HarperCollins is proud to present its collection of beloved essential classics. "She was forced to be cautious in her youth; she learned about romance as she grew older: the natural continuation of an unnatural beginning." Written at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Persuasion is a story of love, heartache, and a woman's determination to rekindle a lost love. Anne Elliot is persuaded by her friends and family to reject a marriage proposal from Captain Wentworth due to his lack of wealth and status. More than seven years later, when he returns from the Navy, Anne realizes that she still has strong feelings for him, but Wentworth seems to have eyes only for one of Anne's friends. Moving, tender, yet intrinsically in the Austen style, with its satirical portrayal of the vanity of society in eighteenth-century England, Persuasion celebrates enduring love and hope.