Austen's novel tells the story of Anne Elliot, a 27-year-old woman who is still unmarried in Regency England. Seven years earlier, she was persuaded by her family to break off an engagement with navy man Frederick Wentworth. The novel follows Anne as she navigates her feelings for Wentworth and the various characters she meets along the way. Austen's characters are both naughty and nice, and her writing has a bluntness and satirist's ear that make it a pleasure to read. The novel also captures the pleasant and unpleasant feeling of close physical proximity to other people, and the difficulty of managing one's feelings in a busy money-mad world. Austen's message is that knowing oneself is key to a flourishing life, an interesting and timeless theme that still resonates in days of pandemic.

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I was looking forward to reading this book. Generally I love anything by Jane Austen but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in this story. This is one of the shortest of Jane Austen's books but it felt like it took forever to read. I liked the characters and the relationships between the characters but the love part of the story seemed so drawn out. Toward the end of the book, I found myself skipping pages just so I could be done faster.

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