Persuasion by Jane Austen

⛰ What It’s About

Set in the countryside of England in the 1800’s, Persuasion is about Anne Elliot’s undying love for the honourable Captain Frederick Wentworth. When they were young, Anne and Frederick had fallen and love and were engaged to get married. However, due to the persuasion of her family and friends, Anne decides to leave Frederick. Since he was of a family with little money or social status and was going off to fight in the navy, Anne’s family believed he was an unsuitable match. For 8 years they were separated, but in a stroke of luck, Anne now has the chance to make up for the choice she has regretted for years.

🔍 How I Discovered It

I got to read this book for one of my classes at the University of Sydney. Even though this book was required reading for a class, I legitimately enjoyed reading this book.

🧠 Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Persuasion. Romance is a genre that I haven’t explored much before this year, but I’ve liked all the books that I’ve chosen to read so far.

Jane Austen is a great author and learning about some of the incredible things she did was awe-inspiring. For instance, because she didn’t think the book ended how it should have, Austen ended up re-writing 3 whole chapters in only a few days.

For being someone who assumed Jane Austen was a boring author of some classic novels, I was really pleasantly surprised how good it was and how much I ended up liking it.

What I Liked About It

I think Persuasion proves that a suspenseful romance novel can be good even without a lot of physical intimacy.

The way that Austen pushes the boundaries of gender norms of her era is really interesting and often amusing in the portrayal of certain male characters. Even though we might now consider some of the characters’ actions as antiquated and unacceptable, Austen’s literature would have been avant-garde at the time.

I liked how all of the little things mattered. Often with other books you can overlook a lot of details and still enjoy it, but I think Persuasion is best understood and enjoyed when looking at the fine details. The certain ways that characters interact or the added characteristic of a person can make all the difference.

As I look back, it seems to be a theme that I don’t like the endings of novels. However, I actually thought the ending of Persuasion brought a nice closure to the story.

What I Didn’t Like About It

At times, I would personally consider the plot to be a bit slow, but this could just be that I’m used to more-attention-grabbing, faster-paced visual content.

🥰 Who Would Like It?

Anyone who likes contemporary romance novels would likely enjoy this novel, even if it is from a different era. I think a lot of people who initially dismiss reading Jane Austen might actually like Persuasion.

📚 Related Books

Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are also written by Jane Austen. Although I think Norwegian Wood is completely different in terms of style, I would recommend it as far as genre.