Recent Reads {Persuasion}

Persuasion by Jane Austen - Although Pride and Prejudice remains my favorite Austen novel, it's hard to say whether Persuasion or Sense and Sensibility would earn second place.  A very close second place too!  Austen begins this love story when Anne Elliott is getting very close to 30 years old, and her family is facing the prospect of moving out of their ancestral home because of their reduced financial situation.  Anne and her older sister are spinsters and their marriage prospects are dwindling.  Her father, Sir Walter, is vain and self-absorbed, and his preoccupation with acting the fine gentleman and giving every appearance of being wealthy and socially important has led him to spend more than he ought.  Instead of taking Anne's counsel to simply cut back on their style of living, the Elliotts choose instead to lease out their home so they can continue to pretend to wealth and consequence in the resort town of Bath.  As it turns out, the property is leased to a couple related to Captain Frederick Wentworth, with whom Anne had had a relationship some seven or eight years prior.  At that time, Anne had been persuaded to break off the engagement because of her family's objections to Wentworth's inferior connections and fortune.  With all of that background, clearly the reunion between Anne and Wentworth will be awkward and uncomfortable, and while we know that Anne is still deeply in love with Wentworth, we don't know what his feelings are.  Anne herself must rely on studying his expressions and actions, and on snippets of conversation to deduce what his attitude towards her may be, as propriety doesn't allow her to open the subject or even have a private conversation with him.   The story follows all the circumstances surrounding their meeting again and all the situations in which they are thrown together in the company of the many other characters, and the growing conviction Anne has that he still cares for her.  I found this a delightful love story, and the supporting cast of characters provides ironic humour and insightful glimpses into behavior, manners, and relationships.

By the same author:  Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, The History of England, Mansfield Park