What to say? It’s Jane Austen. Seriously, that should be enough. It’s widely (and wisely) recognised as being synonymous of greatness, of wit, of great characters and beautiful love stories. I’ll still try to say a bit more about it than just its author name ;)

I saw the movie with Frances O’Connor and really loved it, so I looked forward to reading the book (even though I had been told that the movie was rather different from the book). It took me a really long time to read it, about a month, which is really long for me as I’m a fast reader. But I was very busy with school, and mostly, I wanted to take the time to appreciate it, to understand it fully (English is not my first language and since the style is of course a bit dated it’s sometimes harder to understand… but I wouldn’t read a translated version for the world).

I loved it! It’s very different from the other book I read from her, the famous Pride and Prejudice. Fanny is subsided, extremely moral, very different from the lively Elizabeth. It’s a bit weird sometimes to see whole scenes without the main character uttering a single word, but the secondary characters carry the story wonderfully.

The love story is very different from Austen’s usual style too. Usually, her female main character is ignorant of her own love for the male protagonist, who pursues her actively. Here, Fanny knows all too well how much Edmund means to her, and it is he who foolishly falls for the wrong woman. It’s great to see that Austen tried something new instead of her usual working formula.

I must admit that I was a bit saddened by the lack of love Fanny got. Of course she was courted by Crawford, but I think I prefer the movie version of their love (awful, I know), with the accepted proposal which just made sense at that point in the story for Fanny. And the good ending of the love story seemed rushed, while Fanny herself felt like “second best for Edmund” to me. So, that’s the only bad point I felt – more love please!! I am such a girl, heh.

So, all in all, a great book with wonderful style and lovable characters. Also, the name Edmund is so pretty and dignified, especially with that u (instead of an o). Okay now I’m rambling.