I am a sucker for anything and everything Jane Austen. I’m a sucker for anything even remotely Jane Austen related. Persuasion is my all time favorite book. I own like four copies, and I look forward to any opportunity to revisit all of my favorite characters. So, I really couldn’t help myself when I came across A Modern Day Persuasion. I just had to get it. The book is 256 pages, but I read it in probably 3 hours. I enjoyed it because I already love Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth. I’m a sucker for seeing them get a happy ending. It probably would not get a favorable review from me though if I didn’t already know and love the characters.
When Anne Elliot was 17, her 20-year-old boyfriend, Rick Wentworth, gave her an ultimatum. It was either marry him or go to college. Anne did the smart, sensible and responsible thing and went to college. I approve of this decision. In this version of Jane Austen’s classic tale, Frederick Wentworth was not already in the navy. He was instead perfectly content with his job as a lifeguard at the local country club. He had no goals, no ambition. I don’t blame her for turning him down. I would have. Rick takes off for parts unknown, and Anne goes off to college and starts designing greeting cards.
Eight years later, Anne is 25 and home alone when her father is served papers saying that their home is going into foreclosure. This does not make a ton of sense since the reader is supposedly supposed to believe that the house is sort of an ancestral home. I have a hard time believing that it was still mortgaged multiple generations later. This could have been solved by Anne being surprised and not knowing that her father had mortgaged the house, but whatever. After her father and older sister return it is decided that they will sell the house and move to Martha’s Vineyard while Anne goes to stay with her younger sister Mary.
The novel pretty much follows Jane Austen’s classic here. I think some of the shining moments were with Anne’s two nephews, Charlie and Nicholas. Their ages were never specified, but they loved Star Wars, which was adorable for me. At one point Anne has them pretending that they are Obi Wan and Anakin. It was too cute. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.
All in all, I enjoyed it. I feel like the writer did a lot of editorializing sometimes. There were a lot of moments where it got really introspective and slowed the story down. It wasn’t the best written book I’ve ever read, but I did enjoy it. It definitely improved as the novel went on and the end was as satisfying as ever. I’ll give it 3.5 out of 7 stars. Persuasion fans will love it, but if you’re not already a big fan, I wouldn’t bother.