Jane Austen was born in 1775 in rural Hampshire, the daughter of an affluent village rector who encouraged her in her artistic pursuits. In novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma she developed her subtle analysis of contemporary life through depictions of the middle-classes in small towns. Her sharp wit and incisive portraits of ordinary people have given her novels enduring popularity. She died in 1817.
Persuasion is Austen's most mature and melancholic novel, a frost-tipped exploration of the meaning of love and a quietly savage critique of Regency England's obsessions with money and class -- Claire Allfree * Telegraph * Persuasion seems to be the Jane Austen novel that has most touched our readers' hearts -- Sam Jordison * Guardian *