Persuasion (Penguin Classics) (original 1818; edition 2003)

Main participatory read for both #AusteninAugustRBR and at Book Rat's Persuasion Readalong for Austen in August 2012.

Absolutely loved reading the story I've enjoyed so much on dvd. I wanted to see and hear the nuances of JA's actual story of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth - Not a filmmaker's version and perspective...
I was not disappointed.

Full and rich characterization of people I've come to care for with insights into their lives, choices and actions that definitely had me forming my own opinions, hopes and desires for the resolution of the earlier 'persuasion' experienced...

English tale of life and love past due date for Anne Elliot, now in her spinsterhood due to refusing the marriage proposal of her pursuer, Irishman, Frederick Wentworth. She had bowed to the persuasion of a family friend and confidant, Lady Russell, who had stepped in to fill the role of Anne's deceased mother. Convinced her sailor would not have a future other than what he was at the time of their courtship, she had let him go off to pursue his life and dreams without her by his side.

Now, 8 years later, he returns a hero with a fortune and in need of a wife as Jane Austen has famously stated in opening Pride and Prejudice.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". And Captain Wentworth is proving her point as he flirts with Anne's sister Mary's young sisters in law upon his return. His own sister, Sophy and her husband, have rented the Elliot's home, Kellynch Hall, for their home when Anne's father has had to retrench to save financial ruin induced by living above his means.

The Captain's evident interest in the Musgrove sisters ends in a near fatal accident which allows light to dawn on him and his heart's precarious position. He and Anne are thrown together in various and increasingly frequent situations, enabling opportunities to re-evaluate their relationship and leading to the satisfying conclusion of love lost and regained...

( )

The humour is a bit broader than I remembered. Many nice phrases are turned. At bottom, this a comic romance, with a happily ever after (unless killed or maimed in a naval engagement) ending. It has the difficulties, followed by the happy reconciliation of countless others like it. But it is very sprightly, and quite cynical about family connections. Anne's relations have no redeeming features beyond being well groomed and preserved. ( )

Tied for my favourite Austen ever. The quiet, musing nature of the novel - less starkly sarcastic than either Pride and Prejudice or Emma, less knowingly silly than either Northanger Abbey or Sense and Sensibility, yet much less maudlin than Mansfield Park (which I don't like much). I have a soft spot for her characters who care so deeply about doing the Right Thing (for better, or more often, for worse - Eleanor, Anne, and Charlotte all suffer greatly in the name of propriety) and I like the surrounding characters a lot in this (in the sense that I think they're good characters). It's on my reread pile. ( )

Austen is funniest when she’s dealing with social snobs, and this novel starts out that way. But the heroine is the daughter of the snob in question, and she is a modest and sensible young lady. Her main fault is that she’s been too easily persuaded to turn her back on the man she really loves. This novel brings her back to him. It’s a perfect antidote after you've read anything depressing. ( )