Books in Immortals of literature series

This is a new edition of “Persuasion,” originally published in 1913 by Macmillan and Co., Ltd., of London, England, with an introduction by Austin Dobson and illustrations by Hugh Thomson. Part of the project Immortal Literature Series of classic literature, this is a new edition of the classic work published in 1913—not a facsimile reprint. Obvious typographical errors have been carefully corrected and the entire text has been reset and redesigned by Pen House Editions to enhance readability, while respecting the original edition. This is Jane Austen’s sixth novel, first published in 1818 (without Hugh Thomson’s illustrations). The novel tells the story of a second chance. Anne Elliot was persuaded by her family to break up with Frederick Wentworth to marry someone richer and of a higher class. Eight years later, Anne is still single and Wentworth returns from the Napoleonic Wars as a famous and wealthy captain. He is now an eligible suitor, and Anne discovers she still loves him after all these years. Persuasion is another of Austen’s great novels and, as with her other remarkable works, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Northanger Abbey, the reader will be delighted with Austen’s elegant narrative style, and with the story’s fascinating characters and their social interactions. About the Author: Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose seminal works, inspired by her own upbringing as well as in the landed gentry, have influenced successive generations. She was the seventh child—out of eight—and second daughter of Cassandra (née Leigh) and the Reverend George Austen. She was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Her parents were well-respected middle-class community members. Her father was the local Anglican clergyman and supplemented the family income by taking private pupils in the family home and parsonage. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh Austen, came from an aristocratic family and influenced Jane’s sense of social class and self-worth. When they were young, Jane and her six brothers and sister were encouraged to read from their father's extensive library. With a romantic vein, but nevertheless a realist—known for her style and ironic humor as well as for her fascinating depiction of women’s domestic roles of the early nineteenth century—Austen wrote “Sense and Sensibility” (1811), “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), “Mansfield Park” (1814), “Emma” (1815), “Northanger Abbey” (1817), and “Persuasion” (1818), all of which replete with memorable protagonists.