From the introduction alone I found myself reflecting on the issue of agenda when we speak. How often do we act to persuade or dissuade? Is it arrogance to do so? Is it selfish? Are we really respecting Allah’s Qadr (God’s Divine Plan) when we seek so often to intervene?
Pray, perhaps we need to practise a little less persuasion and a little more empathy. A little less arrogance and a little more trust. Whoops – am I merely trying to persuade? 🤭
The first volume largely sets the scene for the absolute build up that is the second volume of the book. It began as a steady read, soothing me to drift off to sleep, followed by “I can’t put it down” late nights.
What’s more, the sheer dread I felt at reading the brutal words describing a fellow single woman, few years my junior, as an “old lady”. She was not one and thirty! 😩
Shortly after (once I regained my sense of reality, that thankfully I’m not living in Victorian England) this was followed by a sigh of relief and a sense of feminine liberation. As women we really have realised that, value in life doesn’t come from marriage, but in honouring our freedom to choose. To live how we see fit. Free from societal demands, if we so wish.
Jane Austen, you were way ahead of your time! Persuasion carries many undercurrents of 2025 society, if you haven’t read it yet, I recommend – especially for single ladies 💅🏻
Have you read it? Share your reflections in the comments below 🥰
