Persuasion (Broadview Literary Texts)

For her last novel's plot, Austen returns to the tensions of inheritance; but the once satisfactory solution security on a landed estate no longer applies. Here, Anne, the unappreciated middle daughter of the Elliots, has new choices to make, between the customs and traditions in which she was brought up and the excitement of the unknown.

Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey.