Persuasion

Reviews

“Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen’s novel, did something we can all relate to…she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn’t an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she’s still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen’s storytelling is so confident, you can’t help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey.”

“Though dominated by the intelligent, sweet voice of Anne Elliot, the least favored but most worthy of three daughters in a family with an old name but declining fortunes…She reads Anne’s haughty father’s lines with a mixture of stuffiness and bluster, and Anne’s sisters are portrayed with a hilariously flighty, breathy register that makes Austen’s contempt for them palpable. Anne’s voice is mostly measured and reasonable—an expression of her strong mind and spirit—but Stevenson imbues her speech with wonderful shades of passion as Anne is reacquainted with Capt. Wentworth, whom she has continued to love despite being forced, years before, to reject him over status issues…a sudden encounter with Wentworth, one hardly needs Austen’s description of how Anne grows faint, [this] perfectly judged and deeply felt reading has already shown that she must have. Even those who have read Austen’s novels will find themselves loving this book all over again.”