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

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Jane Austen is my girl. She has been my girl for more years than I’m able to count, and I can’t think of a day where she will not be, in fact, my girl. I was desperate to read this book for its dip into Jane’s life through the eyes of Anne Sharp, the governess of her family’s children.

This is the second time this author has written a novel involving Jane Austen as a supporting character, and it's interesting to see the different uses she's been put to each time, and the way that known history and the author's imaginings intersect. There is something gothically tantalizing in the way Jameson, the lecherous man of affairs has been fixated on her since she was a girl, the hints that her parents were unconventional with a mother who was on the stage, and a father who was indulgent when around, but often absent- and is rarely seen in the last few years even when her mother died leaving her in her present circumstances.Henry Austen, Jane's favorite brother, well known for his charm, also dominates the story to a degree I had not expected, but I was never entirely sure what his function was in the novel, or his game. Was he -- still a married man at this time -- flirting with the governess merely out of an abundance of high spirits? Are we to think he intended seduction? Was he merely a foil for Jane, the person Anne Sharp truly loved? Maybe a little of all these? A richly imagined novel inspired by the true story of Anne Sharp, a governess who became very close with Jane Austen and her family by the #1 International bestselling-author of Miss Austen.

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. Thoroughly entertaining, Godmersham Park has some of the same understated wit and sharp observation as Austen's novels' Sunday TimesGill 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. The governess role is a uniquely awkward one. Anne 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. One wrong move may result in instant dismissal. Anne knows that she must never let down her guard.

The book has slowly and gently build to two crisis points: Anne’s discovery of the truth about her father and her past as well as Anne facing facts about her feelings for charming Henry and Jane Austen. Anne Sharp is 31 years old when she arrives at Godmersham Park, the Kent country estate of Edward and Elizabeth Austen, employed to educate their 12 year old daughter Fanny, the eldest of eight children. 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.Overall, Godmersham Parkis a great historical fiction read anyone who’s experienced unrequited or impossible love will relate to – even if I wanted a little more emotional resonance from the ending.

A portrait of a "non-maid" servant in a difficult time, where being a woman, single and poor, although with a profession, could be a drag on life. Already miffed at her drastic change of circumstances, Anne is desolate when she realises that being a governess is akin to being invisible, 'She was neither a guest deserving of especial courtesy, nor a servant to be treated as a friend'. Things begin to look up when she becomes with Henry and Jane Austen, 'within the walls of that splendid, unforgettable park - her heart had been captured by both.' Burke, John (1836). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank; but Uninvested with Heritable Honours. Vol.1. London: Henry Colbourn. p.444.Anne Sharp arrives in Kent as an unknown thirty-one-year-old woman whom the Edward Austen’s have hired sight unseen through the influence of a family acquaintance to fill the role of governess to their oldest daughter, Fanny. This is their first experience with a governess and her own first time in the role. There is something Gothically tantalizing in the way Jameson, the lecherous man of affairs, has been fixated on Anne since she was a girl. The hints that her parents were unconventional, with a mother who was on the stage, and a father who was indulgent when around, but often absent, and is rarely seen in the last few years, even when her mother died leaving her in her present circumstances. On 21 January 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess. At 31 years old, she has no previous experience of either teaching or fine country houses. Her mother has died, and she has nowhere else to go. Anne is left with no choice. For her new charge -- twelve-year-old Fanny Austen -- Anne's arrival is all novelty and excitement. Meanwhile Jane's brother, Henry, begins to take an unusually strong interest in the lovely young governess . . . From the number one bestselling author of Miss Austen, a powerful and moving novel featuring Jane Austen's closest friend and confidante . . .