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Captain Wentworth's Persuasion: Jane Austen's Classic Retold Through His Eyes by Regina Jeffers
lifeand100books's review against another edition
5.0
There are few readers of Jane Austen’s Persuasion who have finished the novel and not been more than a little in love with the dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth. His famous “you pierce my soul” letter to heroine Anne Elliot is one of the most moving love letters in literary history. Happily, author Regina Jeffers has given his fans another opportunity to relive the story in Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion. Entirely retold through his eyes via flashbacks and expanded sequences in the present, we are offered the same classic love story, but from an entirely new perspective.
Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot were engaged once upon a time. Anne was persuaded not to marry him due to his low standing in society and his lack of fortune. Being the daughter of a baronet she was expected to marry someone of good fortune and high social standing. Eight years later their paths cross again, but with reversed financial circumstances. He is now a wealthy Captain returned from the war, and the Elliot family is so far in debt they must retrench and rent out their family estate of Kellynch Hall to Frederick’s sister Sophy and her husband Admiral Croft. When Frederick and Anne are reunited, they must discover if they still love each other, or if they are lost to each other forever.
“I created a quagmire. When I first went to Uppercross, I purposely entertained the attention of Miss Musgrove. I needed Anne to see how others wanted me, even though she did not. I played games for which I now must pay. Lately, I decided I still wanted Anne, but I knew I had to distance myself from Louisa Musgrove, before I could plead my case with Miss Anne.”
With Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, the entire story is infused with new life due to the strong characterizations that Ms. Jeffers writes. In the original Persuasion you know that Frederick stayed with his brother for a period of time that is not discussed in the novel. In Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion Jeffers creates the whole time period of their stay, essentially writing the character of Frederick’s brother Edward. She created a rich relationship that unlocked another portion of Frederick which was previously undiscovered.
My biggest disappointment in the novel was what Ms. Jeffers did to the character of Louisa Musgrove. She made her out to be a grudging, jealous, and immature character that just did not seem to fit with the character Austen originally created. Austen had Louisa become engaged to Captain Benwick due to a change in her personality from her fall at the Cobb at Lyme. In Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion I saw no change from the frivolous girl she was prior to her serious injury and recovery.
I absolutely loved this novel. Most Jane Austen inspired retellings that I’ve read just give the same story that Austen wrote without much of the author’s own creativity. Ms. Jeffers takes Austen’s story and gives it back to the reader in a new way, taking the events we know to have happened, but expanding on them. She takes what happens after the wedding and tells their past, present and future all at the same time. It made the book fly by. I was done with it before I even realized it.
Previously published in 2009 as Wayward Love: Captain Wentworth’s Story, I highly recommend this book to any Persuasion fan. I can safely say that you will not be disappointed with it. The scenes and events that Ms. Jeffers creates for the unwritten scenes in Persuasion really do shed new light on the characters that we know and love.
You can read my review here: http://austenprose.com/2010/11/21/captain-wentworths-persuasion-jane-austens-classic-retold-through-his-eyes-by-regina-jeffers-%e2%80%93-a-review/
Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot were engaged once upon a time. Anne was persuaded not to marry him due to his low standing in society and his lack of fortune. Being the daughter of a baronet she was expected to marry someone of good fortune and high social standing. Eight years later their paths cross again, but with reversed financial circumstances. He is now a wealthy Captain returned from the war, and the Elliot family is so far in debt they must retrench and rent out their family estate of Kellynch Hall to Frederick’s sister Sophy and her husband Admiral Croft. When Frederick and Anne are reunited, they must discover if they still love each other, or if they are lost to each other forever.
“I created a quagmire. When I first went to Uppercross, I purposely entertained the attention of Miss Musgrove. I needed Anne to see how others wanted me, even though she did not. I played games for which I now must pay. Lately, I decided I still wanted Anne, but I knew I had to distance myself from Louisa Musgrove, before I could plead my case with Miss Anne.”
With Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, the entire story is infused with new life due to the strong characterizations that Ms. Jeffers writes. In the original Persuasion you know that Frederick stayed with his brother for a period of time that is not discussed in the novel. In Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion Jeffers creates the whole time period of their stay, essentially writing the character of Frederick’s brother Edward. She created a rich relationship that unlocked another portion of Frederick which was previously undiscovered.
My biggest disappointment in the novel was what Ms. Jeffers did to the character of Louisa Musgrove. She made her out to be a grudging, jealous, and immature character that just did not seem to fit with the character Austen originally created. Austen had Louisa become engaged to Captain Benwick due to a change in her personality from her fall at the Cobb at Lyme. In Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion I saw no change from the frivolous girl she was prior to her serious injury and recovery.
I absolutely loved this novel. Most Jane Austen inspired retellings that I’ve read just give the same story that Austen wrote without much of the author’s own creativity. Ms. Jeffers takes Austen’s story and gives it back to the reader in a new way, taking the events we know to have happened, but expanding on them. She takes what happens after the wedding and tells their past, present and future all at the same time. It made the book fly by. I was done with it before I even realized it.
Previously published in 2009 as Wayward Love: Captain Wentworth’s Story, I highly recommend this book to any Persuasion fan. I can safely say that you will not be disappointed with it. The scenes and events that Ms. Jeffers creates for the unwritten scenes in Persuasion really do shed new light on the characters that we know and love.
You can read my review here: http://austenprose.com/2010/11/21/captain-wentworths-persuasion-jane-austens-classic-retold-through-his-eyes-by-regina-jeffers-%e2%80%93-a-review/
albionscastle's review against another edition
3.0
Persuasion is my favorite novel by Jane Austen and I was excited by the prospect of events through Frederick's eyes. The same premise worked amazingly well in Darcy's Story by Janet Almeyer. I thought this was a good effort but it read a little too much like fan fiction to me. I think perhaps if the author had concentrated on the events in Persuasion and left the rest for a sequel then things might have run a bit more smoothly. It seemed like there was too much information and nothing was really fleshed out. I am a fan of Regina Jeffers and have really enjoyed her other works. This one I think perhaps wasn't fully thought through and tried to portray too much information at once and fell a little short. I enjoyed reading it, but not as much as I had hoped.
atheriaque's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting retelling of a classic. This book was neat to read, but then it kept going, and going... and going... and still going. Jeeeeesh by the end I was just skimming (since it was easy enough to tell exactly what was coming) because I just wanted to be done reading it. I chose 3 stars, but because it is so darn long, I think I would have done 2.5 if possible.
curiosityp's review against another edition
4.0
The only reason it's not a 5-star rating is because it ends with babies. Why must today's romance novels end with babies?!
mezzythedragon's review against another edition
3.0
If the author ended the book at the same moment as Persuasion, I would have liked it more. Toward the end, I couldn't even recognize the characters and the story anymore, and so I agree with some of the comments here.
_durchgelesen's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the change of perspective, but generally am not a fan of to plots side-by-side which is the case with this one - if you love Austen, go and read Mr. Darcy'S Diary
snacklish's review against another edition
2.0
I feel like it's taking me forever to read the last 1/4th of this book. It was going pretty good, even with the large chunks that were lifted right out of Persuasion, but man does it stall after Anne reads Wentworth's letter. After that point, it's either tedious or so over-the-top (in terms of character's reactions and interactions) it's hilarious.
ateague73's review against another edition
1.0
It started off okay. The author took some liberties with dialog. She changed and added to some of the conversations that happened in Persuasion. But I could live with that.
My big problems came when the principal action of Persuasion ended and this book kept going. It got ridiculous. It turned into a horribly bad romance novel. The characters stopped acting liked themselves. Ann had a yelling match with her father and Lady Russell. She threatened to get pregnant before the wedding unless they used their pull to speed up the wedding. Just no.
My big problems came when the principal action of Persuasion ended and this book kept going. It got ridiculous. It turned into a horribly bad romance novel. The characters stopped acting liked themselves. Ann had a yelling match with her father and Lady Russell. She threatened to get pregnant before the wedding unless they used their pull to speed up the wedding. Just no.
vesper1931's review against another edition
4.0
This is Persuasion from the point of view of Captain Wentworth, his thoughts, his anguish, his actions, from the first time he sees Anne Elliott until after their marriage.
Loved this story
Loved this story
mrsholloway's review against another edition
5.0
this is one of my favorite reimaginings of this book. I thoroughly recommend it.