Persuasion

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Peter Newcombe Joyce

The illness which curtailed Jane Austen's relatively short life may have imparted a mellow quality to her writing, for certainly this is a gentler and more reflective observation of love's vagaries and follies than her earlier work.

It has been suggested that she modelled her heroine on her own character, which may also be why she is more forgiving. Phlegmatic Anne is the unappreciated strength within her family - a vain, pompous father, a self-regarding and self-deluding older sister and a dissatisfied and selfish younger one.

At the age of 19, Anne is persuaded out of an engagement to Frederick Wentworth, an ambitious, highly principled and determined naval gentleman who departs in angry indignation. Eight years later, by coincidental circumstances, he is brought into her social circle once more, having obtained wealth and reputation.

Despite competition from two younger ladies and the interference of a would-be suitor of her own, can she persuade Wentworth of her constancy, allow her heart to rule her head and become the mistress of her own destiny?

Public Domain (P)2012 Assembled Stories

Critic reviews

"Narration by a male voice as good as Peter Joyce's somehow rescues Persuasion from the 'women's writing' label which can stifle Jane Austens work, giving a fresh rigour and seriousness to a story that may seem slight. Eight years previously Anne Elliott had been persuaded out of an engagement to Frederick Wentworth by her unpleasant self-important parent. Will he dare to press his suit again?" (The Oldie)