Persuasion 200 Coming April 17th!

Finally, after what seems like months and months of talking about it and planning, there’s less than a week until Persuasion 200 begins! What’s Persuasion 200? During this, the 200th year after the events in Austen’s book Persuasion, we’re retelling it by creating the scenes she left out of the original. This is similar to the P&P200 Project from two years ago which became the book Pride and Prejudice: The Scenes Jane Austen Never Wrote.

As part of the project, we’ll be doing quite a few prequel scenes. These cover events which are referenced or hinted at in the story although they took place before the book begins. These unique scenes will take us out on Captain Wentworth’s ship and give us a peak at Wentworth and Anne Elliot’s first courtship. To kick off the project, we’ll have a scene between Anne Elliot and her mother, giving insight into what Anne might have been like as a young girl.

Scenes will be posted various days of the week rather than on a single day as we did with The Darcy Brothers. Once we’re into the story, we’ll be posting based on our best estimation of the dates the covered events took place in the book. In other words, it will be done in real time.

It’s not required, but we suggest reading or rereading Persuasion or at least watching one of the movie versions of the book. So if you’re up for an adventure, join us on Thursday, April 17th! 

 

28 comments

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    • Deborah on April 13, 2014 at 3:39 am
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    Looking forward to it. Just watched the 1995 movie and will begin listening to the unabridged audio book Monday. Thank you folks for this endeavor. I anticipate enjoying it as much as P & P 200.

    1. I just watched the 1995 version last night.

    • Anji on April 13, 2014 at 3:46 am
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    Sooooo looking forward to this! Especially as I missed P & P 200 two years ago because I hadn’t yet discovered this wonderful community of writers and readers. Persuasion is (only just) my second favourite Jane Austen novel after Pride and Prejudice.

    I’ve just started re-reading the book and also discovered that the 1971 dramatisation, a version I’ve not seen before, is on YouTube. My plan is to try to run the two in tandem if I can. Life is very busy for me right now and I have to snatch a few minutes here and there either first thing in the morning or last thing at night so I don’t expect to finish them before the 17th but at least I’ve made a start.

    1. I watched the 1971 version several years ago and plan to watch it again soon.

      • Sheila L. M. on April 13, 2014 at 11:13 am
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      I just tried YouTube to see which version was playing and got “not available in your country”! I do have three DVD versions but wanted to see if it was a version I don’t own. I plan to watch Ciaran Hinds version (1995) this afternoon. 1971 version is with Ann Fairbank and Bryan Marshall and I always thought she looked too old for the part. Sorry if I offend. Didn’ t like the actress in the 2008 version or, at least, how she was made to run through the streets of bath!

      1. I agree about the running through Bath scene – not realistic at all!

        • Anji on April 13, 2014 at 3:24 pm
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        Sheila, I’m in the UK and it’s playing OK here, so I guess you must be elsewhere. I think it must be because it’s a UK production. Certainly, it’s the one with Ann Fairbank and Bryan Marshall, though I haven’t seen him yet ‘cos I’m only about 30 minutes in so far. I agree with what you say about her age, though. She was in her late 30s at the time and five years OLDER than Bryan Marshall according to IMDB. I think it’s a problem with casting any production of a Jane Austen novel, though. We forget how relatively young the main characters were.

          • Sheila L. M. on April 13, 2014 at 3:31 pm
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          I am in the USA…Pennsylvania. That’s OK since I have the 3 main DVDs. I can watch it here.

          • Anji on April 13, 2014 at 3:35 pm
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          Susan, the “running through Bath” scene had me sitting straight up in my chair and going “What!!!” as did the ending when CFW appeared to present Kellynch to Anne as a wedding gift. OK, Rupert Penry-Jones is extremely easy on the eye but doesn’t give the impression of having spent years at sea, whereas Ciaran Hinds does.

            • Sheila L. M. on April 15, 2014 at 12:16 am
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            OK, I just finished watching the 1971 DVD and yesterday finished watching the 1995 DVD of Persuasion…and I have changed my mind. Despite the fact that the actress, Ann Fairbank, appears too old for the part of Anne in the 1971 version, I found the whole production much more fleshed out and this added to my enjoyment. I especially took note of the inclusion of the poetry quoted by Ann and then by Ann and by Capt. Benwick. In that movie was longer they did more justice to the book, in my opinion. I found the ending especially sweet with a brief kiss between Anne and Capt. Wentworth. And allowing all their friends’ and family’s opinions to be expressed during the gathering with the reveal of Mr. Elliot’s and Mrs. Clay’s absconding perfect. Left me ready to now re-read the book in anticipation of this project.

  1. I’m really looking forward to it! I really admire your dedication and commitment to such a long-term project. I cannot imagine how much planning and working and sticking to the schedule it takes!

    • Darleann on April 13, 2014 at 7:53 am
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    So looking forward to this! Ann and the Captain are my favorite romantic couple.

    1. I love them, too. I think I identify with Anne more than any of Austen’s other female heroines.

    • Leslie on April 13, 2014 at 8:12 am
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    Persuasion is my favorite Austen tale. I didn’t know about P&P 200 until the book came out, so I’m looking forward to reading these scenes as you all write them. Speaking of group projects, whatever happened to the Bennet Brother (I think that’s the name)? I was half-way through it when the old Austen Authors site shut down, and since many of you came over to this site…

    Quite looking forward to the prequel scenes!

      1. Thank you! The entire story can be found by clicking on The Darcy Brothers on the home page of Austen Variations.

  2. I’m really happy you are starting this new project, Susan and all the others who are in the writing panel. Did I mention that besides P&P, Persuasion is my next favourite novel? Btw, any news on when you will publish The Bennet Brother in e-book format?

    1. No plans at the moment for The Bennet Brother – although it might happen – and The Darcy Brothers will probably be published sometime in the fall.

    • Vesper Meikle on April 13, 2014 at 9:48 am
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    Having missed the P&P one (have a copy of the book though) I look forward to this

  3. We hope you enjoy it!

    • TLeighF on April 13, 2014 at 2:45 pm
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    I loved P&P 200 and credit it for getting me into on-line JAFF and blogs. Looking forward to the new project!

    1. I’ve been thrilled at the reception for the idea of P200. Many people rank it as either their first or second favorite of Austen’s books.

  4. Can’t wait to read this, so glad you’re about to launch this project, and I was really pleased to see I wasn’t the only one gritting her teeth at Anne running through Bath in the 2008 version.

    Not a great fan of Ciaran Hinds myself, even though his battered complexion does look the part 🙂 I think he looks rather too old somehow, and not much of a heart-throb, but that’s beside the point. Looking forward to the prequels and the scenes JA never wrote – and also to Darcy Brothers in ebook format!!

  5. I’m so excited! Love Pesuasion!! Thanks for this amazing project!!

    • Carol hoyt on April 13, 2014 at 8:54 pm
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    Sadly, I missed the earlier project but looking forward to this one.
    Persuasion is my 2nd favorite book.

    This is going to be awesome!!!

    • Carole in Canada on April 14, 2014 at 7:00 pm
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    Can’t wait for this to start! Thank you!

    • HelenJC on April 15, 2014 at 5:01 pm
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    Very excited. Persuasion is my favourite Jane Austen book, and like others, I missed the P&P so am looking forward to this.

    • Beth G on April 16, 2014 at 12:40 pm
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    I’m really looking forward to this. It’s my favorite of the Austen books after Pride and Prejudice.

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