Anne Elliot, our lead in Persuasion, is a mature, intelligent woman who has grown up to realize they importance of following your heart regardless of the opinions of those around you. She learns this lesson just in time to have her happy ending. It also gives her the ability to look outside societal title and rank to appreciate the happy endings for those around her. She's an amazing character, full of so much emotion for other despite the lack of regard shown to her by her father and oldest sister. Living a relatively comfortable life, it is the lack of regard for her needs that's her unique obstacle. Austen typically focuses on rank and obstacles society places in the way of happiness more centrally than she does here.
Persuasion also boasts a male lead who's not stiff and inaccessible (see Pride and Prejudice.) Captain Wentworth doesn't hide his emotional side, going so far as to drop hints to Anne of how he feels about her during public conversations. He even writes her a very personal letter while in a room full of people passion so overcomes him. While not an "open book," Wentworth is still more multi-dimensional than Austen typically allowed her male characters to be.
This was the last book Austen wrote before her death and it's very apparent how much she matured as a writer throughout her career when pitting it against any of her other works. There's nothing frivolous in Persuasion; every character, every event contributes to the story in such a perfect way that you can't help but love every page. It has been a little over a decade since I last read Persuasion and it's great to know it's still as wonderful as I've always remembered it. I know it's hard to purposefully pick up 19th Century literature, but if you ever feel the urge, make this your first choice.
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