- Miss Austen

 Miss Austen

by Gill Hornby

love all Jane Austen’s books; and I devoured this book. This is the story of Cassandra Austen. Jane Austen’s sister who would work to preserve her late sister’s reputation. The story is a mixture of fiction and biography. The story focus is not only on the Austen’s family but on the lives of women living during that period.

Cassandra who is in her sixties and has always been very attentive about her sister’s reputation, is now concerned that their family letters may fall into the wrong hands and damage Jane’s reputation. Thus, Cassandra is making one final visit to Kintbury to track down the cache of Jane's letters. Finding those letters brings back so many memories of her own past. Going through these letters caused her face parts of her sister’s life that could damage Jane's reputation. The story examines why in real life Cassandra destroyed her sister’s letters.

The writing was very much like Jane Austen’s books and that was what I liked the most about this book.

I appreciated the emphasis on the discomforts and awkwardness of the single ladies of the era. When single women are unlikely to benefit from regular income. It’s a very well researched work of fiction. A must read for Jane Austen fans.

Many Thanks to Flatiron_Books and the author Gill Hornby for an advance copy of this book.

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