Rating: 5 starsCover synopsis: 27-year-old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he and Anne's paths cross again.
This is one of my favorite Jane Austen novels. It's about forgiveness, second chances and the power of persuasion. It's a very simple plot, yet it's a complex personal and emotional journey. Anne loses the love of her life, only for him to come back and rub it in her face. Yet Austen doesn't make the reader hate Wentworth. Rather, we feel equally sorry for him as we do for Anne.
