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

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Admito que esto es una ficcionalización de un hecho real, y por tanto, se abre a dudas e interpretaciones, pero agradezco el libro por conocer a esta "figura oculta" que muestra la realidad de las mujeres trabajadoras de cierta clase en esa época. Gill Hornby’s excellent 2020 novel Miss Austenexplored the well-worn tale of Jane Austen’s life at one remove, through the eyes of her sister, Cassandra. This fascinating imagining of one of Jane Austen's friend's early history works on a number of levels.

At thirty-one years old, Anne has no experience of teaching or caring for children, but following the death of her mother she has found herself in need of employment and somewhere to live. However, almost nothing is known of Anne’s background before she arrived at Godmersham Park and Gill Hornby explains in her author’s note that she had to use her imagination to create a backstory for Anne. His mother and sister Jane were problematic, too witty and opinionated, too willing to talk about books and other unwomanly subjects. A refined and intelligent woman, educating Fanny poses no real difficulties for Anne but finding her place within the household proves to be more of a challenge.In addition, Anne’s perspectives of Godmersham and all the Austens she encounters were most interesting to explore. Each of Jane Austen’s novels is a variation on the theme of securing a husband, the right husband, and a marriage based on love.

This seems quite unfair given how little evidence there seems to be about her personality either way. I settled in eager for Gill Hornsby’s thoughtfully considered development of characters, setting, historical context, and engaging plot. 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. 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. 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”.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.