Will I love Persuasion?

This is a novel all about second chances.

I read it for the first time in a Jane Austen class I took in college, because it gave me an excuse to read all her novels. I fell immediately in love with this one.

We all know, in real life, second chances are not a given. This novel so heartbreakingly and beautifully describes what comes after “the end” and a way that ending is able to be changed as the two central characters have grown older and wiser, and then learn more about one another over the course of its pages.… show more.

As a fan of Austen’s work overall, I’m most captivated by her final novel’s form of intense chemistry.

I’ll admit the earlier Pride And Prejudice offers instant gratification through the immediate romantic rapport between witty Elizabeth and the proud Mr. Darcy. Yet I still prefer the subtly seductive, slow-burn build-up between Anne and Captain Wentworth for a “can’t put it down” read. 

A cheat, perhaps, as I re-read Persuasion a few times every year. Each time it yields something different, but if you are looking for Jane Austen at her kindest, look no further. This is a story about the importance of holding on and holding dear; of second chances and of love regained.

This book gave me a reminder of faith that neither time nor distance can ever impede upon two individuals destined for each other. Sometimes, what is said–or rather not said at all–doesn’t exactly portray the truth of someone's intentions or feelings.

Even though I know the ending, I’ll pick this book up every year or so and still find myself wondering how Anne and Wentworth will ever reconcile. But alas, Austen knocks it out of the park once more.

I love this book so much because it’s about two people giving their relationship a second chance.

At first it made me feel sad because the heroine Anne Elliot could so easily have been happy with Captain Wentworth when he first proposed. It’s only when he returns to the area years later that she begins to listen to her heart rather than her head.

The years have changed them and they need to rediscover each other before they can be truly happy. It’s a quiet and deeply moving love story.

I can’t remember the first time that I read Persuasion, but I re-read it every year for the depth and empathy with which Austen brings Anne to life, as well as she draws other characters.

At the beginning of the novel Anne Elliot is presented as a young woman who has lost nearly everything – her mother at a tender age, the love of her life, and is about to lose her home. She has a cold and unsympathetic father and sisters and very little else.

The deed is done and she has to move from her home, but… show more.

Persuasion is Austen’s most mature and humane novel, often overlooked for Pride and Prejudice. 

Anne Elliot has lost her looks and her home. She goes to visit her younger sister and then moves permanently to Bath. Into these scenes enters the one man she ever loved and was persuaded not to marry.

He now has a tidy fortune, and Anne watches from the sidelines as he flirts with her sisters-in-law. She keeps a bland demeanor as her heart shatters over and over again, and I admire this, as well as her steadfastness of heart when all hope is lost.… show more.

Customs and social mores may change, but human beings remain much the same. Jane Austen speaks as loudly to today’s reader as she did in her all too brief lifetime.

This is the perfect story of love between two people who have lived long enough to make mistakes and rule them. I can think of no more perfect last chapter. Enjoy!

This is the odd one out in my selection, because it was actually written at the time it was set.

It’s Austen’s only novel featuring more mature people, Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth, the man she was forced to jilt when she was a girl. The slow, measured reunion of two people you would like as your friends has to my mind never been better.

This story showcases two people getting over themselves. This is a theme in many of Austen’s works. She doesn’t believe in the ‘renovate your partner’ thing and honestly, I’ve never seen that work in real life. What we have here, are two people who inspire each other to emotional bravery, constancy, and vulnerability (in the 1800s – I give them a little grace for this).

If you’re not familiar with the story, know that the couple were once engaged, and the lady was persuaded to step away. Eight years pass, and true love holds true indeed – but there are… show more.