Persuasion

Jane Austen's beloved and subtly subversive final novel of romantic tension and second chances. Now a motion picture from Netflix starring Dakota Johnson and Henry Golding, and a TikTok Book Club Pick.

At twenty-­seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel. 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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Published Dec 18, 2019

249 pages

Average rating: 7.7

358 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

abookwanderer
Oct 09, 2025
6/10 stars
Persuasion is no Pride and Prejudice. Although, there are a lot of similarities. I listened to the audiobook version of this for most of the middle chapters, but I had a hard time staying interested. The last two chapters finally pulled me in, and it was all worth it when I read those words, “I am half agony, half hope.” Gutted!

#popsugarreadingchallenge2019 (prompt # 13)
Lidz
Sep 19, 2025
8/10 stars
Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ is a perfectly wonderful romance for this time of year, the autumnal setting and sweet themes of second chance romance, friendship, and longings of the heart make for the perfect cozy read. Not as witty as some of her other books, Austen really creates a unique entry with ‘Persuasion.’ Anne Eliot is a mature, self composed, kindhearted heroine that makes this book one that I thoroughly enjoy coming back to over and over again.
chxrrymad
Sep 09, 2025
9/10 stars
Wanted to kill that damned lady
JaneSays13
Jul 05, 2025
My favorite heroine of all theJane Austen books.
Smocktravels
May 28, 2025
8/10 stars
A love story for the ages

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