Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins she is happily betrothed to a naval officer Frederick Wentworth but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?

Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory 2 inches square. Readers of Persuasion will discover that neither her skill for delicate ironic observations on social custom love and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus lens to English manners and morals has deserted her in her final finished work.