It is 1843. Miss Anne
Sharp was a former governess to Jane Austen’s brother Edward’s daughter Fanny
at his estate Godmersham. She met Jane
Austen while she worked for Edward and they struck up a lifelong
friendship. Miss Sharp was given a lock
of Jane’s hair after her death by her sister Cassandra. With a new test
available, she sends the lock off to be tested for arsenic poison. When the test comes back positive, Miss
Sharp’s suspicions are confirmed, her friend Jane was poisoned and she is determined
to discover the culprit.
The novel reverts back to Miss Sharp’s memories of how she
first met Jane and her family and their friendship throughout Jane’s life. Both Anne and Jane shared a love of books and
Anne enjoyed Jane’s wit and keen observations about people. Anne’s keen observations about Jane’s own
family makes her suspect that some family members were up to no good and leads
to her dismissal from Edward’s household.
Their friendship remains however up until the very end.
My favorite part of this novel was Jane Austen and her
family brought to life on the pages. I
loved reading about them through the years and imagining Jane in her life. It was wonderful reading and I tore through
this novel quickly. I will admit though
that the weakest part of the novel for me was the mystery. I don’t think it had a strong resolution at
all and was a bit disappointed by the ending.
This is my fifth item for the Pride & Prejudice 2013
Bicentenary Challenge. For more about
this novel, check out this guest blog by author Lindsay Ashford. Leave a comment while you are there for a
chance to win a copy of this novel.
Book Source: Review
Copy from Sourcebooks – Thanks!
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