Book 677: Persuasion – Jane Austen

Apparently I revisit Jane Austen’s Persuasion (May 2015 response) every 5-6 years. Last time I read it was when some friends and I did a Jane Austen Book Club back in 2015.

I decided to re-read it again while on vacation after reading the Austen Addicts trilogy (A Weekend with Mr. Darcy, Dreaming of Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy Forever) by Virginia Connelly, who by all measures appears to be slightly obsessed with it—or at least co-obsessed with it and Pride and Prejudice. The further I read in Connelly’s trilogy the more I wanted to go back and read the originals again. I guess that’s a sign of a good referential nod right?

Although I thoroughly enjoyed my re-read this time, it wasn’t quite as squeal-inducing as the last one. I’m not sure if it’s the five years between reads and my life moving forward or if it’s the having read a lot more about Austen and her writing/life or what, but I wanted more in reading it this time.

Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth’s story is still 100% swoon-worthy, but the rest of the novel seemed a bit underwhelming on this read, almost like a shadow of the book I know this could be. Austen’s ability to create tension (sexual and otherwise) was never in doubt during this re-read, and I definitely read the scene between Anne and Wentworth, when everything was cleared up a couple of times because it’s so well written.

I read Margaret Drabble’s introduction a little closer this time than I have in the past and she really highlighted that although this story is up to Austen’s caliber in the four books released during her lifetime (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Emma), the work itself hasn’t quite reached those heights since she wasn’t able to go back and refine it as she did with the other works.

All of the characters, from the Musgroves and the other Elliotts to the Crofts and Mrs. Smith are just a little underwhelming and most aren’t quite written as well as they could be. There’s definitely the glimmer of full Austenisms like when the Musgroves are referring to their deceased son/brother and Admiral Croft describes the painting of a ship, but the stories around them just fell flat for me this time. Like, Mrs. Smith’s interests in the West Indies and the convoluted story with Mr. William Elliott; we know Austen had a lot of knowledge (see Mansfield Park) and strong opinions (see everything she ever wrote), but this just felt like it wasn’t as scathing/clear/well written as it could’ve been if she’d had the opportunity to go back.

This makes me sound like I didn’t enjoy the book, I thoroughly did, but I think on a much less surface level than I had previously. This read I was able to appreciate what Austen did really well while simultaneously looking critically at the shortcomings that resulted in this book being posthumously without her being able to revisit it.

Recommendation: I do wish Austen would’ve had time to refine this one (and Northanger Abbey) because they would’ve risen to new heights, but she never got the chance. That being said, Austen is ALWAYS worth a read and the occasional re-read.

Opening Line: “Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, neer took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs, changed naturally into pity and contempt.”

Closing Line: “She gloried in being a sailor’s wife, but she must pay the tax of quick alarm for belonging to that profession which is, if possible, more distinguished in its domestic virtues than in its national importance.” (Whited out, highlight to read.)