago by E. Varley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the effort
One of my favourite s of all time, this version is quite old world and it really makes you think of the class cultural system.
Published 6 days ago by Lozzer
2.0 out of 5 stars
Old Classics
Having ploughed my way through this book I found the story not bad in the end, but the reading was hard going.
Published 10 days ago by Sandra Foster
5.0 out of 5 stars
good book
A very good book it is worth seeing both version of the tv series and it is good reading the book.
Published 26 days ago by Anna Watson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Poor quality paper and print.
The book itself is, of course, wonderful - written by Jane Austen, how else could it be?
I read it in a couple of sittings, and enjoyed it very much.
I read it in a couple of sittings, and enjoyed it very much.
Published 1 month ago by A P von Lintzgy
4.0 out of 5 stars
Persuasion
I bought this text for my university studies, and found it very well introduced, with useful appendices. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Elliot Weeks
5.0 out of 5 stars
What else can one say...
....about one fo the most widely read and reviewed books in the history of the novel.
But I still have to write at least 14 words? What more can I say? Read more
But I still have to write at least 14 words? What more can I say? Read more
Published 1 month ago by just Jack
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book
An Austen classic, if you like the others, you'll like this one. Well worth reading, especially for free on kindle!
Published 1 month ago by K. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just boy meets girl
This Clothbound Classic is a delight to have and to hold and I will be adding to my collection in the future. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Square Peg
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