Two sisters, but with two very different practical approaches to life, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood react to their trials and disappointments in characteristically different ways—Elinor, sensible and steady, is calm, reasonable, and self-controlled; Marianne, sensitive and impulsive, would despise herself if she could be calm or self-controlled in the face of her own joys or sorrows.  How will she learn her mistake—and will learning it change her or crush her?

Sense and Sensibility is a moderately long book; it’s not impossible to read it in a day, but you probably won’t get a whole lot else done.  It’s about the same length as Pride and Prejudice, probably a little shorter than Little Women.

It hasn’t got a very exciting plot in any adventurous way and I can’t imagine a very young reader would be able to understand it too well.  I rank it at 15+.

Jump to the end for a short concluding analysis, or read straight on through for more detail!

The dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth is ready to marry the first girl who comes after him—or so he says, with two mental reservations.  First: she can’t be Anne Elliot.  Second: she has do well in a comparison with Anne Elliot… because even though Anne Elliot broke her engagement with him eight years ago just because he wasn’t rich enough, she’s still his standard of perfection.

Persuasion is not a long book—it’s comparable to The Railway Children and Alice in Wonderland.  I recommend it for ages 15+.

If you just need a quick recap skip straight to the end; or read on through for the details!