Lesson #1: Happy 250 birthday to the anonymous spinster, Jane Austen

Welcome to Lesson #1, the column for paid subscribers where we discuss the biographic and historical context around this week’s novel.

To discuss Jane Austen’s Persuasion, we have the below sections:

the life & death of the unmarried queen of romance

class is in session—and it’s the socioeconomic kind

a quick pivot for Napoleon

the writers Jane Austen loved

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From August 8, 1815 to August 8, 1816, Jane Austen wrote Persuasion as her health declined.

At this point in her career, she’s publ...