Persuasion

About the book

Anne Elliot has learned to put her wishes behind those of a family that gives her little credit for doing so. Financial embarrassment unsettles the household, and the return of Captain Wentworth brings a more intimate disturbance: years earlier, Anne was persuaded to give up their engagement. Now she must share ordinary social occasions with someone whose feelings she can no longer confidently read. Austen gives unusual weight to listening, silence, remembered words, and gestures that pass almost unnoticed by others. The movement between family circles, seaside company, and Bath also tests inherited rank against earned distinction. This is a romance attentive to the passage of time, asking how people might judge an earlier choice without denying the person who made it.

• Second chances
• Time and regret
• Rank and merit

Why read it

For the emotional force Austen finds in quiet observation and conversations almost overheard.

English text