Although also a romance like Austen’s better known novels, Emma and Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion is a subtle one, with a theme not of whirlwind passion but of constancy and devotion. The main character, Anne Elliott, was very much in love with Captain Wentworth as a young girl, but was persuaded by friends and family to reject him as a husband. Broken-hearted, Wentworth went to sea, and the novel actually begins when he re-enters Anne’s life eight years later, having made his career and his money.

Anne is a character to whom the reader can easily relate: introspective, analyzing everything and flawed, able to make make mistakes and recover from them. She narrowly averts an unhappy life by not letting her friends and family persuade her again to marry her cousin, who has money and manners but turns out to be quite despicable. And while Captain Wentworth does not have the dash or charm of a Mr. Darcy, he is Anne’s one true love, as prone to the follies of a broken heart as she is subject to the strong influence of those around her.

The underlying theme is about choices and following one’s heart. If Anne had only listened to her own feelings instead of allowing others to sway her, she would have found happiness sooner. Despite what seems like an afterthought of a speech at the end of the novel, when Anne justifies her earlier behavior, this seems to be a strongly feminist novel, advocating the rights of women to choose their own way in life and their own partners for life, rather than be guided solely by considerations of fortune and class.

This is also one of Austen’s funnier novels, particularly the scenes featuring Anne’s sisters and father, who are incredibly self-absorbed. Their dialogue - constantly misreading the situation in their own favor or stating something when the opposite is true - brings a welcome lightheartedness to the story.

It took me a long time to get through reading this book. I bought it in August last year, and only finished it now. In between I’d finished reading other simpler books.

The beginning was hard for me to get through, because it focused on mainly Anne Elliot’s thoughts and observations of the people around her as she gets through her life thinking about the guy she let get away. But when Captain Wentworth makes an appearance, I find myself interested in the book. I find that the book has too much social observations, and not enough interaction between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth. Nevertheless, I identify with Anne Elliot a lot.

This was my first reading of Jane Austen since high school, and I have to admit I didn’t have high hopes. Much to my surprise, the book grabbed my attention right away, and I flew through it at lightening speed. I’ve been describing it as a boring page-turner, if that makes any sense. I’m not overly interested in the details and nicities of upper class English society from the early 1800’s that this book describes, but I couldn’t wait for the love story to unfold, and the scenes of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth together kept me going.

4/5

Definitely my favourite of all Jane Austen’s books…

I think I identify with Anne Elliot the most out of all of Jane Austen’s heroines. Or maybe I read this book at just the right time for me. I really enjoyed this one.