Persuasion

Persuasion is the last novel of Jane Austen and the protagonist, Anne Elliot, the most mature heroine. Like most Austen novels, Persuasion revolves around a single female lead.

When I first started reading Persuasion, I was bored by not-so-brief introduction of the Elliots. I stopped reading it then but I was compelled to read it for “The Jane Austen Month” on the blog. And I was in for a surprise! As opposed to my first thoughts about the book, it turned out to be the least descriptive Austen novel I read.

The story follows 27 y/o Anne Elliot, a mother-less girl, with two sisters and a spend thrift father. Anne Elliot is smart, sensitive, reserved and practical. She tries to get her father out of his bankruptcy by opposing his and her sister’s pompousness. In late-teens, Anne is engaged to Frederick Wentworth but she breaks of the engagement due to the constant admonishment of Wentworth’s rank by Lady Russell. Eight years later, Wentworth returns as a Captain with a good fortune by rising in the naval ranks. The novel moves forward with a lot of things happening but the base being the love story of Anne and Captain Wentworth.

Jane wrote Persuasion where her health had deteriorated to a point where she could hardly remember herself. But the novel has the sarcasm, wit and magic only Jane can be capable of. So what are you waiting for? Read it!