Persuasion(1817)

D.W. HardingJane AustenJames Edward Austen-Leigh

In Persuasion, her last novel, Jane Austen reveals her most mature dissection of people, place and social setting.

Like the earlier works Persuasion is a tale of love and marriage, told with the irony, insight and just evaluation of human conduct which sets her novels apart. But the heroine - like the author - is more mature; the tone of the writing more sombre. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth have met and separated years before. Their reunion forces a recognition of the false values that drove them apart. The characters who embody those values are the subjects of some of the most withering satire that Jane Austen ever wrote.