Persuasion, Behind the Scenes – A Release Day Celebration

It’s finally here! I know many of you have been waiting for a long time for us to publish this anthology and we’re so thrilled to have it available for you to buy. Persuasion is one of Jane Austen’s most beloved works. I’m sure all of us have scenes we wish she’d written and those of us involved in this project feel fortunate that we were allowed to explore those ideas. We loved sharing those on the blog when they were written and hope you enjoy them just as much now as you did then!

Make sure you stop by Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, or iBooks and get your ebook copy today! All proceeds will be donated to charity. If you’re entering our Rafflecopter giveaway, the details and the link are at the end of the post. Good Luck!

Let’s talk favorites! Favorite quotes, that is! We all love Captain Frederick Wentworth’s iconic love letter. It’s a classic that still strikes a chord with readers today. When asked for a favorite quote, most people will respond with “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.”

Now, here is the challenge—to come up with a favorite quote from Persuasion other than Captain Wentworth’s love letter. We intend to share ours with you and we can’t wait for you to share yours with us in the comments!

Jack Caldwell:

Kara Louise ~
Anne Elliot’s thoughts after her first encounter with Frederick Wentworth:

L.L. Diamond:

Maria Grace:

Marilyn Brant:

Diana Birchall: “The choicest gift of Heaven.”

One of my favorite quotes from Persuasion is not one of Austen’s witty epigrams, nor the romantic emotion of the “You pierce my soul” letter. It is a moment when Austen reveals how wise and astute an observer she is in her reflections about people.  The scene concerns Mrs. Smith, who is hardly Persuasion’s most attractive character, but is in a pitiable situation.  Anne is astonished because despite this, she is cheerful:

“She had been very fond of her husband: she had buried him. She had been used to affluence: it was gone. She had no child to connect her with life and happiness again, no relations to assist in the arrangement of perplexed affairs, no health to make all the rest supportable…Yet, in spite of all this, Anne had reason to believe that she had moments only of languor and depression to hours of occupation and enjoyment. How could it be? She watched, observed, reflected, and finally determined that…here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from nature alone. It was the choicest gift of Heaven.”

“The choicest gift of Heaven.” It’s a very strong phrase, and Austen means it literally. We’re invited to ponder why some people succumb under miseries, while others are buoyant like Mrs. Smith. Having a resilient temperament is indeed a gift to prize, for it cannot be easily emulated.  If you have it, Jane Austen is saying, you don’t need much else.

Shannon Winslow:

Don’t forget about the companion book: Pride and Prejudice  Behind the Scenes, on sale now for .99. You can find it HERE.