LoveReading Says
May 2014 Guest Editor Daisy Goodwin on Persuasion...
I love Jane Austen with a deep and enduring passion, and I think the story of Anne Elliott’s second chance is possibly my favourite. The way that she revives as a character like a flower soaking up water is quite miraculous. It is also has a plot of clockwork perfection. I read this book at least once a year and I always find something new to marvel at.
The Lovereading view...
Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. In her introduction, Gillian Beer discusses Austen's portrayal of the double-edged nature of persuasion and the clash between old and new worlds. This edition also includes a new chronology and full textual notes.
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Persuasion Synopsis
Featuring beautiful cover art from artist Laci Fowler, this fine exclusive collector's edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion is a must have for book lovers or Austen fans. Relive the sweeping second chance romance of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth in one of Austen's beloved classics.
The Harper Muse Classics: Painted Edition of Persuasion is perfect for special-edition book collectors, Jane Austen lovers, fans of literary fiction and classic literature, and people who love both the book and the cinematic adaptations it inspired.
Persuasion is Austen's final completed novel, published six months after her death in 1817. The story revolves around Anne Elliot who at 27 is no longer considered young enough for worthy romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What transpires when they reunite is movingly told in this remarkable love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.
Whether you're buying this as a gift or for yourself, this remarkable edition features:
- A beautiful high-end hardcover featuring Laci Fowler's distinctive hand-painted art, perfect for standing out on any discerning fiction-lover's bookshelf
- Embossed cover art and gold foiling
- Decorative interior pages featuring pull quotes distributed throughout
- Matching ribbon marker and gold page edges
- Part of a 4-volume collection including Jane Eyre, Little Women, and The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Persuasion by Jane Austen?is a title in the Harper Muse Classics: Painted Editions collection and is being released alongside Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Little Women (Louisa May Alcott), and The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Agatha Christie).
About This Edition
About Jane Austen
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817.
As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.
Fellow novelist Katharine McMahon on Jane Austen...
I can't not choose her. And whichever I've read last is always my favourite. The nuance of emotion, the understanding of human nature revealed by Austen constantly delights me. When I reread Sense and Sensibility recently, for the first time Elinor came across as quite prissy and destined to marry a rather spineless husband. I wonder if that was intended?
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