Persuasion

I must confess that I am a complete girl in that I'm pretty addicted to romance. Let me clarify, though. I'm addicted to REAL romance - not the trashy dime-store paperback novel crappy-excuse-for-romance stuff. I'm talking the real deal.

So, naturally, I fell in love with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice when I first had to read it for school. It soon followed that I read Emma out of the pure bliss of finding an author who was a good writer AND a romantic at heart. I had every intention of reading all of her other fine works, but was sadly side-tracked by real life.

Thankfully, I can sometimes find short moments during my days to read a little when both girls are sleeping. A few months ago, having not ever lost my love of good literature and well-thought-out love stories, I went back to my favorite author to get my fix on my greatest addiction, and I wanted to share because I'm convinced that I'm not the only romance addict out there. ;)

I read Sense and Sensibility first, and of course, loved it. But I enjoyed that book purely for the ending. Austen is a master at creating great characters and allowing them to change dynamically throughout their stories. Just watching her characters grow and develop is very fulfilling, but the best part of this book was the happy ending and the realization of just how much her two main characters had changed (for the better).

However, her novel, Persuasion, is a different matter entirely. I found myself absolutely captivated by every chapter, every twist in the plot, every character, every subtle joke and beautiful setting. There were points in the story where our lovely author had caught me up so much that I found myself worried for the fate of the protagonist and actually smiling at the outcomes of certain events. I even laughed aloud at one point. I don't want to give the plot away because it's SO good, I want everyone to go out and read it now, but I just have to say that it is one of Austen's more satisfying tales of life and love.

One thing that has always been a little frustrating to me about her writing style is that she is SO good at writing dialogue, and she is SO good at writing passionate confessions of love from her male characters that I expect her to do the same for her female characters, but she never does. At the end of every novel, when the male love interest finally confesses his undying affection, the words are beautiful and eloquent. But afterward, when the female character is supposed to respond in like kind, Austen just tells us that she does, but gives us no dialogue to read. Now, there's been a lot of speculation by scholars as to why this is. I agree with those who say that it's probably because she wants to leave it to the imagination of the readers. BUT it still drives me crazy when she alludes to passionate words and then doesn't give us the satisfaction of actually reading them.

All that to say, however, I can honestly admit that in this novel, she has given me almost enough to make me forgive this one issue. Her main male character, in the height of passion, reveals his love in some of the most romantic words I've read in a long time, and in response, we actually get to see and hear a few from the main female character. It's not a lot, but it was enough for me to be absolutely elated! My heart soared with the two love-birds as they were finally given their happy ending (and don't tell me that I just revealed a spoiler because everyone knows that Jane Austen ONLY ever wrote happy endings), and I haven't been this satisfied by a love story in a while.

Ahh, I can't even explain the satisfaction I feel from finishing a great book, especially one so well-written and well-executed. Jane Austen has, again, captured my heart!

Go read it. You won't be disappointed!

Blessings!

Jen

P.S. I'll be posting about Elizabeth's 3rd birthday soon!