Persuasion by Jane Austen (Barnes & Noble Flexibound Editions)

Eight years ago, Anne Elliot broke off her engagement to the dashing young naval officer Frederick Wentworth on the advice of a friend. Now twenty-seven and considered a faded beauty, she is resigned to a spinster’s life when she learns that Wentworth, now a captain and wealthy with prize money from the Napoleonic Wars, has returned. While Anne visits her married younger sister Mary, Wentworth pays frequent calls on Mary’s two charming sisters-in-law. Although Anne tries to avoid him she cannot, and although she knows he has not forgiven her, his presence is a constant reminder of what she has lost. Published posthumously in 1818, Persuasion is both a delightful romantic comedy and an insightful exploration of our need to persuade