The locations of Persuasion:
Somerset
Somersetshire is the location of Kellynch Hall, the Elliot family's ancestral home. Anne's sister, Mary, and her family also live in this county. Somersetshire is located in the southwestern section of England. During the time Austen was writing, the largest employer, but the area rapidly changed during the Industrial Revolution.
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is the vacation spot for the Musgrove's, Anne, and Captain Wentworth. It is located in Dorset, which borders Somerset. According to Austen's narrator in the book, the city is only 17 miles from Kellynch Hall. It is on Lyme's famous "Cobb" (pictured) that Lousia Musgrove took her almost fatal leap. It is said that when the famous poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson visited Lyme he demanded, "Take me to the exact spot where Louisa Musgrove fell!"
Bath
Bath was a huge tourist attraction in Jane Austen's time, it even had a specific "season" for when the highest in society would congregate there. For a very long time it was believed that the natural spring water found in Bath could cure people with weak constitutions, headaches, etc. People from all over England and beyond would flock to the city to drink the restorative waters from the natural springs and to visit the Roman Baths. Bath continues to draw tourists today, both for its original reasons and for being such a favorite location of Austen books.
Want to know more about Bath?
Because Bath has such a rich history before, during, and after Jane Austen's time, it is possible you will want to know more about this fascinating city. If that is the case, then Kristen Elliot's Bath will give you historical information about the city and tell you more about the city in modernity.