The Elopement by Gill Hornby (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What is your favorite fall flavor?  I love pumpkin everything, especially baked goods.

Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park was Jane Austen’s beloved niece.  As the eldest in a large clan of eleven children, she found herself running the household after her mother’s death when she was fifteen.  Now at age twenty-seven, she has received an offer from a widowed neighbor, Sir Edward Knatchbull.  She wants time to think upon it, but soon finds herself quickly wed to a domineering man.  She wants to love her stepdaughter, Mary Dorothea, but can’t warm to the girl.  Mary Dorothea grows up into a lovely young woman. Will she follow her family wishes when it comes to love, or will she take destiny into her own hands?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel was a slow burn read that I slowly immersed myself into.  I enjoyed reading it and felt I couldn’t put I down as I got closer to the end.

·       The book was told in four sections.  Section 1 was Fanny’s proposal and marriage, Section 2 was Mary Dorothea growing up, Section 3 was Mary Dorothea’s proposal and elopement, and Section 4 was her marriage and life.

·       I felt for Fanny at first, but I was disturbed that if Sir Edward or Fanny did like a match for any reason, they could break up a happy couple.  It did not seem fair. 

·       I loved that Cassandra Austen was in the novel at times, especially in the last section.

·       I felt immersed in the world of Austen’s family as it continued on after her death.  Fanny was her beloved niece, but seemed to veer off the path that she was on during Jane Austen’s life.

·       Childbirth was so dangerous for women back then.  These were real women and so many lost their lives.

·       I liked that Mary Dorothea went for her happiness.

·       There is a great author’s note at the end of the novel that gives information on the real history.

·       I also enjoyed Miss Austen and Godmersham Park by this author.  I can’t see what she writes next!

Overall, The Elopement by Gill Hornby is an excellent novel with riveting characters that makes one feel that they have stepped into the world of Jane Austen’s family.  I highly recommend it for all Jane Austen or historical fiction lovers out there.

Book Source:  Thank-you to @gill.hornby @pegasus_books @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. 

Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What's your favorite fandom?  I definitely have a lot of favorite fandoms, but one of my top fandoms is Jane Austen.  I love all things Austen. 

I was excited to be on the book tour for the new novel Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby.  I enjoyed Gill Hornby’s previous book Miss Austen about Jane’s sister, Cassandra.  Godmersham Park is set at the estate of Jane’s older brother, Edward, and is focused on his family’s governess Anne Sharp.  Edward was adopted by the Knight family and inherited a great estate.  He also married Elizabeth Bridges and ultimately had eleven children, so a governess was well needed.  Who was Anne Sharpe?  That is the mystery of this novel.  The novel starts with Anne being told that her father has cut her off after her mother’s death and that she has to move out of her house.  Her father’s attorney has recommended her as a governess to the Austen family. Anne starts in her new position at the estate and gets to know its workings and the family.  Through flash backs, the reader learns of the life she lived before, which seems to be of a lady with means. What happened that set her on the path to becoming a governess?  Will she find success and happiness at her new position?

I enjoyed reading Godmersham Park.  I love reading about governesses and find them intriguing.  They are educated women of some standing that are neither servant nor part of the family. They have to find a way to find that fine line within their household.  I loved how the story of this novel slowly unraveled showing how Anne Sharpe ended up in the position that she was in and who exactly she was before she was a governess.  The callous way that her father abandoned her after her mother’s death was distressful.  Anne didn’t want to marry, but I think her mother was just trying to project her by pushing suitors her way.  I also loved seeing members of Austen’s family such as her beloved niece Fanny and brother Henry.  Henry is everyone’s favorite and is charming.  Jane Austen is first introduced via letters until the reader finally meets her when she visits.  She is delightful and becomes fast friends with Anne.  Anne unfortunately does not have the best of times at her position.

Anne suffered from debilitation headaches, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about the “help” that she received from Elizabeth.  She pushed cures on her until she has a horrific surgery.  Was she just helping her because she cared or was, she just helping her to keep a good governess?  Regency era medicine was not the best.

There is an excellent author’s note at the end of the novel that explains what happened to Anne Sharpe after her two years at Godmersham Park.  Jane Austen and Anne Sharpe remained friends until Jane’s passing.  I loved the detail that an original copy of Emma was recently auctioned that was dedicated by Jane to Anne Sharpe.  Anne Sharpe was able to have a successful life after her time with the Austen-Knight family.

Overall, Godmersham Park is a great portrait of the Austen family and the life of a governess during the Regency era.  Both Anne Sharpe and Jane Austen found themselves in positions that they couldn’t control due to being poor single women of the era.

Review Copy from author Pegasus Books as part of the Austenprose Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: Godmersham Park: A Novel of the Austen Family

·       Author: Gill Hornby

·       Genre: Historical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction, Austenesque

·       Publisher: ‎Pegasus Books (November 1, 2022)

·       Length: (416) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook 

·       ISBN: 978-1639362585

·       Tour Dates: October 24 – November 13, 2022

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A richly imagined novel inspired by the true story of Anne Sharp, a governess who became very close with Jane Austen and her family by the #1 International bestselling-author of Miss Austen.

On January 21, 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess. At thirty-one years old, she has no previous experience of either teaching or fine country houses. Her mother has died, and she has nowhere else to go. Anne is left with no choice. For her new charge—twelve-year-old Fanny Austen—Anne's arrival is all novelty and excitement.

The governess role is a uniquely awkward one. Anne is neither one of the servants, nor one of the family, and to balance a position between the "upstairs" and "downstairs" members of the household is a diplomatic chess game. One wrong move may result in instant dismissal. Anne knows that she must never let down her guard.

When Mr. Edward Austen's family comes to stay, Anne forms an immediate attachment to Jane. They write plays together and enjoy long discussions. However, in the process, Anne reveals herself as not merely pretty, charming, and competent; she is clever too. Even her sleepy, complacent, mistress can hardly fail to notice.

Meanwhile Jane's brother, Henry, begins to take an unusually strong interest in the lovely young governess. And from now on, Anne's days at Godmersham Park are numbered.

 

ADVANCE PRAISE

"This is a deeply imagined and deeply moving novel. Reading it made me happy and weepy in equally copious amounts…I read it straight through without looking up.”— Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Bookclub

· Hornby’s skillful mix of fact and fiction captures the complexities of the Austens and their era, and her crisp, nimble prose sparkles throughout. Best of all, Hornby genuinely channels the sentiment of 19th-century English literature. Janeites aren’t the only readers who will relish this smart, tender tale."— Publishers Weekly, starred review

· “…a well-written and delightfully observant novel…an excellent read.”— The Historical Novel Society

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Gill Hornby is the author of the novels Miss Austen, The Hive, and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury, England, with her husband and their four children.

 

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Miss Austen by Gill Hornby

Cassandra Austen has outlived her famous sister by many years and has become the curator of her legacy.  Now at the end of her life, she knows there are incrementing letters left that she must destroy.  She visits the home of her late fiancé Tom Fowles family, to search for the letters.  Will she find the letters and what secrets is she trying to keep?

 Miss Austen had an interesting make-up.  It was set in Cassandra’s older years and we get to know several of the next generation of the Fowles and Austen family.  Cassandra would read Jane’s letters or her own and then there would be a flash back to that moment in time.  It was an interesting way to get to know everyone and I felt like this novel fleshed out Cassandra’s psyche.  It is very much Cassandra’s novel with Jane as an elusive character.  It did give a great explanation for the years that Jane was not writing.

 It took until the end of the novel to learn why the letters had to be destroyed as there were no major revelations.  It was letters that told of “Jane’s distress and Cassy’s dismay.” Cassandra seemed overly protective of Jane and wanted to ensure the future did not see that she like to pick on the characteristics of people just as she does in her novels.  I don’t think I realized before this novel that there was a third Lloyd sister.  Mary was married to the oldest Austen son, James, and Martha was their loyal friend and future wife of Frank.  I didn’t realize there was a third sister, Elizabeth, that was married to Tom Fowles’s older brother.  This older brother, Fulwar Craven, was the Vicar of Kintbury.  At his death, Cassandra has arrived at his home to look through letters that were sent to his wife Elizabeth.  The connections were very interesting to me and I was glad there was a description of them at the start of the novel.

 Favorite Quotes:

“For whoever looked at an elderly lady and saw the young heroine she once was?”

 “Cassandra was the executor of her sister’s estate:  the keeper of her flame; the protector of her legacy.  In the time that was left to her, she was determined to find and destroy any evidence that might compromise Jane’s reputation.  It was simply imperative that those letters did not fall into the wrong hands.”

 Overall, this is a slow gentle tale that finally gives us Cassandra’s story and interesting thoughts to ponder on Jane herself.

 Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you.