The Folio Society has been rolling out gorgeous new editions of Austen’s novels with great introductions (including Elena Ferrante writing about Sense and Sensibility). This year, they’re offering a new edition of Persuasion with stunning illustrations by Deanna Staffo and an introduction by Siri Husvedt.
“I first read Persuasion when I was twenty. I have read it several times at various junctures in my life since then. Jane Austen’s last finished novel has become the book of hers I love best, despite the fact that I find it more painful to read now than I did when I was younger,” Husvedt writes in the introduction, which connects Austen to Aristotle, among other topics. “As many critics have pointed out, the ground has shifted in Persuasion. Old money has given way to new money, aristocracy to meritocracy.”
And it’s this shifted ground that gives Austen’s most thwarted heroine her second chance at happiness. Below, find a selection of illustrations from the new edition featuring heroine Anne Elliot as she finds her voice and rekindles an old romance.
credit Deanna Staffo for The Folio Society edition of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
credit Deanna Staffo for The Folio Society edition of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
credit :Deanna Staffo for The Folio Society edition of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.