Her father is a vain, foolish baronet, obsessed with his lineage but forced to quit his ancestral seat as a result of his improvidence. Her sister is an invalid with a kind husband and two
unruly sons. She falls in love with a handsome naval officer, and he with her, but his income and prospects are judged inadequate by her proud family. Heartbroken, the lovers part: he goes to
sea while she leads a forlorn life at home. Years later he returns, having made his fortune, and after further misunderstandings he claims as his bride the woman he never ceased loving. This
is the story of Anne Elliot in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. It is also the story of Katherine Bisshopp, the daughter of an old Sussex family. Using the letters and journals between
Katherine and her sister Harriet and other family correspondence, Peter James Bowman paints an intimate picture of Regency family life, and looks at the remarkable parallels between the true
story of the Bisshopps and the fictional narrative of Austen’s final novel.
