Really enjoyed Miss Austen and Godmersham Park, as Hornby totally captures the atheist of the period. The Elopement very much continues in a similar vein, and although not as enjoyable as the first two, is still a pleasant and diverting read.

This story was researched from such documents as Fanny Knight's own journals, so gives a real insight into the extended family of Jane Austin after her death. When Fanny marries into the Knatchbull family she becomes stepmother to five children, including Mary. When the two families meet up on regular occasions, Mary finds the warm fun family life, that was previously lacking. Over the years firm friendships are born, until love blossoms between her and one of the Knight brothers. However, to everyone's surprise, Mary's father is against the match, for no apparent reason. Using real people and actual events, this is another lovely story told in the style of Jane Austin with colour and vitality.

I did not realise that this sessIons Austin themed book. I have formally enjoyed Gill Hornby's modern family novels. I could not get into this novel and have actually had enough Jane Austen
Thank you Gill, and NetG?!ey for this ARC.

Based, according to the author, on the diaries of one of the ladies in this story, the book becomes faction, not fiction.
Certainly, Jane Austen had an extended family that lived around Chawton, but I am not sure how much of the rest of the story is truthful. Let's assume it is faction. But regardless of the Austen connection, we have an intriguing story of a connected set of families and their lives and loves. I enjoyed reading it greatly. And followed the various strands with interest - who was going to marry next? Who was going to die? Or have a child? Or?
Or?
Family sagas are often intriguing as the reader knows so much more than the characters of each age by dint of reading about their ancestors, and this novel demonstrates this well.
Well written in style and grammar, this book leaves the title hanging and the reader waiting for the Elopement. Well worth the wait.

As an Austen devotee I’ve often been disappointed by novels attempting a link to the author’s works, even when they come from writers I know and respect, such as PD James.

Here we have a much more successful tribute, combining some of the sly humour and romantic elements with social commentary that make Austen’s writing so beloved.

I particularly loved the clever point of view switch early on, perfectly executed to both unbalance the reader and demonstrate the effectiveness of unreliable narration. I could wish that the plot was a little meatier but there are some well-executed character portraits and some stark messages along the way.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an arc of this novel.

Gill Horby triumphantly returns, reimagining the lives of the extended family of Jane Austen. This witty and enlightening novel inspired by the diaries of Fanny Knatchbull nee Knight, charts Fanny's relationship with her step daughter Mary Dorothea Knatchbull.
Horby shows how Fanny neglects and thwarts Mary Dorothea whilst always justifying her own behaviour. Fanny's lack of awareness of how she is perceived by her own family is slyly and amusingly the leitmotif of this novel.
I enjoyed it immensely.

A rich imagined family saga, love story and social comedy, The Elopement is a moving story. Focusing on three women, two families and one forbidden marriage, we are taken back in time. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, Sir Edward . Sir Edward marries Miss Fanny Knight and Mary's life changes. Fanny's sisters happy and sociable become Mary's friends. She falls deeply in love with one Mr Knight. Both did not expect any opposition to them getting married. They see no way out, other than to elope. The Elopement is a delightful, romantic , warm and intriguing read. A page turner, it is an uplifting escape into the the Austen world.

An enjoyable read for Jane Austen fans, which examines the history of some of the wider Austen family in the form of a historical novel. The author does get the right flavour and style of writing for the era whilst making it accessible.

Fanny Austen Knight's aunt was Jane Austen. That Jane Austen. And in this another novel by Gill Hornby which takes Austen's family and extends their stories into fiction.

Fanny marries into the Knatchbull family and Fanny gains a ready made family. The eldest daughter, Mary Dorothea who forms the other perspective of this novel.

Fanny thinks she is succeeding at being a step mother - Mary differs in that opinion. Then another member of the Knight family visits, Ned Knight and Mary has a very differing opinion on what her role is now going to be.

You have to have your wits about you, as there are many connections through the families, and with similar names it can be difficult to work out who the characters all are and how they relate. Once you have got this sorted then story is rather pedestrian in places and only really picks up towards the end.

A regency romance if you can forget the 'famous' characters. Dealing with marriage, spinsterhood, childbirth and the role of women. It is as much a book of historical fiction as it is a modern one.

The Elopement by Gill Hornby is historical fiction about the life of Jane Austen’s niece Fanny Knight and Mary Dorothea Knatchbull, Fanny’s stepdaughter. I wanted to read it because I loved her earlier books about Jane Austen’s extended family, Miss Austen and Godmersham Park. However, I was a bit disappointed as I think it fails to capture that flavour of Jane Austen’s novels that I have loved ever since I first read Pride and Prejudice as a young teenager.

There are many characters listed at the beginning of the book – there are the Knights of Godmersham Park; the Knatchbulls of Mersham-le-Hatch and the Austens of Chawton Cottage, where Cassandra, Jane Austen’s elder sister, and her mother lived. Cassandra Austen only has a cameo role.

Fanny’s father was Edward Austen, who was adopted by the wealthy Knight family (Thomas Knight was a cousin), taking their name in 1812. In 1820 Fanny married Sir Edward Knatchbull, a widower, with six children. Fanny and Mary Dorothea, the only daughter, had a difficult relationship right from the start, unable to break through their natural reserve. Fanny is not a warm character and Mary is reluctant to accept her as a substitute mother – neither of them are willing to be open with each other and maintain an icy politeness. However, Mary and Fanny’s brothers and sisters get on well; very well with one brother in particular.

I didn’t find it evenly paced, beginning very slowly with a rushed ending. I found the first part of the book was too drawn out (even boring in parts) and I thought I’d have to abandon it, but I read on and the second part held my interest and I finished the book. I liked the insight into the wider Austen family and the social context – family relationships, attitudes towards duty, marriage, the position of women and the dangers of childbirth.

The Author’s Note is very interesting, explaining that the narrative exactly follows Fanny Knight’s record of events she recorded in her daily journals that she kept from 1804, when she was eleven years old until she was eighty. Gill Hornby highlights:

‘ … the perilous nature of the lives of the married women. The birth of every child is a moment of danger. The loved ones of expectant mothers are on high alert. … If you married young and were happily fertile, then it was a game of Russian roulette, year after year.

In Gill Hornby’s latest tale of member of Jane Austen’s extended family, we meet the children of her brother Edward Austen Knight. When his daughter Fanny marries the widower Sir Edward Knatchbull, she also becomes stepmother to his children, including his eldest daughter, Mary. Relations between Fanny and Mary are strained, but Mary does fall in love with Fanny’s family – the Knights, and spends her teenage years in their company.

We follow Mary and Fanny’s perspectives over the course of the years after Fanny marries Edward. While never particularly close, there is no animosity between them until such time as Mary falls in love with a man that her father – and therefore Fanny – deem unacceptable, leading to the titular event of an elopement.

This was an enjoyable read, and I liked having the perspectives of both women as time moved along. I did expect the elopement to happen much earlier in the book, given the title of the novel, meaning that the ending felt a little rushed to me. However, it was interesting to learn more about Mary’s teen years and her relationships with the various members of the Knight/Austen family.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

The Elopement by Gill Hornby. What the actual fuck is the plot of this book? Fanny is a wet wipe and and she’s married a man with kids and she’s horrible to everyone and no one likes anyone else. I don’t know what the plot is. I like a mindless plot but no.

I adored this book. It’s based on period research, added to by the author’s fabulous imagination. I’m very much looking forward to reading other books by this author.

I have never been so confused by a book before. Half of the I was not sure what was happening and who are they talking about. And don't get me wrong I love Jane Austen and similar books but the struggle I endured with this book was great and I'm not saying this lightly, believe me. This was one of the books I wanted to like but alas it was not meant to be.

It is 1820, and Mary finds her strict widower father's remarriage to Miss Fanny Knight opens up a new and delightful world to her, utterly transforming her life. Now she has access to all the new and interesting people that any young woman could wish for!

Unsurprisingly, in the process of exploring her new social circle Mary falls in love with an eminently eligible man. And surely no one could object to their union? But it seems otherwise...

This is a delightful Regency romance that brings alive the attitudes and social activities of the era to great effect, managing to imbue it with humour and charm. Worth reading, it gets 3. 5 stars.

Thank you for giving me the chance to read this book. I had recently watched the Miss Austen series on television and thought that I might enjoy this book. It is based upon the extended family of the Austen's and is love story set in the 1800's. Fanny Knight marries a local widower and takes on the role of stepmother to Mary Dorothea and her younger brothers. The relationships are not easy. Mary Dorothea also has a difficult relationship with her father, which is very different from the relationships within the Knight family children. The story details the times very well and the experiences of the different treatment of male and female children and even wives. It takes time to get to the point of the books title, which I found slow and tedious at times. Gill Hornby writes the characters well, but it is perhaps not the usual genre for me to read. I am sure that those who enjoy period books and love stories will find this an entertaining book.

This book is a work of fiction based on Jane Austen's niece, and written in a style similar to Jane Austen. It's a standard love story, underpinned with the social norms and expectations that you would expect from that time and from a book inspired by Jane Austen. However, I found it a really slow read - the plot seemed to move incredibly slowly, and while I enjoyed it, reading it did feel like a chore as the storyline didn't grip me. I have read others by Gill Hornby and enjoyed them, so this wouldn't put me off reading other books by this author.

Thanks to Gill Hornby, Penguin and NetGalley for this ARC, in return for an honest review.

DNF at 35%.

I requested this book because I had seen adverts for the TV mini series Miss Austen which had intrigued me and the blurb looked interesting.

Sadly, I am 35% through the book and I can't decide if it is intended to be funny (because it isn't), or who is supposed to be the main character. Indeed, I have just read the blurb as I start to write this review and I have discovered that the FMC is still a thirteen year old child, so far most of the book has been from the POV of her stepmother.

Anyway, I'm over a third through the book, none of it resembles the blurb, and I don't like the writing tone so I am giving up. Also, having downloaded the series I gave up after about 30 minutes of Miss Austen.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is a wondeful story of Jane Austins extended family. It deals beautifully with the trauma of Fanny's marriage and the integration of her new children. It demonstrates clearly what life was like back in the early 1800's and how men were superior , not to be botheeed with incidental affairs and women knew exactly jow to behave. Oh so different to today which made this book so appealing as it puts the society differences over in a lovable family way. Fanny had to face many trials and tribulations having the two families and none of which she could share with anybody.
A beautiful story set in a very elegannt society.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy in exchange for a review:

I want to start the review by stating I really enjoyed the writing and the premise of stepping into Austen’s world and I adored the setting.

it was an easy read for me and I enjoyed the emotional threads throughout the story but at times I struggled with the characters particularly Fanny who came off as unsympathetic but I really enjoyed the switching between her and Mary’s pov.

I look forward to checking out Hornby’s other works.