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Persuasion

An Annotated Edition
by Jane Austen
Persuasion: An Annotated Edition. Belknap: Harvard Univ. Nov. 2011. c.360p. ed. by Robert Morrison. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9780674049741. $35. LIT
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Jane Austen's final novel continues to fascinate readers. This love story contains Austen's most pointed social commentary, recognizing the rising status of the professional class and respecting the aristocrats with their inherited lands and titles. Morrison (Queen's National Scholar, Queen's Univ., Ontario) provides annotations alongside the novel's text. He enables readers to understand the impact of these social changes on family interactions and obligations, especially marriage. The annotations and extensive color illustrations provide literary, geographic, and historical context, the latter especially in relation to naval life. Morrison argues that Anne Elliot, Austen's oldest heroine, at 27, is also her most complex and compelling.
VERDICT This is a handsome large-format volume, like the previous entry in the series, Patricia Meyer Spacks's annotated Pride and Prejudice. While David Shapard has edited an annotated edition of Persuasion, it is a paperback original, lacking the handsome format and scores of color illustrations here, and Shapard's background is in history, rather than literature. Highly recommended to first-time Austen readers and to fans seeking further insight into Austen's life and literary sources, as well as British life in her time.
Reviewed by Nancy R. Ives, SUNY, Geneseo , Sep 01, 2011
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