Persuasion and Prayers Read-Along: Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the Persuasion and Prayers Read-Along! You can follow along on this three-week discussion of Persuasion and The Prayers of Jane Austen by checking out the read-along tag or by clicking the button in the sidebar.

Today we're going to discuss chapters 7 and 8 of Persuasion. If you came prepared, go ahead and share your thoughts below! Otherwise, feel free to check in later today after you've had a chance to read today's chapters. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

P.S. If you're a blogger, please feel free to put together your own post using the button above and linking back to the Persuasion and Prayers Read-Along tag, if you'd prefer to participate in the discussion that way. :)

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Persuasion Chapters 7 and 8
Discussion Format: One quote to ponder, one observation, and one question for each day's reading.
Quote to Ponder

"There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement."

Observation

These chapters are heartbreaking - as well as frustrating, seeing the feelings of both sides the way we do! Austen describes the lingering pain and awkwardness of unrequited love so authentically. And yet there's hope below the surface in the way that Captain Wentworth can't find Anne's equal, and in the way that Anne can't quite ignore his presence and the memories it brings. It's interesting to me how sure they are of the other's feelings, and yet how very wrong they are in actuality.

Perception determines so much of our judgments (my dad often says, "Perception is everything"), and yet, Austen's observations of human nature remind me of how much goes on within another person's mind and heart that we're unaware of.

Question

What are your first impressions of Frederick Wentworth, as he's portrayed in these two chapters? Do you think he's justified in his caution and aloofness around Anne?

Giveaway!

Don't forget to log your giveaway entries this week using the Rafflecopter form below for a chance to win a hardcover copy of The Prayers of Jane Austen !

(Giveaway open to US residents only. Prize donated by the book's editor, Terry Glaspey. Thanks, Terry!)

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Which quote to ponder, observation, and question/response would you like to share?

Join us tomorrow for a special discussion of one of Jane Austen's prayers! (If you'd like to read along, we'll be chatting about Part I of The Prayers of Jane Austen.)