Persuasion, Jane Austen's last completed novel, satirizes social status and emotional turmoil with her famed wit and ironic style.  Not just any love story – Penguin Classics has compared the romantic narrative to the well-loved fairy tale, “Cinderella,” in the characters, conflict, and aspects of plot.  However, this tale is distinguished by the resplendence of literary beauty that is both philosophical and awe-inspiring: the impact of the theme, ‘persuasion,’ is recounted in a cleverly woven path that directs the heroine to her eventual felicity. 

Intrigued with the return of her former beau -- Captain Wentworth -- from eight and half years prior, Anne Elliott is placed in the uncomfortable position of remaining in company with him while he is courting another!  Austen displays the pain and agony of his return, the unspoken words, and misunderstandings that continue to evolve and devolve in the plot.  Along with that conflict is an underlying tension from the recommendations of Lady Russell, who discouraged the engagement all those years ago in the first place.    

Gillian Beer explains that Austen was perceptive that the ability to persuade or to be persuaded is crucial in regards to communication.  Beer states: "...  Jane Austen gradually draws out the implications of discriminating 'just' and 'unjust' persuasion."  That is, the narrative displays a profusion of variations of those inducing, or attempting to entice, others—or themselves.  Finally, Beer describes Austen's work as: "… the novel's entire brooding on the power pressures, the seductions, and also the new pathways opened by persuasion.”  Although, erudite in tone, Persuasion is in effect, a treatise on Austen’s personal challenges with similar phenomena in her own familial relationships.  It is one of the most fascinating and enduring novels ever!

A fabulous read! 

2011 marks the 200th anniversary of Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's first published novel. For 200 years, people have enjoyed Jane Austen's interesting characters and plots as well as her dry humor. Laurie Viera Rigler has written two novels about two different women who adore Jane Austen's novels.

In Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Courtney Stone, a young woman from 21st century Los Angeles, finds her self mysteriously transported to England in the early 1800's. Not only does Courtney find herself in a new time period and a new country, she also finds herself in a new body, that of a a young woman by the name of Jane Mansfield. Courtney has to adapt to different clothing, and different etiquette. While Courtney wonders if she will ever return to her old life, she decides to try to enjoy her new life, and not make too many mistakes. This novel is available in the following formats:  book  spoken CD  spoken ebook

In Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, Jane Mansfield, an unmarried daughter of a nobleman, finds herself mysteriously transported to Los Angeles in the year 2009, into the body of Courtney Stone. Although Jane appreciates modern marvels such as modern plumbing, electronics and the freedoms of independent women, she is still puzzled by other modern things such as skimpy clothing and public displays of affection between unmarried people. Jane also discovers that her favorite anonymous writer, the authoress of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Predjudice is named Jane Austen, and that she has written a total of six novels. Jane adapts to her new life as much as she can; however, she still misses her old life. This novel is available in the following formats:  book  spoken CD

Would you like to read Jane Austen's novels?

They are available in various formats.   Film adaptations have also been made of her novels.  Graphic novel adaptations of her first two novels have also been published.

Sense and Sensibility  - first published in 1811
book  ebook  spoken ebook  spoken CD  dvd  graphic novel

Pride and Prejudice - first published in 1813
book  ebook  spoken ebook  spoken CD  dvd  graphic novel

Mansfield Park - first published in 1814
book  ebook  spoken ebook  spoken CD  dvd

Emma - first published in 1815
book  ebook  spoken ebook  spoken CD  dvd

Northanger Abbey - first published in 1817
book  ebook  spoken CD  dvd

Persuasion - first published in 1817, but dated 1818
book  ebook  spoken ebook  spoken CD  dvd

For all those Jane Austen fans who’ve wondered what it would be like to be Elizabeth Bennet, check out the British television series Lost in Austen. Amanda Price is sick of the modern world. She yearns for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen. But she's about to get a rude awakening as one fateful evening, she is propelled into the scheming 19th century world of Pride and Prejudice while that book's Elizabeth Bennet is hurled into hers. As the book's familiar plot unfolds, Amanda triggers new romantic twists and turns within the Bennet family circle as she clumsily tries to help the sisters nab husbands and even captivates the tantalizing Mr. Darcy herself. But what about Elizabeth...and what will become of one of the world's greatest love stories?