BOOKS

persuasion

Curator Reviews

Nigella Lawson

Sparer, more savage and so much more poignant than “Pride and Prejudice,” (a great book, too, and I don’t mean to disparage it at all,) “Persuasion” is a novel that tells us, as only Jane Austen can, about the vanities and follies of being human with such memorably dry wit.

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Lore Segal

Most of my recent essays include a reference to Jane Austen and to my mum. I read and reread "Persuasion" for its painful rendering of love that continues in the absence of an object, and for the delicacy of its heroine’s goodness. Anne, in the sadness of what she believes to be her ruined life, can be concerned to prevent a country walk from being spoiled by her sister Mary-- a marvelous depiction of obnoxiousness. And the happy ending is delicious.

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Brandon Taylor

I love Persuasion because it is a novel about people who change their minds, and there’s nothing more human than someone changing their mind and realizing the consequences of their choices. It’s a novel about grown up people making grown up decisions, but also it’s a novel about grown ups being childish and petty and silly. It’s her best novel, I think.

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