Godmersham Park - Gill Hornby

I was drawn to the cover of this book straight away - and being an Austen fan I just knew I had to request this book, and I am so glad that I did!

A fantastic book, based on the true friendship between Jane Austen and Anne Sharp. Really engrossing read.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK

For any Austen fans its an interesting and well worth a read. The cover draws you in straight awsy.
Based on a true friendship between Jane Austen and Anne Sharp.The story centers around Anne as the governess, who is employed to teach the oldest daughter Fanny. It is written with Jane in mind, from letters and diaries kept by family.
The author, in my view, really captures Jane's voice through the letters sent and more so to read the author's note which helps to give closure to Anne's story.

I loved the writing here and the quiet gentleness of Austen's Kent - I live just up the road from Godmersham and the locales were perfect; bucolic, but very much of this place. Hornby really bought Anne to life here and it was well paced - my only main criticism was the ending felt ver unsatisfying - but, then again, what can you do bringing to life a true story?

This book is a must for Austen fans.

It is loosely based on the true story of Jane’s friendship with the family Governess. Inspired by the diaries kept by Fanny Austen Knight, letters exchanged between Anne Sharp and Jane and Cassandra Austen, and a first edition of Emma that Jane signed for Anne. It offers us an insight in young Jane’s family life, which isn’t something we always get to see.

The book centres around the Austen family’s new Governess, Anne Sharp, who is charged with looking after their youngest member, Fanny. The book reflects on class and society at the time. Anne has to second guess her actions constantly. She is never comfortable and always in the back of her mind has the worry of being fired, which throws into light the precarious position of an unmarried woman.

Romance, friendship, perseverance in the face of challenging times, difficult family dynamics and tragedy are all dealt with beautifully by the author.

This is a lovely novel and although it doesn’t self-consciously try to recreate the style of Jane Austen’s work, the language still transports you back to the early years of the 19th century. The pace is slow and nothing very dramatic happens, yet I was drawn in by the characters and the setting and found it quite absorbing.

A lovely tale and a lovely story...
As someone who has studied at Godmersham Park I just HAD to get a hold of this book. Wow it is true oh beautiful and captures the gorgeous mannor house beautifully

Gill Hornby's 2019 novel Miss Austen remains one of my all-time favourite Austen spin-offs, shining a light on the forgotten figure of Miss Austen, elder sister to the illustrious writer. In this follow-up piece, Hornby switches her attention to Anne Sharp, governess to the Knight family, the wealthy branch of the Austens. Miss Sharp is a shadowy figure but is known to have been close to Jane Austen and that the two corresponded even after she left her position. Austen even gifted her a first edition of Emma and it has been theorised that the heroine of Persuasion was named for her. The lack of concrete information about Anne Sharp does however leave authors of historical fiction rather a lot of room for creativity and I was interested to see how Hornby chose to play it. Would the mysterious Miss Sharp prove equally intriguing as Miss Austen?

The novel opens with Anne Sharp arriving at Godmersham Park to take up a post as governess to young Fanny, eldest daughter of the family. Taking on this role represents a reduction in circumstances for Miss Sharp, who has no other prospects and whose father is giving her no income. Aside from the bare facts of age and profession, Hornby has very little to go on about Anne Sharp's background or upbringing and she has taken the opportunity to be fairly creative. There is a running thread through the novel as Anne tries to discover why her father has disinherited her while also trying to find some security in her position at Godmersham Park. Distractions come in the form of the dashing Henry Austen and friendship comes from his sister, the arch Miss Jane Austen.

I have read enough biographical fiction about the Austen family to notice the patterns. It is almost always Edward Austen's family which features and his doomed lady wife is always portrayed as a bitch. This seems quite unfair given how little evidence there seems to be about her personality either way. Furthermore, this is not the first time that I have read a version which suggests she is drawn to her brother-in-law Henry. Once again, this feels unfair. Indeed, where Miss Austen felt well thought out and plausible, Godmersham Park feels far more like fiction than fact. The storyline about Anne Sharp's family background is necessarily highly imaginative and her friendship with Jane Austen never seems to quite connect enough to give her the same insight into the author which was found in Hornby's previous novel.

There was still much to appreciate in Hornby's portrayal of the grim governess experience. On arrival, Anne thinks that her quarters are generous and fondly imagines having a guest to stay. Then she realises that she will be sharing a bedroom with her young charge. Trying to teach Fanny, she finds her pupil's mind more akin to granite, blocking out any challenging notion. Fanny wants to learn correct opinions on given subjects by rote and titters at the idea of foreign travel, proclaiming that she never even wants to leave Kent. Then Anne's own indifferent health causes its problems, raising the ire of her employer Elizabeth. Keen to hold on to her position, Anne submits to the various supposed remedies which Elizabeth proposes even the more alarming ones. But as time goes on, it becomes clear that Anne's days in post are numbered.

Ultimately though, I felt that Godmersham Park did the real Anne Sharp few favours. It impugned her family honour, played down her clear teaching abilities and reduced her to a bedraggled scrap. We know almost nothing about Anne Sharp. It is true that Cassandra Austen wrote her a snippy letter indicating that Anne was showing excessive grief given that Cassandra was the one who experiencing a true bereavement. Perhaps Anne really was emotional. But surely she also had some wit if she was a worthy friend to Jane Austen? Anne Sharp survived as a lone woman - and not just survived, actually triumphed - against all possible odds. Gill Hornby's depiction never quite captures the steel which that must have required.

There are interesting notes scattered across the novel. There were amusing machinations about how the spinster ladies managed Elizabeth Austen's moods. Anne tried to tempt Fanny towards higher learning. There were the musings over wifedom and life expectancy. Anne's friend will likely live a long life in her cold marriage since there will be no children after her first. Elizabeth Austen's loving union puts her at far greater risk. Anne Sharp makes the decision to avoid marriage. But in comparison to Miss Austen's thoughtful meditation on female friendship, Godmersham Park feels threadbare. We can't even complain that Hornby was hamstrung by events because the known facts are so sparse. She could definitely have taken a few imaginative leaps so that something could actually happen. Having Anne hang around waiting for Elizabeth Austen to kick her out of the house did not really make for an engaging protagonist or indeed a compelling novel. I have read far worse imaginings of Jane Austen's family. But I was expecting something more than merely 'ok' from the author of Miss Austen. Given how much I loved that book, this was a real disappointment.

A delight, funny and moving too. Well written and researched with fully developed and fascinating characters.
I haven't read the original Jane Austen books although I've seen films of them and other evaluations of her legacy but this has actually made me want to go and read them.

This has taken me an age to read, but more through force of circumstances than because I didn’t like it. In fact I read 2/3 of it in just one day. This is the story of Jane Austen’s friend Anne Sharp who was governess to Jane’s niece for two years. It is a portrait of how vulnerable single women were in early nineteenth century - when there were few options for them beyond marriage (if offered). I think I liked Miss Austen more, but Hornby has done an excellent job of crafting a story around what is known of Anne’s life through her letters and it makes a compelling and somewhat melancholic read.

This novel is not how I had envisioned it. But in fact it is a tale cantering around the home of Miss Jane Austen’s elder brother. It is interesting how the novel intertwines historical facts with fiction. Apart from that it was a typical story from it’s age. Big house, governess, suitors. However', I felt as if I’d been treated to only half the story and must of the plot questions are never answered.
Part of me wants never to hear of this story ever again but the other part wants the sequel so that the questions raised can be answered definitely.
So, Gill I look forward to reading the sequel. Thank you to NetGalley and to publishers for letting me read this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A delightful look at the life of a governess, with glimpses into Jane Austen’s life.

The premise of Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby appealed to me in part because of the main character’s connection with Jane Austen. Though little detail is known about their relationship, Anne Sharp and Jane first met during the period that Anne was engaged as a governess at Godmersham Park for Fanny Austen Knight, Jane's niece, and remained close friends until Jane’s death.

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.

Hornby seamlessly blends history with imagination to tell the story of Anne’s time at Godmersham Park. The people Anne meets, close family and friends of the Austen’s, are real figures, whom the author lists at the beginning of the novel. Many of the events that take place in the story were drawn from Fanny’s preserved childhood diaries or correspondence between family members. The estate itself, said to be the inspiration for Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, still stands today and is depicted on the 2017 Bank of England £10 note.

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. Anne is often lonely, and though she becomes friendly with regular houseguests Hariott Bridges, the younger sister of Elizabeth, Henry Austen, Edward’s younger brother with whom Anne forms an unwise attachment, and later Jane Austen herself, there is a distance dictated by her position. A sympathetic character given her circumstances and ill-health, I liked Anne well enough, but I didn’t really grow fond of her.

The story moves at a sedate pace as life unfolds at Godmersham Park. It’s a reasonably busy household with so many children, visiting houseguests, and family events, but not a particularly active one, and I felt the story lacked energy. While there are occasional instances of open conflict, most of the drama centres on Anne’s inner emotional turmoil, which I sometimes found overwrought.

Godmersham Park is a pleasant enough novel but I felt the story sacrificed dynamism for historical accuracy. It’s probably best suited for fans interested in its connections to Jane.

Read Directly after Miss Austen, that book flowed effortlessly into this. I was not able to like Anne instantly, but I was at once intrigued by this brittle and slightly proud woman of much deeper passions who was brought low by the person she thought was the centre of her world but had embroiled her in a lie from birth.

That Anne is trapped by her sex and bound and shaped by the acts of men throughout was an interesting take. Juxtaposed against the Austen sisters whose position whilst hard and reliant on the goodness of relatives was unfair to modern feminist readers, Anne’s plight is the more pitiable.

I loved being brought deeper into the sphere of the Austen family. O enjoyed immensely getting to know Jane,Cassandra , Mother Austen and Henry better. The genius of Jane and the devotion of her siblings was again so interesting.

The authors note brought a more positive thrust to what was a solemn ending and somewhat unfair way to end her tenure at Godmersham but it held an honest integrity and so despite my romantic heart aching -the pragmatism and moral stance made me love Anne and Henry all the more!

In this gentle, slow-paced but engrossing novel, Gill Hornby imagines the life of Anne Sharpe, who in 1804 arrived at Godmersham Hall to take up the position of governess to Fanny, Jane Austen’s niece. Fanny kept a diary throughout her long life which is the foundation in the novel for much of what is described of Anne’s time with the sprawling family of Jane’s brother, Edward. Anne’s life before 1804 and how she came to seek employment at the hall is drawn from contemporary accounts of other women, genteel and educated, who found themselves compelled by circumstances to work.

I was drawn immediately into Anne’s world as an educated and intelligent young woman in the early eighteenth century. Through her experiences the reader comes to appreciate the limited choices available to women who do not marry and the degree to which their lives are still controlled, largely but not entirely by men.

The writing flows easily and felt appropriate to the period. And of course, Jane Austen herself plays a lively role. I very much enjoyed meeting several of the Austen family as seen through Anne’s eyes.
In her author’s notes, Gill Hornby, confirms that Jane and Anne recognised in each other a kindred spirit and established a firm friendship which endured until Jane’s untimely death. Anne herself went on to live a fascinating and powerful life which would make a marvellous sequel.

My thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an independent review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As an Austen fan, I looked forward to reading this book. A good, well-written, and easy read. A definite read of you are a fan of Miss Austen

Based on a true friendship between Jane Austen and Anne Sharp. This is the story of a society woman, with a complete education suddenly abandoned by her father and forced to seek employment as a governess with the Austen family to survive. How she has to change her behaviour from being part of the upstairs people to becoming not quite downstairs is difficult. She then meets the extended Austen family, including Jane, and a real friendship is formed.

Enjoyable, Austen style view of life of a governess and her struggles.
Anne has a happy life with devoted parents and a maid Agnes. When her Mother dies her Father disappears leaving her homeless with a small allowance. She has no acceptable marriage prospects so accepts a post as a governess to a large family in Kent. This is where she meets the Austen family, after an uncertain start where she is alienated by the staff, she endeared herself to them by producing a play, which amuses and enhances them.
Anne meets other family members, notably Henry and his sister Jane, they both recognise her intelligence and wit, which she must keep hidden as not all the family appreciate it. Anne's chief charge is charming Fanny the eldest child, who thrives under Anne's tuition, she is also sympathetic when Anne develops severe migraine symptom ,Fannys Mother tries to find a cure with unfortunate results.
The friendship between Anne and Jane continues with Jane proposing Anne lives with her family, but is met with objections from her sister.
This is a story of women of that era, who have no support and must make their way in a man's world, Anne lives by her wits and meets with success but also heartbreak.

An enjoyable period drama about Anne Sharp, a governess who goes to live with Jane Austen’s brother’s family after she falls on hard times. Although the story concentrates on Anne, and the unfairnesses of being lower class, Jane becomes an important character in the story and has a real effect on Anne’s life.
This isn’t a quick read but meanders along as a period drama would on TV with loveable characters and a good plot.
Thanks to Netgalley for this book in return for a review.

Really enjoyed this one. Anne Sharp is such a great character and the book is beautifully written. Drew me in & kept me enthralled from page 1.. Great addition to any bookshelf.

Anne Sharp has always lived a life of comfort but when her mother dies and she is left with a small bequest she must take up work. So at 31 she finds herself employed as a governess to Fanny Austen in a country house. Anne finds it difficult to reconcile her new circumstances and to balance between family and servants but she determines to do the best she can. On meeting a relative of her employers, Anne finds a friendship but is also made aware of her true circumstances.
This book is based on the slenderest of true stories, Anne Sharp was employed as a governess by Jane Austen's brother and the two did have a correspondence, Anne Sharp also ran a successful school in later life. Here Hornby has woven a beautiful novel around this, she explores society and how an individuals place was determined by wealth and circumstance. The 'romance' is less successful and, whilst the character of Anne is flawed, it is great that the book is about her rather than the headliner Jane Austen!

As a huge Jane Austen fan I couldn’t wait to read this book and it did not disappoint. Although partly fiction it gave me a real insight into Janes life and her close friendship with Anne Sharp, I especially enjoyed the Authors afterword. I now need to read Miss Austen!