Surprisingly, I don’t have much to say about Persuasion. I liked it, but it didn’t bring out any deep feelings of any kind. It’s about Anne Elliot and her love for Captain Frederick Wentworth; they were engaged, but the engagement was broken on the advice of Anne’s mentor, Lady Russell. Some eight years later, Captain Wentworth returns and Anne finds that her feelings really haven’t changed much … and so it goes.
I was still somewhat entertained by Austen’s satire of the gentry, particularly Anne’s horrendous family. Her father and sisters are incredibly vain, and as such are obvious caricatures. I think what’s lacking here is the banter between the hero and heroine. I recall few affectionate exchanges between them, and those that were didn’t have the same sort of wit found in P&P, though it is elsewhere in the novel.
I did, however, really enjoy the look into Anne’s head. She is a wonderful character, with so many feelings, and very good-hearted. She was excellent. When the characters professed their feelings, I really enjoyed it, but for the most part I just found this a pleasant book to read, not brilliant.
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