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If you’re new to this Substack, one of the things I’m offering subscribers in 2023 is A Year with Jane. We’re reading through Austen’s six novels this year and ending the year with a bang: Persuasion is our read for November/December.

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If you’re looking for a level-headed take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion, you’ve come to the wrong place. This is perhaps my favorite of Austen’s novels and I think it’s practically perfect in every way. Prepare for gushing, delight, and praise for there is nothing to criticize.

From the very first page of Persuasion, we are confronted with Austen’s genius. In just a few paragraphs, we know so much about the characters. Austen introduces us to Sir Walter Elliot and in turn to the whole Elliot clan because Sir Walter is reading his favorite book: the Baronetage—a record of the most important British families including his own. His pompous vanity is almost funny—but instead it makes you wince. We do not laugh at him like we laugh at Mrs. Bennet. We cringe.

Just as in Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Emma, there are no sons, only daughters. The youngest Elliot sister has been respectably married to Charles Musgrove who will inherit a nearby estate. The oldest, Elizabeth, is vain like her father—and because she is the most like him, most beloved by him. And the middle daughter? “…she was only Anne,” Austen tells us.

Anne is a stone’s throw from spinsterhood. She has deep regrets over an engagement she was persuaded to break off because her family and her mentor, Lady Russell, deemed the young man, Frederick Wentworth, ineligible. Neither of high rank or great fortune, his prospects as a young sailor were uncertain. Although very much in love, Anne let Lady Russell guide her decision and the young woman has regretted it ever since. She can only follow Wentworth’s career in the newspapers to discover whether he is still alive and safe during the Napoleonic wars. Not only did he survive, he has grown rich and successful (as he promised her he would) and is now a captain. Had she taken the gamble, it would have been well-rewarded.

While Anne’s decision to break off the engagement has lead only to her misery, she is not a foolish person who habitually makes bad decisions. In fact, Anne is nearly perfect. So perfect, in fact, that it’s hard to determine how Austen makes her “work.” Can a reader love a woman so wholly good? Two centuries of devotees will answer with a resounding yes. We fall in love with Anne and relate to her throughout the novel despite her overwhelming goodness.

C.S. Lewis points out (in a wonderful essay on Austen) that Anne is a successful heroine in a way that poor Fanny Price is not. It can be hard to love Fanny even if we know we should. Anne, on other other hand, is all of us. (And by that I don’t mean women who have experienced disappointments. I mean everyone.) Everyone has experienced being overlooked, forgotten, passed over, dismissed, unappreciated at some point. We know just how she feels. But it’s the kind of person she strives to be when she has every excuse to be bitter that inspires us and wins our love.

Gather your books and read Chapters 1-5 of Persuasion. There are many editions out there, so just grab what’s on your shelf or at the local library. And if you enjoy audiobooks, this is an excellent novel to enjoy with a great narrator. My favorite for this novel is Juliet Stevenson’s audiobook version. Grab Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life from Ave Maria Press (use STEWART20 for 20% off) or from Amazon.

If you didn’t start reading with us in January, you may want to catch up by reading the Introduction and Chapters 1-6 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life to set the stage.

We’ll discuss Chapters 1-5.

Read Chapters 6-10 of Persuasion

We’ll discuss Chapters 6-10.

Read Chapters 11-15 of Persuasion

We’ll discuss Chapters 11-15.

Read Chapters 16-20 of Persuasion

We’ll discuss Chapters 16-20.

Read Chapters 21-24 of Persuasion

We’ll discuss Chapters 21-24.

Read Chapter 7 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life

On the reading schedule I have suggested reading the chapter about Persuasion after finishing the novel. This is because as a reader I hate spoilers. But if you’ve already read the novel or are familiar with the story and want a resource to help you dive deeper as you re-read it, feel free to read Chapter 7 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life first.

I’ll be sending out weekly reflections and discussion questions to consider as you read. If you want to read faster or slower, go for it. This is fun, not homework.

If you know someone who would enjoy reading Austen with us for our Year of Jane, please share this post with him/her!

All Jane Austen book club emails and 2023 emails will continue to be available with a free subscription. But this is a reader supported effort. Consider supporting this literary Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription.

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And if you know someone who would love this virtual book club, please share with them:

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Looking forward to discussing Persuasion with you!

Haley

(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)

Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns

Haley’s Book on Jane Austen’s Novels

Haley’s Book about Radical Simplicity

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