This Norton Critical Edition reprints the 1818 text of the novel, as well as two chapters for it that were cancelled. Also included are a selection of Austen's letters pertaining to the novel and a number of critical interpretations.

Austen's last novel is the crowning achievement of her matchless career. Her heroine, Anne Elliot, a woman of integrity, breeding and great depth of emotion, stands in stark contrast to the brutality and hypocrisy of Regency England. Includes a new Introduction by Margaret Drabble, famed novelist and editor of The Oxford Companion to the English Language.