This novel is based on the real person, Anne Sharp, who had a close relationship with Jane Austen. We meet Anne Sharp in 1804 who, upon her mother’s death, has found herself without income. To support herself, she has taken a new role as governess to 12-year-old Frances Austen, Jane Austen’s niece. Anne has no experience of either the job or of living in a big country house.

Anne suggests to young Frances that, as part of her education, writing to a relative would be good practice for her. So Frances begins correspondence with her Aunt Jane and they write back and forth.

Anne’s position as Governess is awkward. She is not quite a servant but also not one of the family. She spends time alone or navigating the upstairs and downstairs diplomacy. Not a great deal is known about Anne’s early life, but Hornby offers an interesting back story for her, with a bit of mystery added. Using Frances’s diaries Hornby includes tales of picnics, Christmas festivities and family visits that all happened. When Jane comes to stay, Anne and Jane find an instant connection.

Hornby has created an interesting cast of secondary characters including Harriot, who is the mistress’s sister, the senior Mrs Austen and Jane’s sister, Clarissa. Life for women in Regency England is limited. Women either married and were dependent on their husbands, or remained single, depended on fathers and brothers.

In real life Jane and Anne kept up correspondence even when Anne had moved on from her position at Godmersham and it is clear that they enjoyed each other’s company.

What a delight this book is. Hornby has captured the language and social niceties of this period very well and, although it isn’t a fast-paced book, the story is immersive.

Reviewed by Kathy Pigou

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gill Hornby is the author of the novels 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, Berkshire, with her husband and their four children.