Godmersham Park: The Sunday Times top ten bestseller by the acclaimed author of Miss Austen

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Keen to hold on to her position, Anne submits to the various supposed remedies which Elizabeth proposes even the more alarming ones. The authors note was a great summary of events after the novel ends and added to the enjoyment as it was a bit of an abrupt ending otherwise.

Anne’s story is fraught with loneliness and angst as she’s suddenly thrust into the role of governess with her mother’s death and father’s abandonment. That meant there were several storylines that looked like they were going to go somewhere but were never mentioned again. The dreadful fate of becoming a governess in 19th-century England (of which we were later to hear so much about from Anne and Charlotte Bronte! Anne appears to have become an important friend to Jane; a letter to her was one of the last that Jane wrote shortly before her death in 1817, and she also sent a copy of "Emma," the last book published in her lifetime, to Miss Sharp.I love that some of the events in the book are based on actual events recorded by Fanny in her diary. Es una descripción curiosa, realista y lineal comparada con la anterior novela austenita de la autora, que tiene una pluma inteligente, calmada y detallista con el personaje. Many of the events that take place in the story were drawn from Fanny’s preserved childhood diaries or correspondence between family members.

She and Jane only met twice more during their lives but Jane sent her a presentation copy of Emma with a handwritten inscription and she was also remembered in Jane’s will which definitely shows the closeness between the two women despite not seeing each other. But Anne is keenly aware that her new role is an awkward one: she 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. Taking on this role represents a reduction in circumstances for Miss Sharp, who has no other prospects and whose father is giving her no income. I enjoyed Gill Hornby’s previous novel, Miss Austen, about the life of Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra. A sympathetic character given her circumstances and ill-health, I liked Anne well enough, but I didn’t really grow fond of her.The more peripheral characters, namely the other Austen family members and servants, are also worthy of praise. Though she has no experience in the position of governess, having until recently been raised in comfort, she is determined to do her best, and serve the Austen family well. I was so fascinated in learning about every facet of Jane Austen's life, that books like these have me intrigued and excited to read.

Pensaba leer esta novela más tarde, pero me sorprendió hace dos semanas en la librería y claro tuve que cogerla, porque tras Miss Austen, una novela que me pareció una maravilla, esta también está firmada por Gill Hornby y de nuevo se recoge una figura del ambiente de Jane Austen. Meanwhile Jane's brother, Henry, begins to take an unusually strong interest in the lovely young governess. Me han llenado de ternura las penurias que tiene que pasar la pobre Anne y el consuelo que encuentra el la amistad de un sinvergüenza divertido como Henry (y lo digo con todo cariño) y en un alma afín a la suya propia como es la de Jane, con quien se entendió mejor que nadie y que según Henry “me robó mi puesto como tu Austen favorito”. Godmersham Park: A Novel of the Austen Family by Gill Hornby transports the reader to Anne Sharp’s years as governess to Fanny Austen, the daughter of Edward Austen who is brother to Jane Austen. 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.An invigorating riff on an author whose life and works keep on giving, and an ideal companion for your beach towel this summer. Meanwhile Jane's brother, Henry, begins to take an unusually strong interest in the lovely young governess . stars - rounded up because of the author’s note at the end which I found far more interesting than the rest of the book. But Anne is keenly aware that her new role is an awkward one – she 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. On 21 January 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess.