The Real Persuasion: Portrait of a Real-Life Jane Austen Heroine

by Peter James Bowman Amberley, 336 pages, £20

This book uses family letters and journals to tell the story of Katherine Bisshopp, whose life, the author claims, mirrors that of Anne Elliot, the heroine of Persuasion. I haven’t read Persuasion but may have to now to see if I agree!

Jane Austen didn’t know the Bisshopp family although they moved in similar circles. Like Anne, Katherine is the daughter of a vain and profligate baronet whose family try to prevent her marriage to a young naval officer. The lives of Katherine and her family are described, with occasional references to Austen’s books; parallels are drawn between the lives of various members of the family and characters in Persuasion. The letters and diary extracts are often poignant and well-presented, and the insights they provide into the late Georgian and early Victorian period are interesting.

It’s difficult to categorise this book. It’s social history but within a very narrow social and geographical sphere, but it’s not an autobiography, neither is it literary criticism. I found it far more interesting in terms of social history than in relation to Jane Austen’s book, although it might be useful to students.

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