Book Review: Persuasion by Jane Austen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Own. (of course) Re-read. (of course)
Persuasion starts slow and culminates in page-turner style. Clearly, Jane Austen wrote this as a mature authoress. The style, plot, and characters are distinctively Jane Austen but Jane Austen with experience. There is more depth, more richness, more thematic weight to this story than most of the others.
During this read, I note how Austen emphasizes time very cleverly to parallel Anne’s life; Autumn, fading is weaved with Anne Elliot’s fading appeal; a November trip is during a surprising warm spell and she is refreshed in some ways; the darkness of winter in Bath; and Spring renewal … ah glorious!
Captain Wentworth is a worthy hero; finally recognizing his own faults and Anne’s virtues. Anne, imperfect though she is, is a worthy heroine. She recognizes the evil of the situations, but also the rightness of her choices.