A pretty, poignant read with many memorable Austen characters.
Plot
Eight years have passed since the engagement between Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth was broken off by the urging of Anne's friend Lady Russell. Now, through various circumstances, they are thrown back together and Anne must overcome her pain to do what she knows is right.
Morality
Anne is a sensible and loving creature who always tries to do her best for her family and friends. Her father and older sister are both very vain and unloving and her other sister is fretful and always thinks that everyone hates her. Some characters express or are said to have expressed cruelty or other bad traits.
Spiritual Content
There are a couple mentions of one character going into the clergy.
Violence
Someone falls off a stone step and injures their head.
Drug and Alcohol Content
Wine is consumed, but there are no instances of drunkenness.
Sexual Content
One character pursues Anne, but turns out to be an unworthy fellow. Wentworth attempts to attach himself to another young woman, which nearly results in a great number of broken hearts.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
Mr. Elliot, Anne's father, is a very vain and pompous man who likes to look at himself and find fault in others' appearances.
Conclusion
"Persuasion," though a bit slower and not as funny as either Emma or Pride and Prejudice, is a favorite among Austen fans because of its sweet conclusion and lovely heroine. Some consider it to be slightly autobiographical, or a "wishful" autobiography, as though this was how Austen wanted her own life to turn out. She herself was engaged for one day, but her family disapproved of the match and she was persuaded to break it off.
Clean and sweet, this is a good read for most ages, though younger readers may not be able to appreciate it fully. Austen illustrated here how a sense of duty is not unhealthy and how it is not always a bad thing to be persuaded.
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