The Elopement

A Novel

Gill Hornby

A richly imagined novel of the Austen family by the #1 International bestselling-author of Miss Austen.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

1820. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, Sir Edward – a man of strict principles and high Christian values.

But when her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary’s life is suddenly changed.

Her new stepmother comes from a large, happy and sociable family and Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends. Her aunt, Miss Cassandra Austen of Chawton, is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming.

And as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an especial bond with one Mr Knight in particular.

Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. They expect no opposition. After all, each is from a good family and has known the other for some years.

It promises to be the most perfect match. Who would want to stand in their way?

 

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

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Endorsements & Reviews

“An affecting, and even somewhat feminist, return to the world of the Austen family and its offshoots. There’s a method to the author’s impeccably researched look at 19th-century manners: Not only does she get to the titular event (never fear, there’s an Austen-worthy young gentleman involved), but she shows the choices available to the era’s women. Austen herself would approve. Janeites, rejoice!” Kirkus Reviews

“Few writers are as perspicacious or half as delightful as Hornby.” Karen Joy Fowler, international bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club

“Tremendous. Darker than Miss Austen but rendered with her characteristic lightness of touch and quick wit.” Nigella Lawson, acclaimed food writer and television cook

“Hornby’s Austen books are funny, bittersweet family sagas, impeccably researched and lavishly imagined.” The Times (London)

“Has all Austen’s wit and unnerving powers of observation with an extra twenty-first century zap.” Ferdinand Mount, author of Big Caesars and Little Caesars and Kiss Myself Goodbye

“Combines meticulous period research with a fine feeling for the characters' inner lives, hopes and fears.” The Daily Mail

“Gripping and moving and also so sharp and funny. I loved it!” Sabine Durrant, author of Lie with Me

Praise for Gill Hornby

"Drawing her plot from events described in the diary of Jane Austen’s niece, Fanny, Hornby imagines the early life of Fanny’s governess, Anne Sharp, who forged a close friendship with Jane. The pleasure of this novel lies in its quietly satisfying portrait of a woman facing social prejudice and ill health, yet gradually coming to realize her own worth." The New York Times Book Review