Persuading Annie

MUST READ!!!! Persuasion is my favorite of all Austen's novels. The story is the most heart wrenching for me. This modern version of my favorite story lives up to the original. You love and hate all the character's in all the right spots. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT

Author Melissa Nathan continues her love of all things Jane Austen with an updated version of "Persuasion" with a couple twists to update it for the 21st century. After a home pregnancy test reveals she is pregnant, Annie Markham is ready to elope with her boyfriend Jake. But family machinations have a way of rearing their ugly heads, as family friend Susannah plants seeds of doubt in Annie's mind (Annie is an heiress, while Jake is working class). When she suddenly gets her period and is in shock, a fight with Jake results in his leaving her, thinking that she lied to him. Fast forward seven years. Annie still couldn't be more different then her two sisters, Katherine and Victoria, both of whom spend the family fortune as if it might disappear. Of course, the Markham family PR firm is finding itself in dire straights, and in need of a miracle. Enter management consulting whiz Jake Mead, the same Jake that shares a past with Annie. As Annie schemes to keep her distance from Jake, they do in fact run into each other (when she is not at her best, of course). He is still reeling that she dumped him without explanation; she cannot forgive him for walking out on her in her time of need. He reveals to his shrink that he does not want closure from Annie and her family - he wants revenge. Annie still feels a connection to her first love, but keeps the long-ended relationship a secret from her family, while they try to marry her off to the Markham CEO, and encourage Jake into a romance with the young sister of Victoria's husband. Will either of them ever have the guts to be truthful about their feelings and revisit the pain of their youth? Nathan's excellent prose peppers a truly original adaptation of a classic novel, giving it a great contemporary flavor that is sure to grasp the reader's attention.

For someone more accurate than a Swiss watch, when she missed her monthly period, Annie Markham assumes she is pregnant. She tells her boyfriend of two months nineteen years old Jake Mead, who reacts by asking her who the father is before collapsing at her feet. Annie and Jake argue even after she learns she is not pregnant over his reaction. They end their relationship although neither truly wants too. Annie figures that her wise godmother Susannah was right about the fickleness and unreliability of men.--- Seven years later, the family business is in trouble. Jake, considered the best consultant in London, is hired to save the firm from bankruptcy. He never got over Annie and how she dumped him; she never got over Jake and how he walked out on her. Annie hides their past from her parents and two sisters, but worries that Jake will use the teetering business to enact revenge. As each parades a potential significant other in front of the other, their love of seven years ago remains strong, but neither wants to risk admitting the truth.--- This fine contemporary chick lit romance moves Jane Austen's PERSUASION into a modern relationship. The story line is character driven as Annie and Jake, supported by a strong secondary cast, battle for "supremacy" the second time around even as denial is their weapon of choice. Jake acts like two people as he conveniently fits Susannah's worthless male stereotype too easily, but also at other times shows he is a responsible person. PERSUADING ANNIE is a wonderful tribute to Ms. Austen as is Melissa Nathan's previous homage to the great author (see PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND JASMIN FIELD).--- Harriet Klausner

"Persuading Annie" is Melissa Nathan's reworking of Jane Austen's classic "Persuasion". It follows the fate of the Markham family - owners of a once prestigious PR firm that is fast losing money and sending the family into possible bankruptcy. Nathan has reworked Austen's central characters (Anne, her loopy father and sisters, and Captain Wentworth) into believable, vulnerable and often hilarious modern persons.The story beings in 1994 when the youngest of the Markham daughters, Annie, believes herself to be pregnant at the age of nineteen. She is prepared to elope with her boyfriend Jake, when she discovers that she was only late, not pregnant. Jake doesn't stick around long enough to hear the truth of the matter and leaves Annie heartbroken and bitter before her years. Skip ahead seven years, when Jake re-enters Annie's life, as the only possible savior to her family's impending doom. He is hired on as a marketing consultant who can resurrect Markham's PR, but must contend with the perceivably bitchy Annie and his own feelings about what transpired between the two of them. And little did either Jake or Annie suspect that they would have to confront their emotions towards the other.Melissa Nathan's prose is quick-paced, light-hearted and witty. Her characters come to life as their stories intertwine to follow the plotline of Austen's "Persuasion". At times there seem to be an overabundance of characters, but their fates are so intertwined with those of the main characters and every subplot is completed by the novel's end. "Persuading Annie" is a quick, enjoyable read; especially for Austen fans who wish there were more original Jane Austen material to read. Melissa Nathan's novels are a worthy substitute.

Melissa Nathan, who previously wrote a modern version of Pride and Prejudice, take a stab at updating Persuasion in Persuading Annie.Overall, Persuading Annie is a good chick-lit book. I found both Annie and Jake to be likable characters with a believable relationship, although the supporting characters can get a bit campy at times. Some of the adaptations Nathan makes to Persuasion (the Markhams own a large company rather than an estate, how Jake returns to Annie's life, the alley scene) were great, while others seemed to be a bit of a stretch. But the book is still funny and well paced. Persuading Annie is an enjoyable book, although I prefer Pride, Prejudice, and Jasmin Field. Austen fans will get a kick out of seeing Persuasion's characters in a modern setting.