Austen 250 Reader Series: An Introduction to Persuasion
- Delicia Johnson
- Sep 16, 2025
- 3 min read
"You may perhaps like the Heroine, as she is almost too good for me."
—Jane Austen, letter to her niece Fanny Knight, 23-25 March 1817
We continue our Austen 250 Reader Series with Jane Austen's final novel Persuasion. Published posthumously in December 1817 alongside her first completed novel, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion has remained one of Austen's most popular and cherished works.
The novel follows 27-year old Anne Elliot, the oldest Austen heroine, who has to leave her home at Kellynch Hall when her father's reckless spending forces the family to move to Bath and let their ancestral estate. Anne is also suffering from a broken heart. Nearly eight years ago she was engaged to Captain Frederick Wentworth, an ambitious naval officer. However their sweet union ends when Lady Russell, Anne's godmother and friend, persuades her to break off the engagement due to Wentworth's lack of fortune and suitable social connections. Anne and Captain Wentworth, who is now wealthy and distinguished in his profession, cross paths again when his brother-in-law and sister, Admiral Croft and Mrs. Croft, become tenants of Kellynch Hall.
Autumn is the perfect season to read Persuasion. Not only is the novel set in the fall, but the season itself is used metaphorically. Sir Walter Elliot's fall from grace when his careless spending habits forces him to leave his ancestral home is also representative of the decline of the landed aristocracy. Our heroine Anne Elliot is described as having been 'a very pretty girl, but her bloom had vanished early'. Her heartbreak causes a decline, even almost a decay, in her looks and spirits. Even Jane Austen herself is experiencing decline. While writing Persuasion she is falling seriously ill and will never recover.
Anne Elliot is the definitive autumn girl as we'll see from her musings while she engrosses herself in the autumnal landscape. Her story is one of melancholy, loss, transformation, introspection, and the passing of time even as one stands still in past memories- all symbols of autumn.
Persuasion is not only my favorite Austen novel- it's my favorite novel of all time (yes, I'm one of those rare bibliophiles who have a favorite book!). Autumn is also my favorite season. So I'm especially pleased to be embarking on this blog series with you. Every Tuesday you can expect a post from me that includes a brief summary, analysis, and reflection- true to the format of our previous Austen 250 Reader series posts.
The reading schedule is as follows:
September 23: Chapters 1-7
September 30: Chapters 8-14
October 7: Chapters 15-21
October 14: Chapters 22-24
A conclusion post will be released on Friday, October 17. Please feel free to use the comments section to share all your thoughts.
The first post for the Persuasion Austen 250 Reader series will be released next Tuesday, September 23rd. Until then please grab your favorite copy and settle in a cozy spot with your favorite autumn beverage in hand (maple tea is my personal drink of choice.)
For more information about the publication of Persuasion read this brief article from Jane Austen's House: https://janeaustens.house/jane-austen/novels/persuasion/
For a deeper analysis of how autumn is used as a symbol of decline throughout the novel read this article from the Jane Austen Society of North America's journal Persuasions titled 'The Transformative "Fall': A Structural Metaphor in Jane Austen's Persuasion'.
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