Modern Jane Austen retellings are a dime a dozen, and yet Persuasion is the hardest Austen book to do a modern retelling of. The States by Nora Woodsey manages the almost miraculous achievement of not just actually being a modern Persuasion retelling, however, but it’s also a pretty inventive an interesting one.
The problem with Persuasion, if one wants to think of that as a problem, is that it feels like a very dated book, at least in setup. And what one might understand of a Jane Austen heroine, back in the day, is much less understandable today. So how do you turn this book’s premise into something that works in this day and age? Enter Tildy Sullivan and a sleep study that’s going to change her life.
Okay, sleep study sounds like a very weird setup, but bear with me. It’s not about the sleep study per se, it’s about the memories it brings for Tildy. Memories of Galway, Ireland and Aidan, the boy she was forced to leave behind. And though forced to leave behind still sounds more like a conflict for heroines from two hundred years ago, in the world of people with money, it still makes some perverted sense.
A little slow in the middle, The States is still a very entertaining read that turns out to be about as feminist a retelling as you can probably do of this particular Jane Austen story. And despite me waxing poetic about Persuasion, and my love for the Jane Austen book, the best thing about The States is that you don’t actually need to remember or have any familiarity with Persuasion to understand or get into the book. In fact, consider Persuasion a wink between the author and some of her friends. Not everyone has to get it. If you don’t, that’s fine. You can still enjoy the book, as long as you enjoy second-chance stories.
Because, in the end, that’s what Persuasion and what The States are all about. About the idea that, no matter if you get it wrong once, if someone convinces you to walk away, that doesn’t mean you’ve lost your chance at the life and the love you want and deserve. Now, there’s always another chance waiting for you to take it. That chance might not always look exactly like you think it looks, but it is always there. You just have to reach for it.
The States by Nora Woodsey is available now wherever books are sold.