Persuasion by Jane Austen

"My idea of good company, Mr Elliot, is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company"

"You are mistaken,' said he gently, 'that is not good company, that is the best. Good company requires only birth, education and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice."

Jane Austen novels are unashamedly romances where the girl always gets the guy, in the end. But first she, and he, must endure tortuous twists of fate through which Ms Austen takes us on a journey through the social mores of early 19th century England.

Persuasion was published in 1818 one year after Ms Austen's death in 1817 and is perhaps the book where she takes the independence of her heroine to new heights.

The main character, Anne Elliot, is the sensible second daughter of three in an aristocratic family. Since the death of her mother when she was young her father has become increasingly pompous in his position as Baronet, preferring to read the Peerage over any other book and only interested in making acquaintance with those of equal or greater social standing. His spending habits and poor investments have left them needing to quit their family home and rent it out to an Admiral Croft who has recently returned from the Napoleonic wars, wealthy from his exploits.

Meanwhile Anne is pining for the memory of love lost eight years earlier when she was persuaded not to marry Federick Wentworth, a young naval officer, because he had no position, no money and no prospects. At 27 she is considered 'on the shelf' and unlikely to marry.

It turns out that Admiral Croft's wife is the sister of the now wealthy Captain Wentworth and so we embark on a journey around south-east England (Lyme, Bath and the surrounding countryside) and experience the tortuous twists which bring Anne and Captain Wentworth back together again.

Jane Austen is a master observer of English society at this time managing to be abreast not only of the aristocratic sensibilities but also those of the middle class, the merchant class and those who have 'fallen'. This fabulous book observes the gradual decline of the wealth of the aristocratic class following the Napoleonic wars and the rise of the wealthy merchants and Naval officers which start to question the social balance in England.

Mr Elliot at first objected to renting his house to a Naval man

"... as being the means of bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction..."

but then realised he had no option or he would have to 'retrench' (sell off his lands).

This book also raises questions about whether it was sensible to persuade a young 19 year old girl not to marry a man who had not made his fortune. At the time, and perhaps still now, it would have been imprudent to marry someone without an income because there were limited ways of earning an income, and still remain in 'good society', at the time. Anne Elliot's family and contemporaries came into money through inheritance.

All those present scored this book highly, with scores ranging from 7 to 9 for an average of 8/10.

We noted that there are two recent movie adaptations: A 1995 version with Amanda Root and a 2007 version with Sally Hawkins as Anne. Having watched both I think the 1995 version is a grittier closer approximation of the book.