Persuasion

Part of the Vintage Classics Austen Series: all six of Jane Austen's major novels, beautifully designed by writer and illustrator Leanne Shapton and introduced by our finest contemporary writers.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY LYNNE TRUSS

The Vintage Classics Austen series is designed by the writer and illustrator Leanne Shapton and introduced by some of our finest contemporary writers and Austen fans: Alexander McCall Smith, Lynne Truss, Amanda Vickery, Francesca Segal, P.D. James and Andrew Motion.

'It is a sort of private novel. In the heroine Anne Elliot, we have glimpses of Austen and what happened to her; the lost romance and the lost youth' Julian Fellowes.

Eight years ago Anne Elliot bowed to pressure from her family and made the decision not to marry the man she loved, Captain Wentworth. Now circumstances have conspired to bring him back into her social circle and Anne finds her old feelings for him reignited. However, when they meet again Wentworth behaves as if they are strangers and seems more interested in her friend Louisa. In this, her final novel, Jane Austen tells the story of a love that endures the tests of time and society with humour, insight and tenderness.

Review by John Purcell

Persuasion is my favourite Austen novel. It is the first Austen I ever read, and the last novel Jane Austen finished writing before she died. If it is true that great artists get better with time, then Persuasion could be safely considered her best. But then, who ever held strictly to such a view? Especially when there are so many examples of its opposite.

And I know that were I to defer to the judgement of the masses, Pride & Prejudice would be crowned the best Austen novel, by a clear margin. But best loved and best are two very different things.

Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion are both exemplary novels. Each should sit near the top of any list of the best books. Each succeed in telling a compelling story with rich characters, humour, drama, romance, wit, and wisdom. Each are nearly impossible to put down once you're in.

Persuasion, however, has all of these qualities and more. Persuasion takes Austen's fiction deep into the realities of the human condition. The character of Anne Eliot matures before our eyes. She is one of the most fully realised characters in fiction, because she is one of the most profound. Her capacity for romantic love is great, but her respect and care for others is greater. However, as a woman, she is bound and gagged by the world she has been born into. She has few personal freedoms, but she achieves so much in her small world. She does good works in a manner which suits individual needs and circumstances. Her generosity is powered and tempered by great intelligence.

In short, this is the work of a mature artist. Between writing Pride and Prejudice (first begun in 1796) and Persuasion (1816) much had changed in Austen's life and it shows in her work.