‘Masterpiece’ period classic is ‘best book of all time’ | Books | Entertainment

The best book of all time is up for debate, and if you love classic novels, you’ll likely have heard of this one. A novel by Jane Austen has been hailed by fans as a “masterpiece”. The last completed novel of Austen’s, Persuasion, is the pick of readers over on Reddit.

The book’s synopsis states: “Jane Austen’s final novel, Persuasion, is the story of Anne Elliot, a woman in her late twenties who, eight years earlier, was persuaded to break off her engagement to the less-wealthy naval Captain Frederick Wentworth. When they meet again, Anne must navigate her lingering feelings, societal pressures, and a rival suitor for a second chance at love, in a tale described as Austen’s most moving and a masterpiece of missed opportunities and romance.”

Under the thread titled “In your opinion, what’s the best Austen novel?”, many chose Persuasion.

One person said: “I would say that Persuasion is the best.”

Another said: “Persuasion is my absolute favourite. Anne Elliot is, to me, such a graceful, compassionate, and sensible character. She is entirely selfless, even though no one around her appreciates her. When the man she loves appears to be paying court to a woman close to her, she doesn’t wallow in self-pity or turn spiteful. She genuinely wishes them happy and chooses to move on with her life with moderate success.”

Goodreads’ synopsis reads: “Persuasion is linked to Northanger Abbey not only by the fact that the two books were originally bound up in one volume and published together, but also because both stories are set partly in Bath, a fashionable city with which Austen was well acquainted, having lived there from 1801 to 1805. Besides the theme of persuasion, the novel evokes other topics, such as the Royal Navy, in which two of Jane Austen’s brothers ultimately rose to the rank of admiral. As in Northanger Abbey, the superficial social life of Bath-well known to Austen, who spent several relatively unhappy and unproductive years there-is portrayed extensively and serves as a setting for the second half of the book.

“In many respects, Persuasion marks a break with Austen’s previous works, both in the more biting, even irritable satire directed at some of the novel’s characters and in the regretful, resigned outlook of its otherwise admirable heroine, Anne Elliot, in the first part of the story. Against this is set the energy and appeal of the Royal Navy, which symbolises for Anne and the reader the possibility of a more outgoing, engaged, and fulfilling life, and it is this worldview which triumphs for the most part at the end of the novel.”

One reviewer on Goodreads described it as a “masterpiece” and another said it was “my favourite second-chance romances, and my favourite Austen”.