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    Persuasion
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    Persuasion
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    Persuasion
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Persuasion

    Written by Jane Austen

    Narrated by Geraldine McEwan

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Penguin Classics presents Jane Austen's Persuasion, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actress Geraldine McEwan.

    'Her attachment and regrets had, for a long time, clouded every enjoyment of youth; and an early loss of bloom and spirits had been their lasting effect'

    Persuasion, Jane Austen's last novel, is a moving, masterly and elegiac love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

    It tells the story of Anne Elliot, who, persuaded to break off her engagement to the man she loved because he was not successful enough, has never forgotten him. When he returns, he brings with him a tantalising second chance of happiness ...

    Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin UK Audio
    Release dateApr 26, 2012
    ISBN9780718198206
    Author

    Jane Austen

    Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose work centred on social commentary and realism. Her works of romantic fiction are set among the landed gentry, and she is one of the most widely read writers in English literature.

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    Reviews for Persuasion

    4/5

    152 ratings151 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Jane Austen once wrote that Anne Elliott, the heroine of her final novel, Persuasion, was "too good for me," and I cannot help but echo her sentiments. A woman of great good sense, utterly lacking in snobbery or pretension (despite her father's "elevated" status as a baronet), Anne seems to possess an almost flawless self-control, that, when paired with her self-sacrificing attention to the needs of others, and patient endurance of the many slights she receives at the hands of her unworthy family, makes me want to shake her...Her one flaw, which arises from her virtues, and which forms the crux of this astute examination of love lost and then found again, is that she is too easily persuaded. Having been convinced some years before to sacrifice her attachment to the man she loved, Anne finds herself confronted - at the ripe old age of twenty-seven! - with her spurned love, and with the consequences of her choice.I enjoyed Persuasion immensely, and was not at all surprised to discover that it was Austen's final novel, written as she was slipping into the illness which would cause her death. Not as bright as some of her other work, it still has that pointed Austen wit, which, when combined with more mature themes, makes for a deeply satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Reading Jane Austen is like drinking a perfectly made cup of tea, late in the afternoon. Her prose is so smooth and comforting and perfectly elegant. I really enjoyed Persuasion, more than I expected to. Austen seemed to really explore the motivations and interactions of her characters. The breathless and romantic ending was delightfully swoony as well. :)
    • 4/5
      Loved the lampooning of Anne Elliot's family, and everyone fainting and being useless at Louisa's jumping the steps on the Cobb at Lyme. I especially enjoyed the Admiral's need to remove all Sir Walter's mirrors. But I didn't go for Captain Wentworth's letter - it felt like the kind of thing we girls want our men to write, but they don't write those things. Maybe JA never really worked out how to manage it either, bearing in mind there is more than one reconciliation device.
    • 4/5
      I’m embarrassed to admit that this is my first Austen, at least I don’t remember reading any of her books, although I have seen many of the movies based on her books. I’ve wanted to read all her novels. It’s all the more astounding that I’ve managed to not do so given that in high school and through my first two years of college I majored in English/English literature. I’ve always known that there are gaps (an abyss) in my education, yet this particular one does surprise me.I suggested this particular Austen to my book group, partly because it’s the favorite of so many I know, and partly because I knew a bit about it, but except for Northanger Abbey I knew less than I knew about her other novels.This edition of the book has an introduction by Amy Bloom and she tells the entire plot, but atypically I didn’t care at all knowing the book’s story before I read it. I pretty much knew it, and I guess I feel I should have read it long ago. The edition also has the originally written final two chapters, inserted after the rest of the book's text.But, if not for needing to read it for my real world book club, I’d have put it down and picked it up another time. Actually, I think I’d like to read Austen’s books on the order she penned them. But the main problem is that I’m in a reading slump and this is a case of a good book at the wrong time. It didn’t help that while reading I was often listening to the (very modern) college guys upstairs and other modern and annoying sounds. I should have probably made a point of reading this in the park or some other more suitably atmospheric place. The most ideal years for me to have read this was probably 25-35; that doesn’t mean I won’t have other ideal timea in the future. I can see giving this book 5 stars but I don’t think it’s destined to be one of my favorites.Apt title. Beautifully written. Wicked wit! It’s also funny and bright and poignant. But mostly waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting…and I kind of got impatient with everybody. So, I really like and admire Anne, a lot, and I love how Austen skewers the society that was familiar to her. Nobody really escaped my periodic irritation though, nor did the situation. I don’t have patience for certain types of plots, and I’m not big on romance stories, although this one wasn’t as “romantic” as I’d expected. Despite the ending, I did find this story a sad one, most likely because of my own current frame of mind: wrong timing for me. Also, I am aware of Austen’s condition when she wrote this novel. I do hope to pick it up again someday, along with all of Austen’s books.As I was reading I felt sometimes as though I was reading a play. It read that way to me. I could “see” it all. I can see why Austen’s novels translate so well to film.
    • 3/5
      This book seems rather more subdued and serious than Austen's others -- that I've read, anyway. I was half-expecting some silly conclusion in which everyone marries and everyone is reconciled and whatever. By the time I was halfway through, I didn't really know where it was going to go, and I'm not sure I cared that much. Persuasion wasn't bad to read, I just didn't really care that much.

      Anne, as a main character, is very nice. Kind of bland, really. Just nice. She bears her lot remarkably calmly, is all self-sacrificing all the time, doesn't seem to have any great passions. She's comfortable and unchallenging. I didn't really get to know or care about her paramour, either, so I was just vaguely glad when they got together. The lack of real feeling made the book lack any urgency, too.

      The characters in general didn't seem as lively and interesting in general as, say, the Bennets, and were therefore not as endearing for me. Mary reminded me of Mrs Bennet, but at least with Mrs Bennet, I felt a little fond of her.

      Mind you, I can say what I like but I probably read Persuasion in a couple of hours, all told, and I don't exactly think those hours wasted. It wasn't the most gripping, life-changing book in the world, but I enjoyed it well enough.
    • 5/5
      hmm, now that i have finished this read, i am wondering if i like it more than pride and prejudice???late in the book there is this quote:"Minutiae which, even with every advantage of taste and delicacy which good Mrs. Musgrove could not give, could be properly interesting only to the principals."and when i read that line it made me think of the details in austen's writing and how, in fact, the minutiae present with her manner of storytelling sucks me right in every time. but...with persuasion i feel this is very much a novel of anne's restraint and resolve as much as it is a tale of different persuasions. so given anne's nature, though we aren't privy to her inner workings in great detail, i was seeing everything through her eyes and completely immersed in her world.i am so glad i had saved a few austens to read and so had this novel to be experienced for the first time. i now, of course, want to re-watch one of the bbc adaptations!!
    • 3/5
      While I love Jane Austen and her characters I'm at a stage where I want to be so much more invigorated by a book and I just cannot (to use an awful phrase) "get into" this kind of novel at the moment. Time to spend a while reading other genres and then come back to these. Ahhh, feels good to say that and not feel guilty.
    • 4/5
      Reread because I ran out of things to read and was looking for free ebooks.
      A few things:
      1) nobody writes annoying people as well as Jane Austen.
      2) so, many, commas,
      3) OMG Captain Wentworth's letter. I. DIE.
    • 1/5
      I tried to read this book, really I did. We read it for my book club and it came highly recommended by a woman whose taste in books I share. I wanted to like this book. But a month later, and I'm still only 38% done with what is a very thin book.

      It's puzzling to me...I like the story line. I like the characters. But something about the writing... I just can't make myself finish it. It's a slow read. It's not something I can sit down with and relax at the end of the day. It takes a level of focus that I am apparently incapable of. Reading it just felt way too much like high school.

      I appologize to all the Austen fans, but I just can't do it.
    • 3/5
      3.5 really. I don't know what to make of this one. I know it's usually regarded as Austen's most mature novel. Sure, the main character is 28 and there's lots of autumnal references, as well as political symbolism - but I didn't find it all that deep and full-fleshed.

      It's the story of Anne Elliot, a gentleman's daughter who had become engaged to a captain Wentworth 8 years before the novel begins, but broke the engagement due to family pressures. She has never stopped loving him, and now she encounters him again and hopes that he will still have feelings for her.

      Now, as I see it, there's two ways one can take this premise. One, you can explore how these two people have changed. Are they still the people they fell in love with in the first place? Will they still love each other, and if so, will it be for the same reasons? Two, you can use the tension created by this background to write an otherwise standard romance, which is what happens here. The result is a succesion of scenes along the lines of "OMG, he found me a place in the carriage so I won't have to walk home - he LUUUUUUVS me!".

      Of course, this is all superbly written, and the book is by no means an average romance, but it's still a pretty conventional one. Which would be fine, if it wasn't full of hints dropped to remind the reader that this oh-so-mature and more adult and complex than, say, Pride and Prejudice. It probably is, but Pride and Prejudice works much better as a comedy of manners than Persuasion does as a character study.
    • 4/5
      I was actually thinking about going for three Austen books, 'cause I dug Pride & Prejudice so much, but when I got into Persuasion I realized there are an awful lot of familiar elements. The well-mannered guy can't be trusted, the shy, dickish guy can, the heroine's the most perceptive character in the book, her family is near-fatally mortifying...if this is just what Austen does, that's fine, but it means one should maybe not read her books back-to-back.

      Anne Elliott is a great character, though. More complicated than Elizabeth. She, like this book, is a little ambiguous. Even the novel's theme, laid out in the title, is a slippery one; Anne herself seems unable to come to terms with it, concluding - maybe half-heartedly and a little defensively - that one ought to be persuaded by one's elders instead of one's heart, because if they turn out to be wrong one might get a second chance eight years later. It's possible that I read that defensiveness in myself because I want to like Anne more than that; as it stands, that moral is an awfully conservative one, and one that doesn't sit well with me.

      The version my wife had on hand, which she hates so much that this is still the only Austen book she's never read, is the Longman Cultural Edition, which comes, Norton-style, with about a hundred pages of supporting material. Some of that was terrific; I loved reading Austen's letters, chosen (wisely) from when she was Anne's age, not from the period in which she actually wrote the book. Unsurprisingly, they sound just like her books: funny and charming. It's particularly neat to read her account of a ball, and her own very recognizable trepidation and elation at being asked to dance (or not). Some of the contextual reading is also nice, including some well-chosen passages from Byron. The contemporary reviews weren't nearly as interesting as I'd hoped; they focus on her recent and posthumous identification as the author, rather than on the book, which sounds cool but turns out to sorta not be. I hated the introduction - too many big words, not enough thought - and the footnotes were superfluous. I'm not under the impression that Austen requires footnotes. Four stars for the edition.
    • 4/5
      Jane Austen does romance like nobody else. The tension and the anticipation, drawn out for a novel's worth, perfectly balances the convention of her day with the impatience of the modern reader. Jane Austen is the only author of her day that does not try my patience. And she's one of the few who don't mess up a good romance with embarrassment. This, of all Jane Austen's books, is the one I find the most influenced from her life. And it is for that more that the story that I liked the novel. On the pages of the book I found myself more rooting for a scenario where Jane was thrust into society with the man she had wanted to marry but was not of influence enough to be accepted with the tables now turned and her in every position to say yes. I wanted Jane to relive her life as a small part of her did on the pages of her novel.

      Of all the characters in the book Ann was the only likable one and while it would have been better for her if Captain Wentworth had saved her from her selfish family 8 years prior, late is better than never. The interactions full of blushes and meaning had me wanting to shake both of them to swallow their pride and take the first step. It's hard once you've been rejected, had your heart broken, to admit to being vulnerable again, but they were obviously both miserable with just the thought of each other and if they missed connecting with their love this time around, they wouldn't have the meddling of other to blame.

      Which brings me to the statements about society Austen made. Two kind souls perfect for each other are torn about because circumstance is not favorable. To make the statement that money and position are not good judges of character, Austen surrounds Anne with characters one more deplorable than the next: a father spending his family into bankruptcy, a cold emotionally void sister, a selfish competitive sister who whines until things fall in her favor, silly cousins, a gold digger, a power/money hungry man who cares not who he ruins in his climb. And these are the people who are supposed to be good blood and therefore good people. But we all know riches more often than not buy spoiled self-centered shallow personalities, not better ones. I wanted to despise the characters more than Austen allowed because they are presented through the eyes of a loving relative.

      And then we get to the topic of persuasion itself. Modern society cares not for the influence of the elderly nor the advice it imparts, but throughout history and other cultures, the elder reign with too much power. There must be a happy median where one listens to the counsel of those who have lived through it and respects older generations without letting such opinions stand supreme. Nobody makes decisions for one's life better than that person and all well-meaning meddling should be taken and considered, but not let it overpower ones own persuasion. When one makes decisions to please others and not with the best at heart, it is the wrong decision. It's not even just a young/old problem. It's a personality issue too where the shy or insecure let the out-spoken run their lives for them because it's easy to go along than fight sometimes. I say if you get what you want too easily from someone, be careful because it's not given whole-heartedly and your tactics may come back to hurt you in unexpected ways when that person finally breaks. I suppose I related more to Anne than I initially realized.

      There are a few parts that dragged just slightly but overall I once again loved Jane Austen's work. Although I enjoyed this one more for the picture it gave me into Austen's mind and soul than for the story itself, the story is good too.
    • 4/5
      I have a soft spot for Persuasion. I think that it has the more epic and tragic romance, and I’m constantly rooting for Anne and Wentworth to get back together. It’s an interesting study of the class system, since now the heroine is from the upper class and it’s her love interest who’s low-class and struggles with that prejudice. Love this book.
    • 5/5
      This is my favorite Austen, probably because it is her most mature and thoughtful heroine.
    • 5/5
      This is my favorite Austen novel, the one I've read the most times, the one coming to me soon in an annotated version that I cannot wait to read, the one I turn to when bored or discontented or in need of comfort. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth have made many a sleepless night more pleasant.The plot, if not already well known, is certainly not unique. A young woman rejects marriage to a man she truly loves because she faces disapproval at home. Her most trusted guide and friend thinks that such a marriage is too chancy, too likely to lead to pain, sadness, deprivation. Anne accepts this and surrenders the man she loves. He, rejected and angry, goes into the world to disprove all the doubts about him. When they meet again, years later, Anne is still in love but worn down by time, disappointment, and the particular rigors of neglect and casual, subtle abuse by much of her family. He, now a Naval Captain of success and confidence, as well as fortune, comes into her circle again, only he is determined not to notice her and courts the affections of others while she looks on.Of course, the ending is a forgone conclusion, but even knowing that, while I read, I am caught up in Anne's autumnal world where all is slowly fading, where she has nothing but duty and service to others to sustain her hold to life, where poetry is a dangerous drug and those around her, swirling with their own emotions, are oblivious to the storms beneath her calm, patient exterior.Austen wrote this one late, perhaps last. It can be argued to be somewhat unfinished, lacking her revisions and corrections. However, it is a polished work, one written from a place of experience and knowledge. It depends on deeper things than some of the others. While it has humor, it does not lean on it. It does not require sparkling wit to keep it afloat, although it has a share of sparkle. No, like Anne, it has deeper, stronger, sturdier supports. This is a calm, subtle work, quieter, more nuanced, perhaps more difficult. It replaced in my regard the sparkly champagne of Pride & Prejudice, and while it recalled the poetry and strong emotion of Sense & Sensibility did not succumb to excess. Yes, there is some hint of the dour morality of Mansfield Park, but Anne is a woman who, considering the extremely tight confines and few narrow paths available to her, acts in her own interests as much as she can. She never frustrates me, never makes me want to shake her out of shyness or fear. Anne is mature, like this novel. She's someone I enjoy spending time with.A side note -- when I read the first of the Aubrey and Maturin novels by [[Patrick O'Brian]] I could not escape the notion that this was Captain Wentworth's story, or a story much similar to his. The books paired up in my head and seem unwilling to part from each other.(While chasing duplications, I found a review I wrote some time ago on a different edition. I preserve it here.)By far my favorite of Jane Austen's novels, this is the one I think I have read most often (probably 8 or 9 times by now, including one audio book version). It is Jane's most mature work, where her powers of storytelling really show.It is not a brilliantly witty book -- that's reserved for Pride & Prejudice, where Austen used wit and humor and wry observation. It's not a moral harangue like Mansfield Park. It's not a character study like Emma. It lacks the broad, sarcastic humor of Northanger Abbey or the strongly delineated comparisons of emotional raptures and reasonable restraint of Sense & Sensibility. Persuasion does not use a broad brush. It is a story painted in meticulous little strokes.That doesn't mean the humor isn't there -- oh, it's there, as fully sharp and dissecting of the foibles individuals and groups fall prey to as ever. But this time Austen is a little more forgiving, or at least understanding. The story of Anne Elliot also shows with greater subtlety and yet greater power the way characters -- people -- change due to their experience and what they learn from it. She practiced this in her earlier novels, but it is in Persuasion that she really perfects it. Anne Elliot changes before our eyes, smoothly and naturally, without any sudden jarring revelations or dramatic events. Things happen to those around Anne, but they do not directly involve her or require her to do much. Yet these events, peripheral as they are to the protagonist, give us chance after chance to learn about Anne and how she has changed and is still changing.I find pleasure in this book each time I read it. When I'm restless or bored and no other story can hold my interest, just like Anne's father, Mr. Elliot, this is one book where I can find comfort and solace.
    • 3/5
      This was a good read but I didn't like it as we'll as Pride and Prejudice. A nice romance between Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth, their lost love and journey back to each other. Falling in love with reading is made easy when Jane Austen has written the book.
    • 3/5
      It's no Pride and Prejudice, but it's good. I have a hard time connecting emotionally to Ann Elliot. I feel like she is a little less present in the text than, let's say, Elizabeth Bennett. She just lacks personality, and, somehow, Austen never lets us into the work. I don't know how else to explain it. The novel is guarded. And, while we get some social commentary, especially surrounding Charlotte and the Baronet, it is trite and obvious. We are missing the cutting remarks and lovely verbal play that distinguish so many of Austen's other works. The novel just leaves me wanting more.
    • 5/5
      Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last completed novel, takes the reader to a later time, both in the age of her heroine - Anne Elliot, and in the reflection of the British era. The ‘older’ age of Anne at 27 is a gift to herself and those around her, wishing them a chance for a second spring and perhaps a second love. In the book, references to “destroyed her youth and bloom” and “lost her bloom” peppered Anne and other women. As for the British era, there is a recognition of wealth beyond old money, that the rise of the nouveau riche, such as those from the Navy, was upon the barons and the ‘titled’. The old money mocks at the coarseness of the new, and yet the old money (literally) does not last forever either, spending irresponsibly (such as Anne’s father, Sir Walter) and the necessity of putting up a front (such as renting out their estate and not being able to throw a dinner party as the insufficient number of servants would reveal their true situation). While the book explores thematically, the concept of being persuaded and the act of persuading, it was Jane’s brother who chose the title ‘Persuasion’, after Jane’s untimely death at the age of 41 in August 1817. Jane had indeed expressed concerns over the limitations offered to women, and the fact that women are persuaded to make decision as opposed to deciding for themselves. Jane was a pioneer feminist of her times. Bravo! When the novel begin, the sweet, young 19 year old Anne had broken off her engagement from an up-and-coming, ambitious young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth – after being persuaded by her father, sister, and most importantly, her friend and mother-figure, Lady Russell. Eight and a half years later, the now Captain Wentworth (and wealthy) is back in Anne’s circle. The two, through coincidences, misconnections and reconnections, find their way back to each other. For both, their love for each other had been constant – and it is this constancy theme that finally ignited Wentworth to the possibility that Anne’s love for him still existed. I was but only 30 pages into the book that I declared I like Anne. Kind, observant, smart, learned, thoughtful, eloquent, willing to assist, pretty but coy/shy, values friendship, natural born leader, loved by those around her even if neglected and used by her own kin, and perseveres through situations that were unkind to her. (Perhaps because these are traits I value for myself.) Jane created a quiet heroine who accepts her place in the world, but is smart enough to work within these confines and achieves what she desires nonetheless, such as visiting an old school friend who have fallen on hard times even though her father disapproves of Anne going to her undesirable neighborhood, and ultimately choosing her love. Her virtue with her friend was unexpectedly rewarded when this same friend revealed important information about a cousin’s past. Persuasion had initially felt a little monotone to me, as I waited (impatiently) for the inevitable to happen (love reunited). But in retrospect, I pleasured over Jane’s delicious ‘old English’ writings, Anne’s journey to love that is mature and refined, and Anne as a ‘person’. This is a book that either you will love or it’s meh. Some quotes:I love this sentence in a paragraph where Anne concludes that just because her own household is overwhelmed with the renting of Kellynch Hall and moving to Bath, nobody else cares (or gives a rip):“… she believed that she must now submit to feel that another lesson, in the art of knowing our own nothingness beyond our own circle, was become necessary for her…” The practical purpose of marriage – in finding the right woman. Oddly, I find this rather logical:“… Anne could believe, with Lady Russell, that a more equal match might have greatly improved him; and that a woman of real understanding might have given more consequence to his character, and more usefulness, rationality, and elegance to his habits and pursuits. As it was he did nothing with much zeal, but sport; and his time was otherwise trifled away, without benefit from books, or anything else…”Admiration from a passing gentleman – checking out Anne – in old English style:“… Anne’s face caught his eye, and he looked at her with a degree of earnest admiration which she could not be insensible of. She was looking remarkably well; her very regular, very pretty features, having the bloom and freshness of youth restored by the fine wind which had been blowing on her complexion, and by the animation of eye which it had also produced. It was evident that the gentleman (completely a gentleman in manner), admired her exceedingly.”More delightful old English language treats:Polite (=useless) chatting = “…neither of them, probably, much the wiser for what they heard…”Walking in the rain = “… ‘But it rains.’ ‘Oh! Very little. Nothing that I regard.’…”Coming back late = “He came in with eagerness, appeared to see and think only of her, apologized for his stay, was grieved to have kept her waiting…”Anne briefly lamented over not having the same warmth from her family than from others. I’ve always found it a touch sad that one finds more ‘family’ from friends than their own family:“… It was a heartiness, and a warmth, and sincerity which Anne delighted in the more from the sad want of such blessings at home…”The sweet Anne, finding her love at last – this sentence was simply charming:“Anne was tenderness itself, and she had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth’s affection.”Last but not least – the Pièce de résistance:Captain Wentworth presents Anne with this letter, hastily written but flooded with his love. Any woman will swoon with these words, even if it means waiting eight and a half years.~~My love – Can I persuade you to return to me after eight and a half years when your affairs are settled?~~“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone I think and plan. – Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? – I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice, when they would be lost on others. – Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most deviating in… FWI must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look will be enough to decide whether I enter your father’s house this evening.”
    • 4/5
      One of the interesting aspects of going through the list of 1001 books is revisiting authors whose work I read a long time ago and so have just vague impressions of how I felt about them. Jane Austen is one of those. I never went through a Jane Austen phase. Years ago I read Pride and Prejudice, which I remember enjoying, followed by Sense and Sensibility, which I remember not enjoying. But the rest of Austen's oeuvre is unsurprisingly on this list, so I will be reading it. The events of the novel, such as they are, center around Anne Elliott, middle daughter of a baronet who has managed to sink himself in debt but who has too acute a sense of propriety to do much to bail himself out. Anne's older sister, Elizabeth, is just as silly and status-obsessed as their father. Her younger sister, Mary, is married and bored, so she seems to entertain herself by making mountains out of molehills and feeling left out of everything interesting. Anne is the only one with a good head on her shoulders, and she has found a like-minded (and probably sanity-saving) friend in Lady Russell. However, Lady Russell years ago talked Anne out of marrying a sailor named Wentworth, convinced that his prospects weren't good and he couldn't possibly appreciate the gem that was Anne. The story takes place about 8 years after Anne's refusal of that proposal. She's 27, and "her bloom had vanished early," so she's heading for spinsterdom. Shortly after the story begins, now-Captain Wentworth returns from sea, throwing Anne's emotions into overdrive. As with all books from and about this time period, much of the action is internal, since polite standards didn't allow people to say what they were thinking. Everyone is trying to figure out what other people's true intentions are based on looks and overheard conversations. In addition to Anne and Captain Wentworth, there's a sub-plot about Anne's cousin Mr. Elliott that really doesn't go anywhere, much to my disappointment. I enjoyed some aspects of the book, but according to what I've read, it was written near the end of Austen's life when she was ill, and was not subjected to what was apparently her rather thorough editing process. I suspect those facts probably account for most of what left me feeling unsatisfied with the story. Recommended for: fans of costume dramas, people who enjoy guessing other people's motivations rather than talking to them, sailors, people who kind of hate rich people, and fans of unintentionally hilarious-sounding accidents.Quote:"We certainly do not forget you as soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps, our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us. You are forced on exertion. You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impressions."
    • 4/5
      This book makes me feel like Ms. Austen was not happy with Pride and Prejudice and simply wanted to redo it. Either that, or she saw what made it great and just reused a lot of the same ideas. The plot of both stories:You have a well-to-do family that has only daughters. Because there are only daughters, the estate is going to go to an estranged cousin. There's talk of marriage between the cousin and the second oldest daughter, but it doesn't happen. Meanwhile, the third oldest daughter is the first to get married and gets a big head about it. The second oldest daughter has a pseudo-relationship with an emotionally distant man whose true feelings and motivations cannot be divined. Aside from the obvious recycling of old ideas, I didn't find the dialogue as interesting or the settings as vividly described as in P&P. I was very disappointed with this (from an Austen-standpoint. Compared to any other romance writer, overall it was still good).
    • 4/5
      I knew the story by heart, but I enjoyed it still. Anne Elliot is a quiet heroine, good hearted and influenceable, until she realises that she has to fight for what she wants, even if some close people disapprove of her choices.In my opinion, the story comes to a climax in the last pages, when Anne reads Captain Wentworth's letter. That is one of the most romantic declarations I have ever seen.A good reading, light, short and touching.A word for the BBC Adaptation, which is really faithful and has great images of Bath.Perfect for Austen fans.
    • 5/5
      I suppose its because it was my A-level English text almost 20 years ago, but Persuasion still remains my favourite Austen novel. It is Austen at her extremely respectuful, almost apologetic, yet satirical best. Indeed, rather than point her acerbic wit in the direction of the characters, Austen allows them to speak for themselves and thus expose themselves. In short, Persuasion is a brilliant novel and even with its condundrum over which one is its preferred ending, it succeeds in capturing the essence and contradictions of the Regency Period.
    • 4/5
      At the head of the Elliot family is the baronet Sir Walter, a widower and a vain man who lives beyond his means and makes up his mind about people solely based on their appearance and station in life. His eldest and his youngest daughters take after him, to great comical effect, but Anne Elliot, his middle daughter, is quite different. She's a great reader of poetry and has never forgotten her first romantic attachment to Captain Frederick Wentworth, a romance which took place eight years before the story begins. But like all well bred young ladies of her day, she let herself be persuaded by a close friend of the family, Lady Russell, to break off the engagement because of Wentworth's apparent lack of fortune and prospects. But Wentworth is back, now having acquired great wealth and looking for a wife, and anyone will do, as long as she is fond of the navy. Anyone that is, but Anne. This, the last novel Austen wrote as she was dying, is a story imbued with a sense of loss, missed opportunities and regret, but of course in the end, love must conquer all and hope wins the day. I can't say now how much or how little I would have enjoyed this novel if I hadn't read it with the help of Liz, my devoted tutor, who patiently explained to me all the subtleties of the story and various conventions of the time which helped me to appreciate it as only dedicated Jane Austen fan could. Thoroughly enjoyable. The audio version by the ever-perfect Juliet Stevenson was quite a treat too.
    • 3/5
      The problem with Persuasion is that for a novel named Persuasion, it is not, at its heart, too concerned with persuasion. (Yeah, I know, Austen died before she could officially name the novel. Whatever. The word appears about five hundred times, and the title was always going to be Persuasion.) Here's the backstory: Anne Elliot is a bookish, milquetoasty middle child who screwed up her chance to get with hunky Freddy Wentworth, an up-and-coming sailor, eight years ago because of the interference of harridan Lady Russell, who told Anne that Wentworth was and would always be a loser. Now Anne has the pick of three hunky suitors: the aforementioned Wentworth, who against expectations has succeeded, now a captain with a chunk of change and a jones for his old sweetheart; William Elliot, a cousin who can make her the lady of her family house, which due to her father's financial profligacy is now being rented out; and Captain Benwick, a poor geek after Anne's own heart. What should happen now to best suit the implied themes of the novel? Anne ought to make her choice between these suitors without the help of outside agents, taking the decision into her own hands; whereas she was persuaded against her better judgment to ditch her beau, now she ought to choose freely, disregarding all meddling. Instead, here's what happens: Captain Benwick is taken off the market by some ditzy chick completely unsuited to him, an unlikely and abrupt match for which Austen makes a point of apologizing. Then Anne's old spinster friend (no, not Lady Russell, another old spinster friend) shit-talks William Elliot, persuading Anne to quit bothering with him. The only bachelor left is Captain Wentworth, who conveniently had the highest aggregate hunkiness/richness score all along. So what's wrong with that? Well, that Anne had every important choice made for her. Eight years ago, Anne let herself be directed by the actions and wishes of others in rejecting Wentworth, and she hardly shows more agency in the present day. After Benwick's spoken for, she must needs only between Elliot and Wentworth, a decision made too easy by Mrs. Smith's revelations about Elliot's subprime personality. In order to show personal growth, Anne needed to make a tough choice. She needed to choose Benwick. Now, although Benwick is the best suited to Anne's personality, he's the least hunky/rich (in Austen these two words are synonymous). Austen couldn't have her heroine choosing a life of relative privation, though; she needs her protagonist well set up by book's end. So she takes Benwick out of the rotation before things come to a head. The book's message ends up being: choose the rich guy you like the most. Though I disliked the way Persuasion turned out, it got there really nicely. I loved the note-writing between Wentworth and Anne, maybe because I related to it personally, having been a prolific note-writer in high school. And things ended decently, though not so satisfyingly as I think would have been if it had ended my way. Well, these are the complaints that make writers write; maybe I can sublimate my dissatisfaction with Austen's ending into some work of my own.
    • 2/5
      I found this book painfully slow, nothing really happened the whole way to the end and then the inevitable happened.
    • 5/5
      My sister gave me the 1998 Penguin Classics edition of Persuasion because my old copy threatened to fall apart if ever opened again. I'm very pleased with her choice because of all the chapter notes that explain what some of the words meant at the time Miss Austen wrote this novel, as well as what some terms no longer used mean. I love that kind of information! It made me appreciate the story as never before.
    • 2/5
      I just started reading Austen a year ago, but I have read what I liked so far, but I just could not get into Persuasion. It did not keep my interest and, therefore, I had difficulty following the story. Not a terrible book, but definitely my least favorite of her works.
    • 5/5
      This was my second time reading "Persuasion" and I think I loved it more this time than the last. I will confess that certain happy comparisons between my life and this book make me fonder of it, it is a tender love story. I realize it's not considered among Austen's more intricate works, as it was written during her final illness, but it is still a good tale of Austen style. Not much need be said of it, I think, but to say that classics are classics for a reason.
    • 5/5
      Just wonderful! Witty, clever, and really suspenseful If I didn't know that Miss Austen's books always turn out well, I might have wondered.