Persuasion
by Jane Austen
★★★★★
I've been a Jane Austen fan for a long time. I've read and re-read her six completed novels and have loved them all in very different ways. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility introduced me to the brilliant author. They are beautiful odes to love conquering all and the huge blessing it is to have a sister you love, no matter how different you are. Their main characters are shaken by misunderstandings and steered by naïveté.
Northanger Abbey and Emma feature somewhat silly girls that let their imaginations run away with them. You somehow still love them, because though they may be simple or selfish, they really do have good hearts. Mansfield Park is Austen's picture of perfecting one's character. Fanny is just so damn good that it's a bit frustrating. Of course all of these books are much more complicated than my quick summaries allow me to explain. So you should read all of them!
But Persuasion, this book is different from all the rest. Maybe it's because it was the last full novel she wrote. Maybe it's because she had experienced a bit of love in her life by that point. Whatever it is, this book has a depth and soul-shaking intensity that makes it my favorite.
The premise is simple. Anne falls in love with Frederick Wentworth, but her family says he's too poor and persuades her not to marry him. Anne’s mother died when she was only 14, leaving her without the trusted guidance most girls have. All of this happens before the book starts and the opening chapter begins 8 years in the future. Anne is still single and her path crosses Wentworth’s again. Now they are both older and have had years to think about how they handled their breakup.
I love seeing Anne’s nature through her actions, not just her words. Many of Austen’s heroines are outspoken, like Lizzy Bennet and Emma and I am absolutely more like that. I admire Anne’s quiet patient nature and her ability to hold her tongue and think before she speaks, even when she’s provoked. She’s also hesitant to give advice, worrying that her own actions might be contrary to what she says; a wise thought from someone her age.
“Anne could not but be amused at the idea of her coming to Lyme, to preach patience and resignation to a young man whom she had never seen before; nor could she help fearing, on more serious reflection that, like many other great moralists and preachers, she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination.”
Her shallow, insipid family has relegated her to the role of helpmate and despite that she gladly spends time with anyone who needs her. She is kind to her former governess, Mrs. Smith, even though her family thinks that is a lowly connection for her. I also love the fact that she is cautious around the much-loved Mr. Elliot, her complimentary cousin. He is a similar character to Mr. Wickham in Pride and Prejudice, but unlike Elizabeth, Anne doesn’t fall for his smooth first impression. She’s justifiably dubious and that makes me love her even more.
When Anne and Wentworth meet again they have both matured. From a distance they watch each other, trying to reevaluate their feelings, which have had years to form and are no longer based on infatuation or young love. This slow burn is intoxicating. Every time they are together you ache for Anne, wrapped tightly in her cocoon of regret. Anyone who has read it can testify to “the letter” being one of the best moments in literature.
BOTTOM LINE: If you've never read Persuasion you're missing out. I love Austen's more celebrated novels (P&P and Emma), which have been made popular by movies and modern remakes (like Clueless), but it's Persuasion that won my heart.
“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.”
