Persuasion

Eight years earlier, Anne Elliot broke off her engagement to a penniless naval officer on the advice of those closest to her. Now the overlooked daughter of a family ruined by vanity, she sees Captain Wentworth return, wealthy and much admired. Meetings multiply within a narrow circle where nothing is said plainly and everyone watches everyone else. The novel explores regret, silent constancy and the weight of advice taken against one's own heart. Austen writes here in a graver key, attentive to lost time and to what a second chance demands.