Persuasion

2011 Reprint of 1899 Edition. "Persuasion" is widely appreciated as a moving love story despite what has been labeled as a simple plot, and exemplifies Austen's acclaimed wit and ironic narrative style. It is the first of Austen's novels to feature as the central character a woman who, by the standards of the time, is well past the first bloom of youth. The novel is often described as a great "Cinderella" story. All the similarities between the fairy story and Austen's novel are there; a heroine who is generally unappreciated by those around her; a handsome prince who arrives but seems more interested in the "more obvious" charms of the Musgrove girls than the more steady charms offered by Anne; a moment of realization and the final happy ending when those who did not appreciate have time to realize what they have lost.