A review by gina_bina
Persuasion by Jane Austen

4.0

I liked this book more than Pride and Prejudice, partially because the family members are quite silly and it's more of a missed connection story. Captain Wentworth isn't a jerk like Mr. Darcy is at first; it's Anne who wronged him. But the problem I have with both is how the ending is so tidy. Austen spends fully 90% of this short novel setting up the moment that Anne discovers the truth of Captain Wentworth and Mr Elliott, and then (like in P&P) there is a glorious letter from the good Captain that is more heartfelt and persuasive (huh) than Darcy's letter. And then the book is over a few pages later. I should have enjoyed a bit more falling action, an area where modern romances also tend to lack. It seems that Austen, by her own deficiency in story structure, set a template for the modern genre to possess the same structural deficiencies.