A Cup of Tea & Biscuits

Day 1: Best Book I Read Last Year Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange This is Persuasion from Captain Fredrick Wentworth's point of view, from the time he first sets foot into Anne Elliot's life as a penniless naval officer, to the acceptance and eventual refusal of his offer of marriage by Anne, his returning as a somewhat wealthy captain of the Navy, and his struggles as he decides to 'settle down'. I'm not very certain if this book deserves the title of 'best book I read last year' but it definitely is one of my favorite in the past 10 months. It is filled with enough detail to stay honest to Miss Austen's narration. I found the beginning most interesting, the initial courtship when Wentworth falls in love with Anne. It is so pure and just. *sigh*

Jane Austen is was is a genius. Her writing takes you into a world with characters that every girl wishes were real, especially the male protagonists even though all of the stories are told from the female perspective. Captain Wentworth's Diary is one of many of Amanda Grange 's books that attempts to give fans the other side of the story, the thoughts running through the minds of the man that many of us believe could be the man of our dreams! I liked Mr. Darcy's Diary, but disliked Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, so I was a little skeptical about reading another of Grange's books. To my extreme delight, I was not disappointed. This book gives you Captain Wentworth's side of the happenings of Persuasion in a very modest and sentimental way that may have made Austen proud of her creations. It is insightful enough and stays true to the story and its gaps that fully believe that Captain Wentworth maintained this diary himself. You catch a glimpse into the passion an Austen hero...