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Within My Reach: A Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion
Camping on a futon and babysitting her nephews is not the summer vacation Anna Elliot had in mind, but then Frida Wentworth rolls back into town - home from conquering the world, one stunning photograph at a time.
Anna has never entirely forgiven herself for letting Frida go. And Frida, it would seem, hasn’t forgiven her either. No one knows about their past, thank goodness. But before Anna's very eyes, two of her friends fall under Frida's spell.
Set in Auckland, New Zealand, over the holidays, this Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion takes the OG second-chance romance for an antipodean spin, with a splash of forced-proximity and a pinch of love-triangle.
Trigger warning for historical suicide (in the backstory).
Anna has never entirely forgiven herself for letting Frida go. And Frida, it would seem, hasn’t forgiven her either. No one knows about their past, thank goodness. But before Anna's very eyes, two of her friends fall under Frida's spell.
Set in Auckland, New Zealand, over the holidays, this Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion takes the OG second-chance romance for an antipodean spin, with a splash of forced-proximity and a pinch of love-triangle.
Trigger warning for historical suicide (in the backstory).
308 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2020
8 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Amy Blythe
18 books21 followersAmy Blythe lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, with her husband, two kids, and one enormous fluffy cat. She’s a High School English teacher by day (and sometimes night), and writes whenever she gets the chance.
Jane Austen was her first love, closely followed by Marian Keyes, and rather than pick one flavour of fiction, she’s gone ahead and written both historical and contemporary novels.
If you like earls and viscounts, elaborate gowns and unspoken passions, manners and morality, secrets and swordplay, then the regency romances are for you!
If you prefer a more modern jaunt to Paris or London, a sexy stranger, misunderstandings and mishaps, terrible timing and tantalising near-misses, the romantic comedies are going to be more your jam.
If you love to read both, well, talk about kindred spirits! It’d be a crime not to be friends! Amy would love to hear from you.
A big believer in creative communities, Amy often reads at local open-mics, loves her chapter of Romance Writers of New Zealand, and used to chair the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. Every school holidays, a highlight is going along to the weekly write-in she started over three years ago.
Jane Austen was her first love, closely followed by Marian Keyes, and rather than pick one flavour of fiction, she’s gone ahead and written both historical and contemporary novels.
If you like earls and viscounts, elaborate gowns and unspoken passions, manners and morality, secrets and swordplay, then the regency romances are for you!
If you prefer a more modern jaunt to Paris or London, a sexy stranger, misunderstandings and mishaps, terrible timing and tantalising near-misses, the romantic comedies are going to be more your jam.
If you love to read both, well, talk about kindred spirits! It’d be a crime not to be friends! Amy would love to hear from you.
A big believer in creative communities, Amy often reads at local open-mics, loves her chapter of Romance Writers of New Zealand, and used to chair the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. Every school holidays, a highlight is going along to the weekly write-in she started over three years ago.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 16, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because Austen retelling y'all!
I love retellings of classics so looked forward to getting into this Sapphic retelling of Persuasion. This isn't my favourite Austen novel but the story and the characters are still swoon worthy. Austen's women are smart and relatable as they deal with ridiculous family members and Anne Elliot is a powerhouse of patience and intelligence. In this retelling we jump to modern day Auckland, New Zealand, which appealed to me straight away. It's wonderful reading books set in places you have an attachment to. The story jumps back and forth in time and we see how Anna and Frida navigate a tense and awkward reunion after years apart. The flashbacks show us how they met which gives readers context for their current state of misery. Whilst the relationship between the two was lovely I was hoping for a little bit more chemistry and I think a bit more time could have been spent showing them falling in love which would have made me more invested in them as a couple. The way Amy has reworked the characters with gender swaps was a highlight for me. The essence of the original characters was still present with some fun twists. 'The Letter' became 'the email' and sadly didn't quite capture the 'heart laid bare' feeling of Fredrick Wentworth's 'half agony and half hope' filled letter. An enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more from this author.
I love retellings of classics so looked forward to getting into this Sapphic retelling of Persuasion. This isn't my favourite Austen novel but the story and the characters are still swoon worthy. Austen's women are smart and relatable as they deal with ridiculous family members and Anne Elliot is a powerhouse of patience and intelligence. In this retelling we jump to modern day Auckland, New Zealand, which appealed to me straight away. It's wonderful reading books set in places you have an attachment to. The story jumps back and forth in time and we see how Anna and Frida navigate a tense and awkward reunion after years apart. The flashbacks show us how they met which gives readers context for their current state of misery. Whilst the relationship between the two was lovely I was hoping for a little bit more chemistry and I think a bit more time could have been spent showing them falling in love which would have made me more invested in them as a couple. The way Amy has reworked the characters with gender swaps was a highlight for me. The essence of the original characters was still present with some fun twists. 'The Letter' became 'the email' and sadly didn't quite capture the 'heart laid bare' feeling of Fredrick Wentworth's 'half agony and half hope' filled letter. An enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more from this author.
November 15, 2025
I don’t even remember buying this book, but I know I bought the book because it’s a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, which is, IMO, a perfect novel. That’s a hard bar to meet. Retellings are hard! Add an unknown-to-me author and this could have been a disaster. But it was so far from that. I don’t know that I’ve read a sapphic Austen retelling that’s done a better job than what I read in these pages, and that includes Bellefleur’s Written in the Stars, which is a book I always recommend. But as a Jane Austen retelling? This is better. What a surprise. 5 stars for the daunting task of getting the retelling right.
August 20, 2021
Writing a modern-day version of a classic novel is fraught with difficulties that can easily derail the attempt. If it’s too close to the original, if it has nothing new to add then why bother? If it’s so far from the original that it loses its essence then it becomes less of an homage and more like a cursory nod to the novel that inspired it.
There are only limited paths to success in undertaking such an endeavour – a Goldilocks option that is just right. Unfortunately for the writer, ‘just right’ is a subjective opinion unique to each reader.
In this reader’s subjective opinion, Within My Reach: A Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion by Amy Blythe is sublimely just right. I adore Austen’s books and have done ever since I was ‘forced’ to read Austen’s Pride and Prejudice at school. As an adult I have reread my favourite Austen novels several times. Persuasion comes second only to Pride and Prejudice in my list of favourites.
Discovering my own ‘Sapphic nature’ did not dim my love of Austen’s work. I still loved the Darcy and Wentworth characters, but they were kind of amorphously reconstructed as stoic butches in my head.
Blythe has added something new to her retelling of Persuasion by making it a WLW romance. And it’s not just the character of Frederick Wentworth who has changed genders to become Frida Wentworth. Louisa Musgrave has become Louis Romano, Elizabeth Elliot has become Max Elliot, William Elliot has become Elle Johnson and Captain Harville has become Nicky (no surname given). Apart from Walter Elliot, all of the characters’ names have been changed even if only slightly. Anne Elliot’s is the least changed – to Anna Elliot.
This swapping of genders serves a purpose other than gimmickry. It serves to demonstrate how much society has changed since Austen’s time. Women can have careers – even dangerous careers – and people are free to choose who they love regardless of gender. At the same time, it also highlights Austen’s own subversive elements in her work. All of Austen’s heroines marry for love, not money or connections – even though their love interests usually have both. And Frederick’s sister speaks eloquently of risking danger and enduring hardship by sailing to reconnect with her husband, from whom she could not bear to be apart. Both of these things were considered controversial by the genteel members of Austen’s society. Mrs Croft’s admonition of Frederick : “I hate to hear you talking so, like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures” is a heartfelt Austen sentiment in recognition of women’s abilities as well as a rejection of the constraints of fine society.
I loved how Blythe combined and contrasted Austen’s eloquent, if somewhat antiquated, prose with the more robust and less refined language of our own age. Would Austen have recoiled in horror at the use of the F word? Somehow, I doubt it and suspect she would have been more amused by it.
It would be impossible to write a successful modern version of Persuasion without updating the reasons that Anne’s family is prejudiced against Frida — both the spoken and unspoken assumptions. Blythe does brilliantly here in both those regards. As in the original, the persuasion comes from motives both pure and sullied as well as from prejudice. Good stuff.
The transition of locale from early nineteenth century England to early twenty-first century New Zealand also works well with its sense of being both in the middle of civilisation and yet somehow distant from it, as when one has no mobile phone reception in order to call an ambulance.
If it’s not obvious by now, I loved this book. It works as a beautiful love story even if you haven’t ever read Persuasion, because it stands on its own as a modern-day romance. But if you love Austen, and if you like WLW romance, then your enjoyment of this book will be greatly enhanced by the appreciation of just how magnificent a job Blythe has done in updating a classic novel.
There are only limited paths to success in undertaking such an endeavour – a Goldilocks option that is just right. Unfortunately for the writer, ‘just right’ is a subjective opinion unique to each reader.
In this reader’s subjective opinion, Within My Reach: A Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion by Amy Blythe is sublimely just right. I adore Austen’s books and have done ever since I was ‘forced’ to read Austen’s Pride and Prejudice at school. As an adult I have reread my favourite Austen novels several times. Persuasion comes second only to Pride and Prejudice in my list of favourites.
Discovering my own ‘Sapphic nature’ did not dim my love of Austen’s work. I still loved the Darcy and Wentworth characters, but they were kind of amorphously reconstructed as stoic butches in my head.
Blythe has added something new to her retelling of Persuasion by making it a WLW romance. And it’s not just the character of Frederick Wentworth who has changed genders to become Frida Wentworth. Louisa Musgrave has become Louis Romano, Elizabeth Elliot has become Max Elliot, William Elliot has become Elle Johnson and Captain Harville has become Nicky (no surname given). Apart from Walter Elliot, all of the characters’ names have been changed even if only slightly. Anne Elliot’s is the least changed – to Anna Elliot.
This swapping of genders serves a purpose other than gimmickry. It serves to demonstrate how much society has changed since Austen’s time. Women can have careers – even dangerous careers – and people are free to choose who they love regardless of gender. At the same time, it also highlights Austen’s own subversive elements in her work. All of Austen’s heroines marry for love, not money or connections – even though their love interests usually have both. And Frederick’s sister speaks eloquently of risking danger and enduring hardship by sailing to reconnect with her husband, from whom she could not bear to be apart. Both of these things were considered controversial by the genteel members of Austen’s society. Mrs Croft’s admonition of Frederick : “I hate to hear you talking so, like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures” is a heartfelt Austen sentiment in recognition of women’s abilities as well as a rejection of the constraints of fine society.
I loved how Blythe combined and contrasted Austen’s eloquent, if somewhat antiquated, prose with the more robust and less refined language of our own age. Would Austen have recoiled in horror at the use of the F word? Somehow, I doubt it and suspect she would have been more amused by it.
It would be impossible to write a successful modern version of Persuasion without updating the reasons that Anne’s family is prejudiced against Frida — both the spoken and unspoken assumptions. Blythe does brilliantly here in both those regards. As in the original, the persuasion comes from motives both pure and sullied as well as from prejudice. Good stuff.
The transition of locale from early nineteenth century England to early twenty-first century New Zealand also works well with its sense of being both in the middle of civilisation and yet somehow distant from it, as when one has no mobile phone reception in order to call an ambulance.
If it’s not obvious by now, I loved this book. It works as a beautiful love story even if you haven’t ever read Persuasion, because it stands on its own as a modern-day romance. But if you love Austen, and if you like WLW romance, then your enjoyment of this book will be greatly enhanced by the appreciation of just how magnificent a job Blythe has done in updating a classic novel.
August 26, 2021
Well written and a good story but frankly I am not completely sure I liked the ending. Well worth the time spent and it took me a while on this one for some reason. 4 stars flat
September 2, 2021
Clever reworking of a classic.
It's really hard to review a retelling of a classic that you've never actually read. I'd been told that this book stands alone just fine so I thought I would give it a go.
Yes, it does work just fine, a modern city, holiday beaches and Auckland's high society as a backdrop for a tale of second chances. But it drags. I looked up the Wikipedia page for Persuasion and read the synopsis. Blythe very cleverly has it all there and I'm sure if you're a big Austen fan you'll be overjoyed to spot who is who and how it all fits in. But, without that, one thing doesn't translate well - the main character.
Anne Elliott is simply a wet blanket. She allows everyone to push her around and is completely unable to stand up for herself. While in Austen's day that was fine, it just doesn't work for a modern woman. And because she's so annoyingly blah, it's really hard to see why the fabulous Frida would still be pining for her after 8 years.
This book is clever, the f/f relationships worked and it is nice to see in a NZ book, but overall it didn't quite work for me. I suspect however, that if you're a fan of Austen's Persuasion you're going to love it.
It's really hard to review a retelling of a classic that you've never actually read. I'd been told that this book stands alone just fine so I thought I would give it a go.
Yes, it does work just fine, a modern city, holiday beaches and Auckland's high society as a backdrop for a tale of second chances. But it drags. I looked up the Wikipedia page for Persuasion and read the synopsis. Blythe very cleverly has it all there and I'm sure if you're a big Austen fan you'll be overjoyed to spot who is who and how it all fits in. But, without that, one thing doesn't translate well - the main character.
Anne Elliott is simply a wet blanket. She allows everyone to push her around and is completely unable to stand up for herself. While in Austen's day that was fine, it just doesn't work for a modern woman. And because she's so annoyingly blah, it's really hard to see why the fabulous Frida would still be pining for her after 8 years.
This book is clever, the f/f relationships worked and it is nice to see in a NZ book, but overall it didn't quite work for me. I suspect however, that if you're a fan of Austen's Persuasion you're going to love it.
August 16, 2024
This book…it failed in so many aspects of a persuasion retelling…I’m glad there is a sapphic retelling of it, but I wish I wasn’t as disappointed as I was…there was no yearning, barely any chemistry, the “letter” being turned into an email was just no…steer clear of this one
November 23, 2025
4/5
I stayed up till 4 am to read this and then I just couldn't anymore so I close my eyes and the moment I opened them I continued what I started.
I love them ,I do.I love the slow burn,but it was too little of them in the present, I can understand how they falled for eachother in the past, the present was the hardest pill to swallow. To many moments with the side characters,moments that had nothing to do with was going on sometimes, I just wanted a little bit of focus on them
I stayed up till 4 am to read this and then I just couldn't anymore so I close my eyes and the moment I opened them I continued what I started.
I love them ,I do.I love the slow burn,but it was too little of them in the present, I can understand how they falled for eachother in the past, the present was the hardest pill to swallow. To many moments with the side characters,moments that had nothing to do with was going on sometimes, I just wanted a little bit of focus on them
July 1, 2021
I’ve not read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, so I can’t compare to the original, but I rather enjoyed this tale.
A whole lot of miscommunication and a lifetime of regrets. It’s been eight years since Anna and Frida were a couple, happily planning a life together. Eight years since a discussion went pear shaped and the two parted ways. Eight years since Anna truly felt happy and whole.
Now, Frida is back and neither can get a read on the other. Misguided thoughts, mixed messages, other people’s agendas; there’s always something stopping them from connecting.
I loved the split between past and present, connecting the dots and giving an insight to their actions. The passion and heat of the past, the anxiety and confusion of the present, and the underlying emotions that drive them forward.
My one issue was that I did occasionally get confused between side characters, and it took me a minute to figure out who everyone was and where they connected.
All in all, a good read with a touch of heat and a lot of emotion.
A whole lot of miscommunication and a lifetime of regrets. It’s been eight years since Anna and Frida were a couple, happily planning a life together. Eight years since a discussion went pear shaped and the two parted ways. Eight years since Anna truly felt happy and whole.
Now, Frida is back and neither can get a read on the other. Misguided thoughts, mixed messages, other people’s agendas; there’s always something stopping them from connecting.
I loved the split between past and present, connecting the dots and giving an insight to their actions. The passion and heat of the past, the anxiety and confusion of the present, and the underlying emotions that drive them forward.
My one issue was that I did occasionally get confused between side characters, and it took me a minute to figure out who everyone was and where they connected.
All in all, a good read with a touch of heat and a lot of emotion.
November 11, 2024
**Most of my reviews contain detailed Content Notes (including CW/TW) sections, which may include spoilers and general tags. I have tried to mark them appropriately, but please use caution.**
4.25/5
Audio (Sara Kupa)
* Summary: Persuasion retelling set in New Zealand with Anna (school teacher on winter holiday) and Frieda (photojournalist) reuniting eight years after they broke up.
* Stats: CR, FF, open door, stands alone.
* Notes: I enjoyed this - it’s a pretty straightforward and close retelling - sometimes a little bit too much so - but I thought the author was thoughtful in how she applied the retelling to the setting and modern period. There’s a few places where it clunks a bit, and the narration is not the best quality (particularly the actual recording quality), but I did enjoy it. I’d happily read more from the author and was pleasantly surprised as Persuasion retellings haven’t worked for me in the past.
OTT and Spoilery Content Notes:
4.25/5
Audio (Sara Kupa)
* Summary: Persuasion retelling set in New Zealand with Anna (school teacher on winter holiday) and Frieda (photojournalist) reuniting eight years after they broke up.
* Stats: CR, FF, open door, stands alone.
* Notes: I enjoyed this - it’s a pretty straightforward and close retelling - sometimes a little bit too much so - but I thought the author was thoughtful in how she applied the retelling to the setting and modern period. There’s a few places where it clunks a bit, and the narration is not the best quality (particularly the actual recording quality), but I did enjoy it. I’d happily read more from the author and was pleasantly surprised as Persuasion retellings haven’t worked for me in the past.
OTT and Spoilery Content Notes:
August 19, 2021
Anna has never recovered from the breakup with Frida, her first love. Eight years ago, Frida left to pursue her career in photo journalism after Anna decided not to go with her. Now Anna and her family, who've fallen on hard times, have to rent their family home to a married couple, and the woman in the couple in Frida's sister. When Frida returns as well, Anna is convinced Frida has moved on and is no longer interested in her. Is there any chance for something here?
I truly loved this book, which tracks Jane Austen's Persuasion pretty well. But there are a few things that didn't work for me. First, unlike Austen, this author doesn't explain very well what has caused Anna's family to have to rent out their home. It's implied but not well explained. Second, like many books of its length, it was longer than it needed to be. There were a lot of interactions involving Anna and her family that could have been cut more attention paid to Frida. Finally, there were too many unnecessary flashbacks to Anna and Frida's original relationship. A few needed to be there, but after a while, more than a few felt distracting.
That said, I thought the book was engaging enough to keep me reading.
I truly loved this book, which tracks Jane Austen's Persuasion pretty well. But there are a few things that didn't work for me. First, unlike Austen, this author doesn't explain very well what has caused Anna's family to have to rent out their home. It's implied but not well explained. Second, like many books of its length, it was longer than it needed to be. There were a lot of interactions involving Anna and her family that could have been cut more attention paid to Frida. Finally, there were too many unnecessary flashbacks to Anna and Frida's original relationship. A few needed to be there, but after a while, more than a few felt distracting.
That said, I thought the book was engaging enough to keep me reading.
February 25, 2024
A retelling of Persuasion (which I’ve never read) but it was clearly based on a classic, as the plotting was nice and even and there were a bunch of characters come in from all angles that, to begin with, left me a spot confused. It’s also plainly based on a British book (though retelling is set in NZ) because there was more than your standard amount of infer-class-conflict old money, new money, investment and wealth chat. I loved the Frida Anna slow burn. The other characters and side stories distract slightly but I think that’s because of Persuasion, which I imagine has the same minor narratives besides the main romance. The author’s descriptions of sex (near all of it flashbacks) wasn’t the most detailed but didn’t shy away either, and there was a reasonable amount. I think it was independently published so I noticed a few errant apostrophes but honestly I was pleasantly surprised by the writing quality and would recommend. Very few reviews on Goodreads! Give it a go.
May 24, 2024
Well here I am. Again. Reading yet another Persuasion retelling. I really loved this one: it was so lovely between Frida and Anna. The love between them was deep and so so swoon-worthy, as all Persuasions. In terms of a retelling I think it did its job. It was a modern take and sapphic at that.
It stayed pretty close to the OG persuasion and yet made its own path. What I enjoyed most was the flashback to 8 years ago in between the present time. As things progress it unveils more and more how it all ended between them and of course in the present how it all comes together. Would have loved an epilogue. I’m a sucker for them. Overall a worthy read if you’re looking for a sweet sapphic romance! 4/5
It stayed pretty close to the OG persuasion and yet made its own path. What I enjoyed most was the flashback to 8 years ago in between the present time. As things progress it unveils more and more how it all ended between them and of course in the present how it all comes together. Would have loved an epilogue. I’m a sucker for them. Overall a worthy read if you’re looking for a sweet sapphic romance! 4/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2021
An updated version of Persuasion
I'm a sucker for Austen books. I love the simplicity, complexity (I know, right), the characters, the time period and the themes, which ius generally a love lost, or gained through some prejudice.
Ms Blythe's modern retelling is beautifully written. The main character, Anna, and her lost love, Frida, have the same Austen dynamic, both characters skirting around each other, trying to interpret each look, comment or reaction. And being a lesbian couple put a lovely spin in the tale, a unique perspective, with lots of homage to Ms Austen.
A great read.
I'm a sucker for Austen books. I love the simplicity, complexity (I know, right), the characters, the time period and the themes, which ius generally a love lost, or gained through some prejudice.
Ms Blythe's modern retelling is beautifully written. The main character, Anna, and her lost love, Frida, have the same Austen dynamic, both characters skirting around each other, trying to interpret each look, comment or reaction. And being a lesbian couple put a lovely spin in the tale, a unique perspective, with lots of homage to Ms Austen.
A great read.
dnf
April 28, 2025Romance isn’t normally my thing, but I do like them occasionally so I like to try them out. I’m really loving that adult romance novels are getting more diverse, so I’m glad that this exists. Rom-coms are clearly just not for me.
I have yet to read Persuasion (although it is on my list), so I didn’t go into this with any preconceptions. I just found the family we were following in the first chapter unbearably pretentious, so I don’t see myself picking this one back up.
I have yet to read Persuasion (although it is on my list), so I didn’t go into this with any preconceptions. I just found the family we were following in the first chapter unbearably pretentious, so I don’t see myself picking this one back up.
August 5, 2022
I wanted to really like this book, and I did like a number of pieces of the story. But it felt too rushed together at the end and too unbelievable in the telling. And then the point of view shifted in the last chapter causing a complete lack of continuity. Pleasant enough read but not one I'd necessarily recommend.
June 17, 2025
2.5 rounding up. I was leaning towards 3.5 rounded to 4 throughout most of the book because the retelling follows the original fairly closely. And I loved the representation. Unfortunately, I just didn’t like Frida at all 😩 the reason they broke up brought it down a star for me too. I was not rooting for this couple to get back together 😬
October 13, 2024
Just what it says on the tin. A sapphic rendition of Austen’s _Persuasion_. Ergo: second chance romance in a seaside setting. With a big cast and family drama.
Fun and much spicier than the Regency version.
Fun and much spicier than the Regency version.
July 19, 2024
Persuasion
February 27, 2025
Really lovely. One of the best Jane Austen adaptations I've ever read.
August 15, 2025
Is Persuasion this slow? Because for an 8-hour book this sure dragged on forever
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews