Jane Austen discussion

Hello friends, what Austen are you reading right now?
If any of you are reading Persuasion right now, I'd love to hear your thoughts as you go.
I spent January reading this sad, soulful, and transcendent novel (and writing about it too, I'll post the link).
I remembered this novel as being steeped in sadness and regret, and frankly was reluctant to dive back into that right now. But as usual I found that Jane Austen in this novel gives her heroine significant choice, action, and agency - much of it happening quietly and internally. I decided one of the best characters in all of Austen is Badass Sophy Croft, and her wonderful marriage (one of the only happy ones in all of Austen!) Let me know what you think - and here is the place where my essays/posts are, would love for you to read and comment:
https://austenconnection.substack.com...

I love Persuasion. It is my second favorite JA. Jane Austen in Scarsdale is a pretty decent modern version of it.
Anne becomes so self-aware and attuned to others.

And I love Sophie Croft as well.

Janet wrote: "And I love Sophie Croft as well."

Yes! And thank you, I'm adding JA in Scarsdale to my list. One day I will tackle all the retellings (maybe that should be an entire year in the newsletter!)

I love Sophy too! She's amazing and will be a good friend for Anne. She went on a war ship! In wartime, survived battles and who knows what else. That was very rare for a woman to go onboard a ship. Whaling captains would sometimes bring their families but not military men. I think she sees what's in her brother's heart but is wise enough not to pry or meddle in her brother's love life. She also knows how to soothe her husband's ego by gently teasing him but letting him drive anyway. She doesn't argue with him over who will hold the reins. She knows she's the better driver but loves her husband enough to give him this one thing to make him happy.

Sophy Croft also shows that a woman need not have children in order to feel fulfilled. (THANK YOU, Jane!)

Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel. If silly Charlotte Bronte had read this instead of Pride and Prejudice, she would have had her passion and her windswept landscape.

That's an interesting point - how rare was it for ship's captains to have their wives - or other captain's wives! - on board? It sounds from something I think Captain Wentworth says about Harville that he brought Captain H his wife to him at some point - ie using his own ship as a means to ferry another ship's captain's wife to him when somewhere else - and that he would gladly bring Captain H his wife from anywhere in the world!

In the Hornblower books, Horblower at one point has the woman who will become his second wife brought on board to bring her back to England when she is stranded by war, I think, somewhere in South America.

But whether a wife could just accompany her husband 'for the voyage' so to speak, without a particular reason (ie, to 'ferry' her back home or wherever), I don't know. In war it must definitely have been a risky business, from the ship being sunk in a battle to being captured as a prize by the French and their allies.

I don't know about Regency times but later in the Victorian period I think it was commonplace for captains of naval vessels, when moored, either at home or in stations abroad (eg, Minorca, Gib etc) to host parties and balls on board the ship, to which, of course, wives and sweethearts and other officers and local gentry were invited. The ship would be lit up with lights etc and a band hired - must have been quite exciting to go to a ship-board ball (still would be, come to think of it!)