Description
Anne Elliot is the under-valued daughter of a vain and improvident English baronet, Sir Walter Elliot. The family is in debt, and in order to save money, they rent their noble property to a retired Admiral and his wife. As the rest of her family removes to Bath, Anne remains behind to attend to her married younger sister, and in doing so finds herself in unexpected contact with Frederick Wentworth, the brother of the Admiral’s wife. Eight years previously, Wentworth had proposed to Anne, only to be rejected by her at the urging of a family friend. Anne initially dreads the reunion, as Wentworth, now a successful captain returned from the Napoleonic Wars, pays his attentions to Anne’s younger sisters-in-law.
Persuasion follows Anne as she supports family and friends alike amidst the upheaval of her family’s relocation, the unexpected return of her estranged cousin (Sir Walter’s heir), Wentworth’s apparent indifference, and the vestiges of regret at her earlier decisions.
Persuasion was published in 1817, six months after Jane Austen’s death, and is the last novel she completed in full. It was well-regarded on publication and has been turned into several television series and movies.