Persuasion — The Companion Edition (eBook)

Eight years ago Anne Elliot was persuaded to break her engagement to a penniless young naval officer. She has regretted it every day since — and now Captain Wentworth is coming back, rich from the war, celebrated, and not forgiven.

This is Austen's complete Persuasion — all twenty-four chapters, unabridged, in the text of the 1818 first edition, with ten first-edition readings restored by collation against that edition (including the moment at the White Hart that later texts lost: Wentworth crossing to the writing table "and standing with his back towards Mrs Musgrove") — wrapped in a companion written for reading together. An original introduction, including the story of the ending Austen cancelled and rewrote — the only surviving manuscript of a finished Austen novel — and of the book's posthumous publication as volumes III–IV of the set with Northanger Abbey; a Who's Who of the Elliot world with the thread to watch in every character; four explainers — the wartime navy and the peace of 1814, the Elliots' finances and the entail that drives them out of Kellynch Hall, Bath society, and the novel's money, from Wentworth's twenty-five thousand pounds of prize money to Anne's ten thousand that she cannot yet touch; a guide to the set pieces and the letter the plot turns on, from the Baronetage's opening page to the fall on the Cobb; a short life of Austen; an honest note on the period material; and thirty-two discussion questions — chapter-group sets for every stretch of the book plus a whole-book set — spoiler-fenced by volume, so the Wentworth letter lands exactly when Austen timed it.

The novel's text is public domain. All companion material is original to this edition. This is an independent publication, not affiliated with or endorsed by any other edition or adaptation.

Formats: EPUB eBook ($9.99, this listing). Paperback ($14.99) and hardcover ($24.99) follow on KDP; the printable Book Club Kit is available in this store.