A Periphery Figure in the Austen Family Takes Center Stage

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Blog Tour

TYPE OF NOVEL: Historical Fiction About the Austen Family

THE PREMISE: A fictional look at Anne Sharp’s relationship to the Austen family. She served as a governess for Fanny Austen Knight for only two years, and was befriended by our dear Jane Austen and bequeathed items upon her death. Why did Anne become a governess? How close was her relationship with Jane Austen? What was the Austen family really like?

Utilizing limited records and preserved information about Anne Sharp, the letters she exchanged, and Fanny Austen’s diaries Gill Hornby fleshes out the details and inner-developments of Anne Sharp’s life.

MY THOUGHTS: After greatly admiring and adoring Gill Hornby’s brillint Miss Austen, I was beyond excited to learn that her next novel focused on another intriguing person in Jane Austen’s life. And that this novel would not only portray their close friendship, but also imagine the shadowy parts of Anne’s life. I’m, of course, interested in anyone who has a slight connection to the Austen family, but I’m especially intrigued about Anne because of her position as governess.

This fictionalized account weaves together and illustrates so many elements, relationship, and portrayals. I was fascinated by Anne’s life and history. I loved how Gill Hornby tantalizing revealed her past to the reader. Like many women of her time, Anne chose to become a governess because of unexpected circumstances and limited options. She easily earned my sympathy as she stoically perseveres forward with her life – silently suffering the indignities and deprivations of her new situation – yet unable to resist looking back to unravel the mysterious and unexpected overthrow of her charmed life.

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.

However, perhaps the most pleasing relationship to see depicted, and perhaps the one of most interest to us Janeites, is Anne’s relationship with Jane Austen. It was interesting to realize how both these ladies share a lot in common and were walking similar paths – clever, well-educated women not content with following the dictated convention yet frustrated with the limitations of their sex and fearful for the lack of security in their situation. I really loved seeing Jane through Anne’s eyes – how she recognizes in her “something more of quickness” than the others and how mutual admiration and affection grew between them. The close affinity and understanding these two shared felt authentic and plausible.

While I loved exploring all the creative suppositions Ms. Hornby had for Anne Sharp and the Austen family, part of me felt like she held back a little bit. Perhaps the author was trying to remain in the bounds of what is factual and supported, but there were some mysteries that were never fully resolved and some allusions to relationships and development that were a little dissatisfying in how they came to abrupt and placid conclusions. I wouldn’t have minded several chapters more exploring more of Anne’s relationships with the Austen siblings beyond the years she served at Godmersham Park.

Written with deft skill, ingenuity, and clever wit Gill Hornby once again delivers an illuminating and thoughtful tale that seamlessly blends fact and history with imagination and possibility. Any ardent admirers of Jane Austen will be enthralled by this peripheral look of Jane Austen, the unconventional friendship that bloomed between two independent yet dependent women, and the inner workings of the Austen family. I highly recommend.

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My sincere gratitude to Laurel Ann of Austenprose PR for inviting me to take part in this tour.