WHAT NIGERIAN T.V REALLY NEEDS...

Let's take a look at what we have on Nigerian T.V these days...

 Tinsel, Super Story, Dear Mama, Civilian Barracks, Face To Face, Papa Ajasco and Company, One Big Family, So Wrong; So Right, reality shows like Gulder Ultimate Search, Project Fame, Nigerian Idols, foreign shows including telenovelas (unfortunately several of them are airing at the same time hence, hard to follow),  Avatar: The Last Airbender, iCarly, etc.
 In the past, there was Desperate Housewives( for a short time), N.Y.P.D Blue, 24, Profiler, The Pretender, Matlock, Diagnosis Murder, Jake & The Fat Man,The Wonder Years, Dr. Who, Watch Over  Me, Twin Peaks, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel etc.

The Soap Operas: The Bold & The Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, Passions, Dallas, Generations, Another Life, Santa Barbara, General Hospital, The Young and The Restless and Sunset Beach. And there were the sitcoms; The Cosby Show, 'Allo, 'Allo, Some Mothers Do 'Ave Them, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Cosby, Sanford and Son, Family Matters, Friends, For Your Love, Different Strokes, The Jeffersons, Good News, Dharma and Greg, Just Shoot Me!, The Golden Girls and so on. Nigerian T.V had Family Circle, Everyday People, House Apart, Palace and Fuji House of Commotion- a spin-off of Checkmate.

America in particular has a huge T.V history; sitcoms, series and soap operas. The one I'm particular impressed with is Guiding Light; the longest running soap in history as it began as  a radio program in 1937 to 1949 and then made its television debut in 1952 and went on until 2009.
Nigeria has its own share of past memorable shows... but how many people still remember them enough to list them and talk about them; and I mean people who are old enough to remember them at all and yearn to watch them again. Nothing against the new Nigerian shows but they do not hold a candle to the past shows, shows that seem to be locked away in the studios' vaults these days and half forgotten.

 NTA 10 occasionally shows The New Village Headmaster (which started as The Village Headmaster)  and it's really a treat to see the old stars; some of them-alas- late now; Justus Esiri (Headmaster C. Ali), Joe Layode (Mr. Garuba), Oba Funsho Aleolu; Alaaye of Ode- Remo (Councillor Eleyinmi), Oba Wole Amele; Alara of Aramoko (who played the very quarrelsome  Councillor Balogun) and  Elsie Olusola (who played the village seamstress 'Sisi' Clara and was the real life  wife of the now late creator of the show, Chief Segun Olusola).
But seriously, are we expected to simply forget the past shows all together and remember them via word of mouth? I don't think so.
Oh no... if other countries- from the old to the present generation fans can vividly talk about their old shows- the sitcoms and T.V series in particular, we should be able to do the same from now on. And how are old shows really and vividly remembered? Via Reruns!
How hard is it to set aside  a particular slot and bring back the old shows for the veteran fans to re experience and the new ones to feast their eyes on and enjoy? There are several I can mention and very certain Nigerian fans will love to see again, the veteran actors and actresses besides the actual shows, let us go back and see how Nigerian entertainment was back in the 70s- 90s and compare them with what we have today. Reruns is what Nigerian T.V needs, going down memory lane instead allowing the memories to die. In other countries, old shows aren't just re-run on T.V, they come out on DVD!
I can definitely mention more than a few shows that should have reruns- aside from The Village Headmaster. Even if they can't be made into DVD (because of piracy) it doesn't mean it can't be brought back to the screens.

Basi & Company: comedy/satire created by Ken Saro Wiwa about the misadventures of a con man/loser (Albert Egbe, later Zulu Adikwe) who would rather rely on  'get rich quick' schemes to become the millionaire he so badly wants to be instead of  getting an honest job. "To be a millionaire, think like a millionaire." was his  catchphrase.

SECOND CHANCE: NTA's version of  the classic British sitcom; Mind Your Language; the long suffering English language teachers (played by Sonny Irabor and the late Funsho Alabi) attempting to teach students of different ethnic tribes (in the original the students were of different nationalities) how to speak proper English, with hilarious results. Also starring were Olu Jacobs and Lai Ashadele.

COCK CROW AT DAWN: Bello (the late George Menta) returns to his village with his family after harrowing experiences in the city and must cope not only with  the new country life but also with  his stern and resentful uncle whose care he'd left the farm. The iconic theme song was performed by Bongos Ikwue. Click  on link to listen.

BEHIND THE CLOUDS: A drama series that revolved around the lives of families living in Jos. In particular was the Okonzua family ruled by a very stern father (Zack Amata) rigidly opposed to his daughter Efe's (Evelyn Ikuenobe-Otaigbe) music career, Efe receiving  support from younger brother Nosa (late MacArthur Fom) and their caring mother, Adesuwa (Franca Brown). There was also the story arc involving Funmi-Efe's friend  and Bayo- Efe's boyfriend (Ene Oloja and Dan Emeni) who found themselves on opposing sides when their estranged father, Jide  (late George Menta) returns, much to the dismay and anger of their uncle, Dapo (late Matt Dadzie). The series later lost stream for a number of reasons;

                                          

       Efe and Bayo's story arc  grew sour and irritating

Being Behind The Clouds  'super couple', it was rather disappointing to see Bayo becoming  more jealous and rather possessive of Efe,  which led to them fighting for a while. Even after they made up, the story arc where Efe was mistakenly pronounced pregnant by her doctor during an unexpected illness led to them drifting apart again, because Efe stubbornly refused to forgive Bayo for his behaviour towards her during the mistake. They bump into each other again under unexpected circumstances but the soap was cancelled before fans could see them properly reconciled.

                                                  

                                                     

 Zach Amata's long and unexplained  absence

Zack Amata, who played Efe and Nosa's stern father was absent from the show for a long while. Hence,  for a long time, viewers had to put up with the 'Papa Efe is missing' storyline in Behind The Clouds , which prompted  the addition of late Christopher Erakpotobor as his visiting brother. 

Ironically enough, Amata returned not long after the tragic passing of MacArthur Fom, who played his son, Nosa. The reason for 'Papa Efe's' long absence from his family was never explained in the soap. 


                                                          

 

MacArthur's Fom's death  

The handsome young actor was a huge  fan favourite, so his  unexpected death- on the 5th of December, 1989- left the soap's cast members and viewers  in shock and deep grief. His character was  written out of the soap and was never recast. But  let's be real... would fans have tolerated another actor playing Nosa? 

 For the rest of Behind The Clouds' run, Nosa was referred dead but the  cause of the character's off screen death was never mentioned or explained. In the memorable  episode where Papa Efe (Zack Amata) asked after Nosa from his wife (Franca Brown) had fans at the edge of their seats. But when Adesuwa began with 'It's a long story...', the scene cut to a commercial. Back to the  scene, Adesuwa was shown weeping while Papa Efe's comforting hand was  on her shoulder, his expression sad. 
 In the real world, Fom's actual cause of death was  Cerebral Spinal Meningitis. 



                                                          

 Ene Oloja's departure 

The actress who played Bayo's sister, one of Efe's closest friends  (and their late mother in a flashback) Ene Oloja left the soap and shortly after,  her then marriage was announced in the papers. 
Funmi's recurring presence in the soap was cut when she was transferred to a remote area, no thanks to  the angry father of a spoilt brat she administered punishment to during school hours. Funmi made one more appearance several episodes later, when Bayo and a friend went to visit her. 


Fortune's story arc. Fortune- the son of a club owner (played by Matt Dadzie's then wife, (Gladys Bilqis Goubadia Dadzie) was played by Charles Oloja. Fortune  was a temperamental young man, many times causing his mother embarrassment and seemingly having no direction in life. When he had an accident, his father offered his blood to save him only to get a shock when it's revealed he's not a match, hence not Fortune's  father. His father allegedly turned out to be one of his mother's close friends and Fortune was last seen going to the man's house with a travelling bag. 

                                

Felicia's temporary and permanent departure

 Felicia, a journalist, was Efe's friend besides  Funmi in the soap, ended up sharing  her flat with Efe after Efe's father finally threw her out of the house. Her story arc was mainly dating a married lawyer, Buba,  and becoming pregnant by him early in the series.  Felicia was more interested in being an independent single mother than Buba's wife. Even after Buba proposed to her and Buba's wife finally accepted the situation and wanted to welcome her and her eventual baby boy to the family, she coldly rebuffed them- so this character was not exactly a fan favourite.  While still pregnant, Felicia disappeared for several episodes, her sudden return was baffling as she was shown returning home in a taxi with no bag, and silently weeping in her sitting room. Her absence was explained, she had been kidnapped...most likely  for something she'd written in her professional capacity as a journalist. 
After her son is born, Felicia took him on a trip to Lagos and was never seen again for the rest of Behind The Clouds' run.



                                                 MIND BENDING

Created by Lola Fani-Kayode (creator of Mirror In The Sun); this drama/documentary mini-series was made up of  four stories- each split into episodes- about three drug addicts and an alcoholic. Through each story, the effects and consequences of drug addiction and alcoholism were realistically presented.


                                     MAGANA JARI CE (Eloquence Is An Asset)

 Adapted from Abukakar Imam's book, I would describe this as a Hausa version of  The Arabian Nights. In every episode of this series, a fluently talking parrot narrated a tale to its reluctant and sometimes irritated master; each tale acted out by a cast of talented actors and actresses.


                                                      THE THIRD EYE

Detective drama series featuring veteran actor  Olu Jacobs as Inspector Best Idafa whose over enthusiastic and inquisitive daughter Uze (Yomi Adeyemi Wilson)  provided (most of the time unintentionally) vital clues to solving his cases.  After Olu Jacobs and his character  later departed,   another detective was introduced in the series,  played by Nobert Young.


                                                           RIPPLES

  Created by Zeb Ejiro, this soap mostly revolved round the Dehinde-Phillips family who experience tragedy and family turmoil after the only son Melvin (Patrick Doyle)  is killed  in a car accident but leaves the bulk of his estate to his ex girl friend Onome and their son Elo,  instead of his widow Mimi (Bimbo Odekunle) and their daughter, Doris.
 Richard Mofe- Damijo (credited as Evans Damijo at the time) played a police officer investigating Melvin's death and had a romantic relationship with Mimi for a time, then moved on with an old girlfriend Daphne (Barbara Soky), which didn't work out either.

Other story lines included a turbulent romance and marriage between Melvin's sister Bukky (Yetunde Funmi Idowu, later played by two other actresses) and Nnamdi Udogwu (Sola Fosudo) who have an on and off and on again relationship all through the series. The main villain is Talab Abass (Alex Usifo) who was suspected of being behind Melvin's accident but was never  convicted as they could never really  prove he was responsible. As more characters and an additional family were brought in, the soap somewhat lost it's direction and got boring. But airing the earliest episodes won't hurt.

CHECKMATE: Long before Tinsel, Amaka Igwe's creation reigned, filling the void left by Behind The Clouds' cancellation. The families featured in this soap; the Haastrups  (centering on the 3 siblings Anne, Benny and Richard), the Edems, The Fujis, The Kadris, the Ola- Daniels basically had one thing in common, family disharmony. And let's not forget the Udoka (Bimbo Manuel)  and Ada (Mildred Iweka) story line; how Udoka's family did all they could to break up  their marriage and force a village girl, Nkemji (Uche Osotule) on him as Ada was an 'osu'. This soap which ended on an ambiguous note, had a comedy spin off  years later, The Fuji House of Commotion.

SAMANJA:    (which means sergeant major) was a comedy series starring Hausa actor Usman Baba Pategi as the main character Samaja; a soldier in the Nigerian Army and the comical  antics of his men as they work and fight in the barracks and headquarters.

NEW MASQUERADE: Comedy series revolving around two main households, and their neighbours; one headed by Chief (Dr.) Zebrudaya " alias 4.30" (Chika Opalla) and consisting of his wife Ovularia (Liz Iboeme) and their bumbling houseboys- Clarus (Davis Ofor) and Giringory (late James Iroha, who was the series creator). The other household was  headed by 'Prince' Jegede Sokoya (late Claude Eke) who nearly always quarrelled with his wife Akpenor (late Christie Essien Igbokwe), later in the series he got an even more temperamental wife, Ramota. Other memorable characters is the free loading, presumptuous Nati, played by  Romanus Amuta , the conniving but likable Zaki (Tony Akposheri) and equally bumbling Cyracus (Christopher Ekweonye).



Seriously, these shows have to come back!

Never step into THE PET SEMATARY!

In the spirit of Halloween; I choose to go over one of Stephen King's earlier works; Pet Sematary- a book, according to trivia I gleaned, he almost didn't hand over to be published because the story scared a lot of people... including himself.
And no wonder. The first edition cover is enough to terrify anyone but the story itself... how many would want to read it again? It's not just the story itself, but more about the question derived from reading it and that is... is death really better?

The plot: The Creed family moves to Ludlow, Maine (Maine the setting of most of King's works). The family consists of the father Louis, his wife Rachel (who has a morbid fear of death due to witnessing her sister's agonising death from spinal meningitis), their little daughter Ellie and their baby boy, Gage. They immediately befriended their neighbor across the road, Judd Crandall who takes them on a tour to the nearby Pet Cemetery; to Rachel's dismay, which affects her for a time and is constantly afraid her daughter would keep asking questions about death as she had a cherished pet cat, called Church. And Ellie did ask... "Daddy, why don't pets live as long as people?"

There is an aura of doom via two warnings; Judd told Louis to mind the road that runs across their house as it is constantly used by huge trucks and a warning from the ghost of a recently deceased patient he was unable to save; Victor Pascow. Pascow takes him to on a late night visit to the Pet Sematary and ominously says... 

"The door must not be opened. Don't go beyond, no matter how you you feel you need to, Doctor. The barrier was not made to be broken. Remember this: there is more power here that you know. It is old and always restless. Remember."

What barrier? What power? the reader wonders.  Louis of course was inclined to think the nightly visit was a dream, until he woke up in the morning and found his feet and the bed sheets dirty. If I were in his shoes, I would've thought it was a bad case of sleepwalking and dreaming at the same time! But he ignored it, thinking it was all a bad dream.

Then came Ellie's worst fear, while she and Gage and their mother are away, Church is run over by a truck on the road. Judd then does something that one would say was a mistake but actually, as he explained to Louis later; an action to be learned from. He took Church to the Pet Sematary but instead of the usual burying place where long dead pets were buried, took him to a further portion of the place- which is an ancient burying ground used by the Mimac Indians a long time ago. This portion has the power to bring the dead back to life. 

And sure enough, Church returned to the house as though nothing happened to him. But Louis immediately noticed something was not quite right with the cat. He's not animated at all, instead zombie-like and he smelt of sour earth, of death; plus he wouldn't eat the mice and birds he kept killing. Ellie no longer cherishes her pet on her return and urged her father to keep it away from her. While Judd did this favor to keep Ellie from grieving, he also tried to show her through her father's eyes that... sometimes death was better. 

And a huge tragedy hit the Creed family some time later, 2 year old Gage is hit by a truck on the road Judd warned them about, but of course the poor child was too young to know or care about the dangers of playing on the road. Judd sensed his bereaved friend was going to put the gruesome action to the test and warned him not to; just like Church and just like the last human who was buried there several years ago (and turned out to be an abomination), Gage WILL NOT be the same. It  was best to let the dead rest in peace, he was trying to tell him.

But intense grief could make anyone do anything. Even with what he was told by Judd and by Pascow long before Gage's death, Louis took  his dead child to the cursed ancient burial ground in the Pet Sematary.... with terrible consequences; just like he was warned about. He refused to accept that sometimes, no matter how sad and agonising,  the dead were better off dead... and by his action, his family and his life was no longer the same. For first time readers, I will not add spoilers except that Louis ended up burying two corpses that terrible night.

Like most of Stephen King's works; this was adapted to a movie in 1989 and got good reviews mostly because the screenplay was written by King himself and  King did a cameo as a priest officiating a funeral.



According to Publisher's Weekly, Pet Sematary is "The most frightening book Stephen King as ever written!'" Since the main theme of this novel is death and resurrection; and combined with the supernatural elements, no wonder he almost threw it away. But he lived up to his reputation as the master of horror with PET SEMATARY  and both the book and movie is an ideal thing to view on Halloween... that is if you're into scary stories!








HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!  

Quote from book: 

He suddenly thought of Ellie telling him, He called "Lazarus, come forth"... because if He hadn't called for Lazarus by name, everybody in that graveyard would have risen.

SCARIEST PICKS FOR HALLOWEEN

                                                              MAGIC (1978) 

                                         

                                                CURSE OF CHUCKY (2013) 

                                         
                                       

                                           

                                                         HELLRAISER (1987) 

                                                     

                                       


                                                      THE THING (1982) 

                                 
                                      CARRIE (2013) 

                                               
        HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!  


                      
Comments by CommentNation.com

WATCHING... AND RE-WATCHING TELENOVELAS

Can anyone resist the angst filled love stories surrounding a beautiful heroine and a handsome, dashing hero? No!

Telenovelas differ from soap operas; the main difference being the main coupe in the story, after overcoming misunderstandings and obstacles by the antagonists; have a guaranteed happy ending, which is how the story ends; unlike soap operas (also a guilty pleasure), you have the love, passion and angst as well but alas, the couple are split up, get back together and then split again and several storylines are brought in, some of them really exasperating.

Not that telenovelas don’t give out their own share of exasperation, most viewers get worked up when the story isn’t going the way they want- the best example being when the hero and heroine aren’t together no thanks to the scheming of their enemies or for some other reason. We forget it’s all fiction and feel connected to some of the characters- the main couple especially- try to guess the outcome and at the same time hoping the antagonists will end up in a deep dark hole!

Since the first one aired here in Nigeria back in 1993- The Rich Also Cry; I’ve counted telenovelas as one of my numerous guilty pleasures. The angst is one thing but the love and passion between the hero and heroine, plus the circumstances they find themselves in, makes you just want to re-watch them when after the story ends. The telenovelas I can honestly watch over and over again are: 

Tu O Nadie (No One But You): A greedy and disgruntled man decided to use his unsuspecting fiancée as a means of getting his hands on his stepbrother’s vast wealth. But Raquel and  his step brother Antonio fall in love instead and suddenly the battle between the two men becomes more intense. This telenovela actually has three remakes! 

Escrava Isaura( Enslaved Isaura or Isaura The Slave Girl): Set in slave era Brazil; an educated biracial slave girl began questioning her slave status after she and a plantation owner fall in love and their main obstacle is her master's brutish son who wants Isaura to be his concubine. Her lover is murdered and she flees to another town; after a period of healing falls in love again, this time with an abolitionist.

Cuando Seas Mia (When You Are Mine): The son of a wealthy family falls in love with one of the hacienda's workers. But Diego and Paloma's love is constantly threatened by some disapproving members of Diego's family and other people who would rather see Diego and Paloma apart than together where they belong. 

La hija del Jardinero (The Gardener's Daughter): A young doctor and the daughter of a gardener fall in love but a secret and a scheming rival keep them apart; the secret being Louisa Fernanda is actually the daughter of  the step father Carlos Eduardo despises. 

Mulheres De Areia (Sand Women or Secrets of The Sand): This Brazilian telenovela is about totally different twin sisters; Ruth and Raquel, the daughters of a fisherman. The scheming seductive Raquel manages to steal the rich and handsome Marcus away from her gentle sister but how long will Marcus continue to allow himself to be fooled by Raquel and realise his true love is Ruth? 

LA USURPADORA (The Usurper): In order to cover up an extra martial affair, Paola blackmails her recently discovered twin, Paulina, to pose as her. Drama and confusion unfolds after a baffled Carlos Daniel- Paola's husband- falls in love with his sister-in-law. 

ROSA SALVAJE (Wild Rose): The Rich Also Cry (Los Ricos Tambien Lloran) alumni- Veronica Castro and Guillermo Capetillo- play a girl from the wrong side of the tracks and a rich young man who at first married her for the sole reason of annoying his irritating and snobbish sisters but realises too late he was actually in love with his 'savage' wife after she finds out the truth. Now Ricardo has to prove his love to Rose at the same time shake off the possessive Leonora. 

SORTILEGIO (Love Spell): The third remake of Tu O Nadie(No One But You); the same story line as the original, only this time Alejandro and Bruno are half brothers and Bruno- the main villain- would go even against his own mother to get what he wanted- Alejandro's inheritance/position and Alejandro's wife, Maria Jose. 

LA MUJER DE LORENZO (Lorenzo's Wife or Lorenzo's Woman): Lorenzo is heartbroken when his wife Laura cheats on him with her personal trainer, Alex. His old flame hopes to get him back but to her dismay, Lorenzo finds himself falling in love with Alex's ex; Silvia. 

Jane Austen's PERSUASION

When one speaks of Jane Austen's (1775-1817) works, the discussion would immediately lead to  Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma; perhaps Mansfield Park.  But if anyone wanted to start a Jane Austen discussion with me, I would want to talk about her final book; Persuasion. 

Set during the Napoleon War era, Persuasion is about a totally different of all Austen's heroines- Anne Elliot. She's the middle child of the family; the first daughter  being Elizabeth and the youngest  one is Mary. Elizabeth is as vain and self-absorbed as their father; Sir Walter while Mary Elliot Musgrove, the only married one among the three girls- is whiny and  likes being the center of attention.

Eight years before the main events of the book, Anne was dating a naval officer she was very much in love with, Frederick Wentworth, who however was poor and in those days; a girl from good family is not expected to marry a poor man as such an alliance was deemed 'unsuitable.' Anne was persuaded by a family friend, actually a friend of her late mother who was Anne's godmother/advisor to the family; Lady Russell, to reject his proposal of marriage because of his poor status and Anne (and I have to say foolishly) did what she was told, leaving Captain Wentworth heartbroken and bitter; he then left the country.

For years, Anne was haunted by her decision as she was still in love with Frederick, which made her turn down Charles Musgrove's offer of marriage, thus turning his attention to her silly sister, Mary. Anne blamed herself for giving in to the persuasion in the first place rather than Lady Russell and her inner unhappiness was made worse by her family's complete disregard of her; and she kept asking the same question over and over... did she do the right thing by yielding to Lady Russell's advice? And, how would things have turned out if she'd defied the advice and married him anyway?

Modern readers would say she was very foolish to have broken up with Captain Wenworth because of his poverty but all the same, Anne cannot seen as a mercenary girl who cares only about money; she's nothing of the sort. Remember things were different in those days; women, mostly women of the upper class did not work hence had to marry men who would be more than capable of looking after them. Of course there were the rare modern women at the time who would use their hearts (love) rather than their heads(practicality). Anne's flaw was that she was easily led and should have shown more firmness when Lady Russell gave her so called well meaning advice. But being young and fond of her godmother, she felt Lady Russell  was wise and always right, hence the breakup.

Now Anne is 27 and resigned to remain a spinster. Meanwhile, Sir Walter has squandered most of the family fortune and is advised by Lady Russell to rent out the family home, while they move to Bath for sometime. The tenants are Admiral and Mrs. Croft and to Anne's horror, Captain Wentworth, back from the war,  turned out to be Mrs. Croft's brother! The war had benefited Captain Wentworth hence was now a rich man but still very angry and bitter with Anne for what she did to him, more so at Lady Russell for persuading her to do it. Anne had to watch in pain as he assumed a cold attitude towards her and he begins to court one of her brother-in-law's sisters, Louisa; refusing to so much as be friends with Anne. But after Louisa suffers a mishap (which was entirely her fault), Captain Wentworth saw how Anne took charge of the situation and realised she was still the sweet, level headed girl he fell in love with and how he had allowed his anger and wounded pride come between them.

Finally, he manned up and sent her a love letter, not doing her a favor of giving her another chance but asking her to give him another chance!

Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! 

Isn't that enough to make any girl feel so loved and lucky?

The book isn't just an old era romance; it's pretty much a satire. It reminded me of the historical romances I've read over the years, some by Barbara Cartland. How class and family were put above a person's integrity and accomplishments and how the self made men who made their money in trade- even those who pursued legit trade- were looked down upon and contemptuously called the  nouveau riche,  new money.

Lady Russell saw Captain Wentworth as a man with no money, no social class and no future prospects; writing him off as an unsuitable husband for Anne; I see her as a snob and an interfering busybody. What was the guarantee that a richer upper class man would have made Anne happy? Mr. Elliot, Anne's cousin only wanted to marry her to secure his position as Sir Walter's heir presumptive, not because he was in love with her, hence- he was marrying for money, not love; making him the mercenary one. Anne found love with a self-made man and was more than lucky enough to reconnect with him.

Like most classics, this novel has movie adaptations; my favorite being the 1995 adaptation starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. My favorite scene was their meeting on the street, where he took off his hat, took her hand and said to her: 'I tried to forget you. I thought I had'. After which, the kiss and later on Captain Wentworth showing up at Sir Walter's party to inform him, smiling at Anne the whole time, that his proposal of marriage to Anne was accepted and he wanted his permission to fix the wedding date. Oh... the scowls on Mr. Elliot and Elizabeth's faces!

Of Jane Austen's books, I like this one best.

Quote from book: 

"If I was wrong in yielding to persuasion once, remember that it was to persuasion exerted on the side of safety, not of risk. When I yielded, I thought it was to duty; but no duty could be called in aid here. In marrying a man indifferent to me, all risk would have been incurred and all duty violated."