Persuasion - Readings

Description

Featuring one of her most likeable characters, this sparkling love story set in a seaside resort is Jane Austen’s final finished work.

“There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison.”

Since Anne Elliot eight years ago rejected the marriage proposal of Captain Wentworth, a penniless naval officer, she has resigned herself to a quiet life at home, tending to the imagined needs of her spoiled sisters and vain father. But when Captain Wentworth reappears in their midst, having made his fortune at sea, Anne must ask herself whether she made the right decision—or allowed herself to be persuaded against her heart.

Jane Austen’s last completed novel and her most optimistic and romantic work, Persuasion gives full scope to the author’s artistic powers, blending sharp wit and warm sympathy, stylistic brilliance and matchless insight. It is a story that affirms the lasting power of love and the rejuvenating power of hope.

With an Introduction by Margaret Drabble
and an Afterword by Diane Johnson

About the Author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

ORDERS

DEMANDS

Popular Categories

All Categories

Fiction

Non Fiction

Fiction

Non Fiction

Popular Categories

All Categories

Art and Crafts

Stationery

Arts & Craft

Stationery

More Buying Options

Description

About the Author

Also by the Same Author

Bestsellers in Fiction

About Us

Contact Us

Help

Social Media

Popular Categories

All Categories

Popular Categories

All Categories

Popular Categories

All Categories

Popular Categories

Fiction

Non Fiction

All Categories

Fiction

Non Fiction

Age Groups

Age 0-6 Categories

Age 7-12 Categories

Popular Categories

All Categories

All Categories

Popular Categories

All Categories

Popular Categories

Art and Crafts

Stationery

All Categories

Arts & Craft

Stationery

Puzzles

Toys

Games

More Buying Options

Description

About the Author

Also by the Same Author

Bestsellers in Fiction