Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee is a contemporary take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion in which Anne is a Korean drama actress who has returned to Los Angeles after 10 years, and her former love, Frederick, is a captain in the Culver City Fire Department.
There are many similarities to the original novel: Anne is persuaded by her aunt to break Frederick’s heart, her father is inept at business and had put the family in financial jeopardy, her father is vain and has an abundance of mirrors in his home, she has a cousin who obviously has a crush on Frederick…I think you get the idea.
Since the book is written from dual points of view, it doesn’t hit in the same way that Persuasion did, because we know how both characters feel, rather than wondering what Frederick’s true feelings are, and trying to determine them based on his actions as in the original novel. I felt like it took some of the magic out of the story, being in his head and seeing his thoughts. I think the author did try to capture some of the magic and romance by showing Frederick’s letters, but the prose just wasn’t the same. Maybe I was just expecting too much.
Several characters comment in the novel that Anne is shy, but I really didn’t feel that from her, and there’s a lot more anger on Anne’s part towards her aunt and her family than there was in the original novel. In the original novel, Anne was sometimes frustrated with her family, but she seemed more resigned to their behaviour.
Persuasion is my favourite of Jane Austen’s novels, so I had high hopes for this book, and while I enjoyed Give Me a Reason, it just didn’t have the same kind of magic for me that Persuasion had. I would still recommend it, I think my disappointment just stems from my love of the original.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Give Me a Reason publishes on July 29 2025.
Life, Tea, and Everything 