A beautifully written though slightly melancholy book that imagines the life and circumstances of one of Jane Austen's most beloved friends... the shadowy, elusive governess Anne Sharp.

Most casual readers of Jane Austen won't be familiar with this friend, and none of Anne's own words or letters survive, but what we do know is that even though Jane Austen was publishing anonymously, she presented Anne with a special copy of Emma, and they were close enough for Cassandra to send Anne a lock of Jane's hair after her death. To shed light on Anne's governess days, we also have the diaries of Fanny Austen Knight, who was Jane's niece and Anne's student for two years at Godmersham Park.

I certainly wasn't aware of any of that before beginning Gill Hornby's latest book. Hornby spins an intriguing tale of what-might-have-been in trying to explain Anne's background and social status. She also gives us quite a bit of time with the family of Jane's brother, in their newly elevated sphere as landowners, and Jane's brother Henry, the charming, optimistic gadabout who reeks of male privilege but more or less means well.

It's a sobering story of the precarious situation many women without husbands or fathers found themselves in, and the writing is excellent and vivid. I enjoyed the inner monologue of Anne, a clever woman who has to walk several tightropes in order to maintain any kind of social and financial stability. I also appreciated that the book doesn't focus too much on Jane Austen, who could easily overshadow everyone else in a work of historical fiction like this. Although she does enter the story toward the latter half, it mostly keeps one step away from her, instead opting to provide a fresh look at some of the other family members in their own contexts.

If you are interested in expanding your view of Jane Austen's family and friends, or of Regency social history, this book is for you.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Pegasus Books for this advance review copy! ( )

This really wasn't bad. A novel where Jane Austen is a character has the potential to be really cheesy, but this wasn't. It hewed closely to real-life events - main character Anne Sharp was real, was governess to Jane Austen's niece Fanny, and became very close friends with Jane.

It only broke period and tested my straight face in one respect - when two characters fall ill at the same time, someone exclaims, oh, I hope we didn't catch any germs from the babies! They've closed off the nursery as a precaution. Look, the germ theory of disease had not permeated the Austen milieu of the early 19th century. They thought people got sick from being outside in the rain. The book makes this faux pas once again later, talking about "infectiousness". Anyone who has read any Austen book knows that people get sick from catching chills, and nobody stays away from them; on the contrary, as long as they are not too fatigued, they get visitors all the time.

This wasn't enough to turn me off. Things could have gotten a lot more foolish, but our author practices restraint. I thought Henry Austen's flirtatious behavior and its reciprocation was bewildering, he being an allegedly married man (no wife ever seen with him), but I guess it stayed within the bounds of the possible.

It was an OK read. The bar is low. ( )

Godmersham Park is a delightful historical fiction based on the actual diary entries of Fanny Austen (Jane Austen’s niece), as well as correspondence from friends and family. It follows the story of Anne Sharp, Fanny’s governess, who came to work at Godmersham Park at the age of 31. With meticulous research and prose in the vein of Jane Austen, the author weaves a captivating tale of Jane’s beloved friend.

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. Used to living a comfortable life, Anne finds it difficult to navigate her new role. While she finds twelve year old Fanny engaging and enjoyable, she figuratively walks a tightrope, not quite fitting in with the servants, but not equal to the family. She’s constantly on guard, measuring her words and actions to protect her position. This becomes even more precarious when Henry Austen takes a marked interest in her.

Anne’s also plagued with headaches and other health issues, and the Austen family goes to surprisingly great lengths to help their favorite governess. When Jane, her sister Cassandra, and mother come to stay at Godmersham Park, it’s a turning point in Anne’s life. She and Jane become the dearest of friends and for once Anne’s free of loneliness. Their friendship lasts throughout Jane’s life. I loved learning in the author’s note that a rare copy of Emma was given to Anne by Jane with a handwritten inscription to her dear friend.

Anne’s inner monologues were interesting, thoughtful, and at times melancholy. She’s clearly an intelligent woman sadly beholden to the whims of men and her employers. Anne’s and Jane’s friendship is delightful, but doesn’t come about until around two-thirds into the book. It’s more of a fascinating look at the lesser known figures of Jane’s siblings including Henry, Edward, Edward’s wife Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s sister Harriett as they interact with Anne.

I enjoyed learning more about these important figures in Jane Austen’s life. I also liked the interesting glimpses of day to day happenings at Godmersham Park. There’re plays as in Mansfield Park, sea bathing, excursions, lessons with Fanny, and a bit of a mystery as Anne’s past is slowly revealed. There’s also Anne’s ill-fated friendship with Henry.

I purchased an audiobook copy and loved listening to the narration. I liked the way the narrator distinguished each character and made them really come alive. She also injected just the right amount of emotion, which made listening enjoyable.

Definitely recommend to Janeites, i.e. lovers of all things Jane Austen and historical fiction fans. This book renewed my desire to keep a journal as Fanny’s little diaries have proven invaluable. I received advanced copies from AustenProse PR and the publisher. I also purchased an audiobook copy as well. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review. ( )

Anne Sharp was a real person. She was young Fanny Austen's governess. And she did develop a lifetime friendship with Fanny's aunt, Jane Austen. Those are the facts we know. We do not know what brought her to working as a governess and what her early life was like but luckily we have Gill Hornby, who has imagined a rich and interesting backstory for Anne and fleshed out her life at Godmersham Park, the inherited home of Edward Austen (eventually known as Edward Austen Knight). Godmersham Park is not a story of Jane Austen. It is a story of Anne Sharp, who became her friend but who lived the kind of life that so many women without male protectors or kind relatives might face in that time.

Anne Sharp is 31 years old. Her mother has died and her adoring father has inexplicably abandoned her. Gently raised and alone in the world save her old nurse, she has few options for her future life. She can accept the marriage proposal from the leering and odious lawyer who tells her of her straightened circumstances or she can take one of the only other avenues available to an educated woman in the early 1800s in England: she can become a governess. Although being a governess is a rather tenuous position, neither upstairs nor downstairs and employed completely at the discretion of the master or mistress of the house, it is still a respectable position. Anne takes up her first post at Godmersham Park, the Kent estate of Edward Austen, as the governess to 12 year old Fanny Austen, the oldest child and daughter of the house.

As Anne settles into her role as governess she must learn her place adjacent to the family. She suffers the animus of many of the other servants but she genuinely likes her charge and finds life at Godmersham Park mostly comfortable and untaxing. She is lonely though. She doesn't entirely approve of Henry Austen, Mr. Edward's good humored and playful brother who visits often. He is much beloved by the family and while Anne sometimes enjoys sparring with him, she is also always cognizant of her place and incredibly frustrated when he teasingly crosses lines that could cost her. When the newly widowed Mrs. Austen, Cassandra Austen, and Jane Austen come to Kent, Anne's intellect can shine and she revels in their comfortable and welcoming company. But that shining may be one more piece in her eventual downfall.

Hornby has created an intriguing and certainly possible backstory for Anne Sharp. The narrative goes back and forth between the present of Anne's life in the Austen household and her past as she tries to understand why she has been forsaken by her father. The reason is quite obvious to the reader though, even if not to Anne. There are glimpses of Anne's skill as a teacher and her great understanding of the pitfalls of being a woman in her time, especially one who has no wish to marry. She is both an advocate for women's right to self-determination and freedom and very cognizant of reality. The book is historically accurate and Hornby has woven fact and fiction together seamlessly, using Fanny's childhood diaries as a major source for her characterizations. This is not a Jane story but it is smart and compelling (and sometimes horrific) and gives an intriguing glimpse into the well to do life of Edward Austen, his family, and into the life of an intelligent and perceptive governess during her two years with such a family. ( )

Call it lucky, or call it cruel, but when the Knight family offered to take Edward Austen as their son and heir to their fortunes and lands, his parents knew it would benefit their son and their entire family. A wealthy son could be a lifeline.

Edward inherited Godmersham Park, and wealth and lands, married a fashionable woman, and had numerous children to provide for. After his father’s death, and his family’s loss of his pension, he did what he could–what he would–to help his mother and siblings. Part of that obligation was met by welcoming them into his home for extended visits.

Brother Henry was always welcome. He was charming and lively. Sister Cassandra was quiet and helpful, good with the younger children. His mother and sister Jane were problematic, too witty and opinionated, too willing to talk about books and other unwomanly subjects.

In 1804 the Knights hired a governess for their eldest daughter, Fanny, who was eleven. Henry’s friend recommended Anne Sharp. Raised in luxury, well educated, and pretty, with the death of Ann’s mother came poverty. Her father had disappeared from their lives and left her a mere 35 pounds per annum to live on. Anne donned plain garb, adjusted her attitude to fit into the role of lowly governess, and with dread reported to Godmersham Hall.

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 culls from Fanny Austen’s diaries, Austen family letters, and other breadcrumbs left behind to piece together a story of Anne’s life and her relationship with Jane Austen. A Secret Sisterhood by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney first introduced me to Anne Sharp. Hornby brings to life the story they tell.

I enjoyed how the novel channeled Jane Austen and her family, just as I had imagined them. Hornby vividly portrays the limited and proscribed roles available to women, who were forced to marry men they did not love, or to live precariously or in poverty. “This was the fundamental flaw in the institution of marriage,” Anne considers, “She who endures a union of chilly dislike…could reasonable expect to live on into a cheerless old age. Meanwhile, the likes of Elizabeth Austen, blessed with true love and a real, mutual attraction, might well not survive to her fortieth year.”

Once married, a woman had child after child, often until it killed her. As it did Elizabeth Austen after her eleventh baby. “We can generally expect one every eighteen months or so,” Fanny explained to Anne when she arrived. And a woman had little recourse, although one servant explained that after nine children, her mother “sleeps with a rolling pin.” Such was birth control in the 1800s.

I enjoyed Hornby’s previous novel Miss Austen, which imagines Cassandra Austen’s life after Jane’s passing. I was quite transported by Godmersham Park, which often feels as if from Austen’s own pen, perhaps melded with a less Gothic version of Charlotte Brontes’ Jane Eyre.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )