From the number one bestselling author of Miss Austen , a powerful and moving novel featuring Jane Austen's closest friend and confidante . . . The excellent latest from Hornby ( Miss Austen) traces several years in the life of Anne Sharp, a friend of Jane Austen’s. 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." I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated Gill Hornby’s portrayal of a “governess’s lot” and her mostly impartial representation of the Godmersham family in this tale. Through Anne’s account readers are reminded how a governess was a friendless and isolated creature in the household and how a governess’s position is never secure and that they must be perpetually on guard for anything that might displease or concern their employers. In addition, Anne’s perspectives of Godmersham and all the Austens she encounters were most interesting to explore. I especially enjoyed her interactions and complex relationships with Elizabeth Austen and Jane’s favorite brother, Henry Austen. Both had such delicate and dangerous natures to them. I enjoyed Gill Hornby’s previous novel, Miss Austen, about the life of Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra. Her new one, Godmersham Park, is also inspired by the Austens, telling the story of Anne Sharp, who became one of Jane’s closest friends after taking up the position of governess to her niece, Fanny.

Still, the two are drawn together – he to her intellect and spirit – and she to his joviality and warmth. On 21 January 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess. At 31 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. Meanwhile, Anne crosses paths with Henry Austen, the handsome and charming brother of Edward, her employer – who often comes to visit.Anne Sharp arrives in Kent as an unknown thirty-one-year-old woman whom the Edward Austen’s have hired sight unseen through the influence of a family acquaintance to fill the role of governess to their oldest daughter, Fanny. This is their first experience with a governess and her own first time in the role. I had to let go of that expectation and recognize that Anne is a different sort of character – she doesn’t have to confront the men or anyone else who mistreat her – as cathartic as that would have been to read.

Knight, Edward Austen". Adoption.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017 . Retrieved 13 August 2017. that started with Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. My friend Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose.com writes that… Un retrato de una criada "no criada" en una época difícil, donde ser mujer, soltera y pobre, aunque con profesión, podía ser un lastre en la vida.At half past six, in the bleak, icy evening of 21 January in the year 1804, Anne Sharp arrived on the threshold of Godmersham Park.” (3) When tempting this Austen lover with a new book, one merely need mention that it is based on real life figures in Jane Austen’s life, and I am hooked. By making it a governess’ tale with a mysterious past, I am well-nigh bewitched. I settled in eager for Godmersham Park, anticipating Gill Hornby’s thoughtfully considered development of characters, setting, historical context, and engaging plot. Burke, John (1836). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank; but Uninvested with Heritable Honours. Vol.1. London: Henry Colbourn. p.444. Godmersham Park passed to John Cunliffe Lister, 3rd Baron Masham, who sold it in 1921 to William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth. [10] [11] In 1935, Godmersham Park was sold to Mr and Mrs Robert Tritton, who restored the house. [7] Walter Sarel remodelled the building, much of the interior being replaced using genuine eighteenth-century features recovered from buildings across England. [1] Norah Lindsay advised on restoration of the walled gardens. [7] The house became a Grade I listed building in 1952, [13] and the gardens were separately listed in Grade II* in 1986, with other garden features listed as Grade II. [10]

The two-year period at Godmersham was not the happiest time for Anne, and while this is an intriguing book, it is not cheerful or uplifting for the most part. The friendship with Jane and the interactions with Fanny are the bright spots in this book. Elizabeth, the mistress of the house, comes across as unsympathetic and almost cruel, especially when she sends Anne for barbaric "treatment" for her headaches. As someone who has suffered migraines, I was furious when Elizabeth forced open the curtains in Anne's room, insisting that the light would make her feel better. It drives home the truth that servants in those days were often not allowed to have feelings or express complaints to those considered above their station. The more peripheral characters, namely the other Austen family members and servants, are also worthy of praise. They are fleshed-out the ideal amount for secondary characters and contribute to the story in meaningful ways, avoiding the pitfall of so many ancillary characters – superfluity. Elizabeth Austen is a particularly well-penned character, exemplifying the expected behavior of a lady of the house. She is courteous to her servants, Anne included, but ultimately, she is their superior in rank, a fact which underlies her every interaction with them. Contending with crippling headaches, mistreatment by the cook and staff, constrained in a limited role, lonely and uncertain, Anne also has another problem. The handsome Henry Austen. He is a danger to her, his attention unwelcome, her attraction hopeless. When his sister Jane arrives, she is nearly his image, sharing his openness, wit, and high spirits. Jane treats Anne as an equal and their friendship slowly blooms for both are literary and secretly write. Gill Hornby proves herself adept in Austen's world through immense research and imagining, creating a phenomenal story that is about a woman who is clever enough to play the game of survival that is required of women in the Regency period. I enjoyed the pace of the story as well as learning about the family.Drawing her plot from events described in the diary of Jane Austen’s niece, Fanny, Hornby imagines the early life of Fanny’s governess, Anne Sharp, who forged a close friendship with Jane. The pleasure of this novel lies in its quietly satisfying portrait of a woman facing social prejudice and ill health, yet gradually coming to realize her own worth."