This version includes a detailed introductory annotation on how the book and the plot were created.
"'Persuasion" represents the ripest development of Jane Austen's powers, that latest phase of her thoughts and feelings. It is a novel which, while not wanting in the several excellences of those which preceded it, has a mellower tone and a more finished grace of style than any of the others. It was written at a time when bodily strength had given place to weakness; and although her mind was more active than ever, her physical condition insensibly influenced her thought, giving this latest of her books that deeper note of feeling, that finer touch of sympathy and tenderness, which make "Persuasion" the greatest of all her works. - Oscar Fay Adams.
It was Miss Austen's last story, and has more depth of feeling and pathos than most of hers. . . . The delicate miniature painting of the characters in these tales is apt not to be appreciated by the young and the tone of county society of that day disgusts them; but as they grow older they perceive how much ability and insight is displayed in the work, and esteem the forbearance, sweetness, and self-restraint of such a heroine as Anne. - Charlotte M. Yonge.
