Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen novel. Which makes it my favorite novel, since I could take Austen's complete works with me to a desert island and never count myself bored.
I have identified with various Austen heroines in various ways over the years, but only in pieces. Recently, I have been re-reading Persuasion and realized that despite differences in temperament, Ann Eliot and I have the most in common.
While the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth miniseries of Pride and Prejudice is probably the best and most faithful adaptation of Austen's novels for my money, if you want something of a normal film length, the movie of Persuasion starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds is a beautiful adaptation.
Ann and I both found our love early, but had to let him go until a later date. We differ in that Ann yielded to the titular persuasion of family and friends: her loved ones did not approve of the match. In my case, I knew that it was the wrong time: John and I were in different places in our lives, and trying to make the pieces fit would probably have resulted in a broken puzzle.
As it is, both Ann and I had our happily ever after – but not in the grand Disney fashion. More in the quiet, real-life kind of manner.
oh, I so love Persuasion, and for the most part I thought the film was quite faithful to the spirit of the movie.
I hope you and John did not have to wait as long as seven years! I don’t think Ann and Wentworth would have gone the Disney route either – after the war was over, they would have settled into a peaceful country house near the Musgroves :)
We had to wait damn near as long, Sophie – six and a half years, in fact.
I devoutly hope that Ann and Admiral (he must have gained promotion, don’t you think?) Wentworth settled far from the Musgroves. Especially if he also gathered up a title somewhere along the way. Mary having to give way to Ann socially? The schadenfreude would be fun for about a millisecond, and then Mary’s sniping and bitching would become unbearable…