Persuasion is Jane Austen's last completed novel.She began it soon after she had finished Emma,completing it in August,1816.She died,aged 41,in 1817,but Persuasion was not published until 1818.
Persuasion is connected with Northanger Abbey not only by the fact that the two books were originally bound up in one volume and published together two years later,but also because both stories are set partly in Bath,a fashionable health resort with which Jane Austen was well acquainted,having lived there from 1801 to 1805.
When Anne Elliot falls in love with a handsome and charming young man,she must make a wrenching decision. The man she loves is perfect in every way...except one: he lacks the wealth and social status that would make him a suitable match for Anne. At least,that is what friends and family persuade Anne to believe.So Anne breaks off the match and sends Wentworth away. But she can't help wondering: Did I do the right thing?
It is a question that will haunt her for years until,unexpectedly,Wentworth returns. His circumstances have improved greatly.But is it too late for Anne?