Book Review: "Persuasion"

Hello!

I have finally finished reading “Persuasion” by Jane Austen. I actually finished it about a week or two ago but I just wasn’t able to sit down and keep writing about it. So, I started reading the book early last year but I only finished reading it this year because I kept pushing it off last year to do other things.

Anyways…

“Persuasion” is my first finished book this year. I’m finally taking a step towards achieving one of my little goals this year which is to finish at least four books this year - one for every quarter of the year.

I know that not everyone will enjoy reading this book because it uses 18th century English. Some people may find it a bit difficult to read especially when you’re not very fond of reading. But bear with me… this book is not as difficult to read compared to Shakespeare’s writings. Trust me. One of the things that I have noticed with how Jane Austen writes is that she doesn’t really follow a rigid structure. I think she writes in narratives that flows and uses emotions which I think is a lot similar to novels we read today. So I think that once you get over the fact that it’s in old English, you can love it.

So what I got from the story was that it was mostly about a second chance at love. 

To give you a short summary of the story…

Anne Elliot was engaged to Frederick Wentworth when she was in her late teens. However, she was persuaded by Lady Russell, their family friend who was also a mother figure to her, to call off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth because Anne’s father, older sister, and Lady Russell thought that Wentworth was not a good match for Anne. Anne’s family was wealthy and well-known. I think they were a noble family because Anne’s father was a baronet. Anyways, after their engagement was broken off, Wentworth left and became a well-known naval officer. After a couple of years, due to certain circumstances, Anne and Wentworth met again. Anne is still in love with Wentworth however, Wentworth was still mad at Anne for breaking off their engagement. But after a couple of twists and turns, they learn that they are still very much in love with one another and they confess their feelings for one another. And they lived happily ever after.

To be honest, I initially thought that the book wasn’t as fascinating. I even thought about not continuing to read it and just giving it away. I felt like I was just reading it for the sake of reading. However, around December, when I got really inspired to read again, I decided to give it another chance and actually sit down to read more. Now, I’m really thankful that I didn’t give up on this book because I think this story was a bit different from other romance novels that I’ve read before. This was a love that endured opposition and years of separation. To me, their love was so beautiful because even if they could have ended up with another person, it seemed like they were really meant for each other because the love they had when they were initially engaged was still the same, probably even grew deeper and more mature.

Anyways, that’s all for now. Have you read this book? And what did you think about it?

Bye!