
Member Reviews

Full Review: https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2025/05/19/the-elopement/
This was another book tied into Jane Austen's family members and I really enjoy historical fiction when it's connected to real people but not as well known as say Jane herself. Though it's brilliant we do have instances of Jane Austen in books; it's nice to know more about those that were around her or her peers.
Edward has a happy family and they are quite content at Godmersham. His eldest daughter Fanny has gone off to marry Sir Edward Knatchbull and though it's not a marriage of love it is one that develops into some good affection. She has five step children and Mary Dorothea is the eldest.
The pacing is a bit off on this one compared to her first book. I have to see this one did not hold up as well as the first. I don't mind that we weren't particularly meant to like Fanny Knight but I did feel as if this book had her in it too much because it never truly felt like Mary's book. More Mary and Fanny's and it was disjointed because of that. The prose is still well written and engaging and the characters were quite interesting, making me invested in their outcomes.
There we have it, this beautiful book will be out on shelves May 22 (2025) and I cannot wait to own my physical copy in my hands.
3.5/5 Cups of coffee from me. Thank you so much to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars rounded up
1820: Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the safe charge of her widowed father, Sir Efward - a man of principle and high Christian values. But when her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary's life is suddenly changed. He 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 Chowton is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amising, but handsome and charming. And as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms a special bond with one Mr Knight in particular. Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. They expect opposition. After all, each is from a good family and has known each other for years.
Jane Austen's niece, Fanny Knight, married Sir Edward Knatchbull and became stepmother to Mary Dorothea. The story is told from Fanny and Mary Dorothea's perspectives. It's based on the diaries of Fanny Knatchbull. The characters are well rounded, and it's told in four parts. It's an emotional read. My only complaint - the chapters were far too long.
Published 22nd May 2025
I would like to thank #NetGallley #RandomHouseUK #Cornrstone and the author #GillHornby for my ARC of #TheElopement in exchange for an honest review.

Another book from the author of Miss Austen and very much in the literary style of Jane Austen. This book follows some years later after the event of Godmersham Park, in which we are introduced to Fanny (referred in this and the previous book variously Fanny Austen, Fanny Austen Knight and Fanny Knight). Fanny, now the eldest daughter of the Austen Knight brood at Godmersham Park, is wed to Sir Edward Knatchbull at a relatively early stage in the book. Initial feelings of sympathy to Fanny for her marriage to that widower changed as the book progresses with Fanny often portrayed in a less than sympathetic light. The book reveals much about the expectations of families in this era - marriage for status and development of family connections and the importance of marriage to ones equals or betters was a strong theme just as the competing ideal of marriage for love is emphasised... harking to ideas also evident in Austen's own texts. Again, this is a book that takes some time to read and appreciate. Not my usual type of book but nonetheless an engaging read, delving into Austen era life and which I suspect lovers of Austen's works will again enjoy. With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The third foray into the world of Jane Austen. This revolves round the two female protagonists namely Fanny Knight and Mary Dorothea Knatchbull who are stepmother and stepdaughter. It revolves around the role, at that time of women in Marriage

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.
I am a sucker for these types of books, sequels/prequels to classics; reimaginings of classics; classics from different points of view etc. Of course, with the recent exceptions of Julia and James for example, I am often very disappointed but I never learn.
I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed by this book. At first I found the attempt to write in the Austen style very contrived and clunky but either the writing got better or I got used to it because after a few chapters it no longer bothered me. At times I started to worry that we were verging into parody but we don't, It is instead written as a pastiche (as in the old style definition) or homage. I didn't realise until the end that the book is based on real events.
It is an enjoyable read, it perhaps flags a little just after half way through, but it is also cleverly written. I liked that we have Austenian names, some echoing the characters of their namesakes but some being quite different in character. There is a lot of dear Jane's sly and dry humour and understatement. i suspect there might be one or two anachronisms of speech but they don't matter.
The two main female characters of Fanny and Mary Dorothea are at odds from the beginning but I liked both characters and sympathised with their situations so it was never a case of rooting for one or the other. Lady Banks is a great character and I would have liked to have heard a lot more about her.
On a more serious note, the book is also a reminder of how life threatening childbirth can be and the grim old days when married women produced a baby every year and often died worn out or as a consequence of childbirth and it also touches lightly on still births and infant deaths. Women today should always rejoice in and defend our hard won freedoms.
Absolutely well worth reading. I might even reread it. 4.5.

I have fairly recently come across Gill Hornsby and loved Godmersham Park and Miss Austen. The Elopement is another lovely story and follows along from previous books. It was great to read more about well loved characters. Fanny was beautifully portrayed and I loved the dynamic between her and her stepdaughter Mary.
This is a must for lovers of Jane Austen and the history of her family. It is written in a way that gives a real feel of what life was like back then particularly from a woman’s point of view. Well worth reading.

I was so happy to be wrapped up in a Gill Hornby novel again. The writing is fantastic and it really draws you in and you can totally forget that this isn’t a book written by Jane Austen herself.
I loved seeing characters from the previous two books growing up and life progressing. The relationship dynamics was interesting and I am forever fascinated by the speed of letter delivery, those Victorian’s didn’t have snail mail, they are the OG creators of Instant Messaging!
Ned and Mary or fantastic characters, I have to say, at the start I felt Mary a bit odd, that she was so closed off to Fanny, but then I could see how much she missed her mama and Fanny’s behaviour was also so very closed off to her, yet bizarrely in her head she was a loving and caring parent. She was blind to Mary as a person to the point she honestly thought that Mary and Ned had no connection.
The changing times is highlighted well, you can see in the way Ned describes how he wants to spend his life with Mary, as equals almost, in fact the very thing he likes about her is knowing her own mind and taking charge. Compared to the relationship of Fanny and Edward it’s completely opposite, Ned is a hands on dad and not afraid to show love and affection. Bringing Casandra Austen in to see them through adulthood and parenthood was simply lovely, she got a family to love and cherish.
Absolutely amazing and I really hope to see it on tv one day like Miss Austen.

The Elopement is the second of Hornby’s novels I’ve read. The first being Miss Austen. The writing is excellent as always. I thought Miss Austen was slow paced at times but this was even slower, and the elopement which is the whole premise of the book doesn’t happen until the latter half of the book. I did enjoy it overall but not as much as Miss Austen (which I have 5 stars) and The Elopement which I’ve rated 4 stars.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I wanted to envelope myself with the Jane Austen characters but unfortunately this was not to be. I found the whole story to be quite dull and the pace of the book very slow.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance copy of this book.

At 16 Fanny is the eldest daughter of the Knight family, when her mother dies, it falls to her to run the house and take care of the rest of the children . She takes her duties seriously and makes sure everything is running smoothly at Godmersham Park. She is too busy to take part in the escapades of her large family. Things change drastically when widower Sir Edward Knatchbull asks for her hand in marriage, he is a stickler for discipline so Fanny finds it easier to accede to him in all things. She becomes step-mother to his brood of children including his only daughter Mary Dorothea who has had a difficult and isolated childhood. Gill Hornby follows the lives of these two families as described in Fanny's diaries in a personable and compelling way. This story is based on historical fact which makes it even more interesting I'll be looking up her previous novels.

The writing was light, but had emotional threads running through. I liked how the language of the time was peppered throughout the story. That was a nice touch that successfully took you back in time.
There were a couple of viewpoints throughout the story. I enjoyed seeing things from Fanny's point of view and then seeing how the rest of the family saw things. I felt at times that Fanny was quite isolated, which made her point of view appear to be at odds with what the rest of the family were seeing. Some of it was her fault, whereas at other times it seemed that circumstance and society played their part.
The book opened with a character note and then a character list which was helpful as there were quite a few characters to keep track of. There was then a Prologue, 4 Parts split into smaller chapters and an Epilogue. I enjoy a Prologue and an Epilogue. For me they open and close a story well.
Each chapter was fairly long and sometimes split (indicated by a little line). This meant that you got a good chunk of the story before moving on. There was a lot of different things happening to the different groups of characters, which whilst it made for longer chapters, it kept the story going.
The book had a good flow to it and the different parts meant that there was a good pace to the story. As it was based on real events it could easily have been stilted, but it was cleverly brought together into a coherent story.
The characters were good. There were a lot to keep up with, but I managed. I found it harder to keep up with where the characters were. There were lots of place names thrown in and I wasn't always sure that I was thinking about the right place.
I found it interesting that the characters were based on real people. That added an extra layer to the whole thing.
Fanny (one of the main characters) was often portrayed as cold, but the more you read, you saw that actually she was just trying to do her best and support her husband as she was expected to do. She was pulled in different directions and at times I really felt for her.
The time period that the story was set in gave rise to the characters' personalities and it was interesting to see how people interacted with one another during that time period.
Lastly the settings. As I mentioned above, there were a lot of different settings. It was hard to keep up with who was where, but as it wasn't necessarily integral to the story, I didn't concern myself too much with it.
Overall an interesting story.

This is a steadily paced book, charting the lives of extended members of the sadly deceased Jane Austen’s family. Whilst this is perfect for anyone who loves all things Austen, the pace of this book was slightly slower than I would have wished. The elopement itself doesn’t occur until very late in the book and the final 20% really ramps up the story and action. It felt like a little while before the narrative truly began. That said, it was an enjoyable read and interesting insight to familial relations of the time.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting histfic set around the lives of Jane Austen’s nieces and nephews. A good look at every day life and with a poignant ending.

Such a lovely story written in the style of Jane Austen with references to her work throughout, full of family, heartaches, joy and sorrow, this was a pleasure to read

Gill Hornby seems to setting herself up as purveyor of Austen family biographical fiction, with this instalment as her third on the topic. This time, she has steered clear of the more widely-known aspects of Austen's life, relegating Jane Austen to a passing detail rather than a main or even supporting character. Instead, Hornby tells the story of the Knight and Knatchbull families and their various matrimonial travails. Spoiler alert: at least one couple gets fed up of playing by the rules and takes off for Gretna.
The main plot centres around Fanny Knight, otherwise known as Fanny Austen or Fanny Austen Knight. For novices to Austen family history, Jane Austen's brother Edward was informally adopted by wealthy childless couple the Knights. From them, he inherited the estates at Chawton and Godmersham. Edward married well and had eleven children before his wife finally died in childbirth. Eldest daughter was Fanny, who Jane Austen famously described as more like a sister than a niece. The two exchanged letters in which the author offered the young Fanny advice on her matrimonial prospects. Fanny served her duty as lady of her father's house from the age of fifteen until she married the older Sir Edward Knatchbull at the age of twenty-eight. She was his second wife and he came to the marriage with five children. Of these, the only girl was Mary Dorothea Knatchbull and it is she who is the second protagonist.
The basic plot runs around Fanny and Mary Dorothea's differing perspectives on Fanny's role as stepmother. Fanny believes herself to be dutiful and well-loved. She sees herself as an able and attentive stepmother to the five unprepossessing Knatchbulls. Mary Dorothea has another opinion. In the afterword, Hornby noted that Fanny kept a diary which she seems to have expected people to read. In it, she always prefaced her husband, father and siblings names with 'dear' or 'dearest' even when clearly trying to save space. She never did this for her stepchildren.
Fanny, Lady Knatchbull
Fanny is a divisive figure in the Austen fandom. On the one hand, she was the late author's favourite niece. On the other, in later life she remarked in a letter that Cassandra and Jane Austen had benefited from contact with the Knight family and that without them, the aunts 'would have been... very much below par as to good society and its ways'. So ... she was a snob. Undoubtedly one influenced by the shifting of attitudes as the lax Georgian era transformed into the strait-laced Victorian one, but she was a snob nonetheless. There is something so sad though in how elderly Lady Knatchbull lost her appreciation for her aunt's wit.
I took a moment to consider also who Fanny was also within the continuity of Hornby's writing. She is a supporting character in Godmersham Park, mostly known for her closed mind and lack of independent thinking. Hornby followed the traditional view that Fanny's mother was a villainess and that she had formed her daughter in her own image. The Fanny we meet in The Elopement is clearly the same character. She even makes a snide reference to the governess who her mother saw off. Fanny is not warm. She is not pleasant. But she does want to be seen as such.
Strangely though, Hornby lost her nerve towards the end of the novel and then gave Fanny a baffling change in character where she suddenly became more human for a couple of pages. I am always leery of historical fiction which trashes real people and I would understand if Hornby decided to hold off making her an out-and-out villain but given that she had already had Fanny force her stepdaughter to get her head shaved, it was a little late for a transformation. Rather than humanising her, it seemed more like poor characterisation.
Once again, Hornby poses the question about the amount of choice women have over their fates. Fanny does not realise during her first couple of meetings with Sir Edward Knatchbull that she is being interviewed as a future wife, not even when one of the visits includes meeting his daughter. Her father is fully aware. Mary Dorothea was similarly oblivious. Over the next few years, various women of their circle fall in love and endure bitter disappointments when they are denied permission to wed. Fanny is furious at their impropriety. Mary Dorothea hopes desperately to avoid the same fate.
There is a recurring them across Hornby's three Austen novels about what marriage means for women. On the one hand, it offers love and financial security. A home of one's own. On the other, it is a common cause of death. Fanny's mother dies in childbirth. Mary Dorothea's mother died in childbirth. Two of Fanny's aunts died in childbirth. In the events subsequent to the novel, one of Fanny's younger sisters went on to die in childbirth. [spoiler]Mary Dorothea also goes this way too at the end of the novel. [/spoiler]One of the characters considers to herself how strange it is that the unmarried aunts live to be so old while the mamas so rarely do.
In Miss Austen, Hornby acknowledges that a group of unmarried women teaming together could have a much less risky time of it. But in this novel, spinsterhood is viewed more as a disaster. But perhaps that is because protagonist Mary Dorothea is a teenager rather than the more mature in years Cassandra Austen. With Fanny, Hornby seems to be rolling her eyes at women who become smug after marriage. This echoes the way she depicted Mary Austen in Miss Austen. But is Hornby suggesting that you have to be an adult woman to recognise that happiness can be found in the single life or that if you end up a spinster, you simply grow to accept it? I strongly suspect that Hornby is not actually making either of these points but that in The Elopement has not been written with any clear central message.
Funnily though, Cassandra Austen does make a few cameo appearances in this novel, both in its opening and its final section. Again, she is recognisably Hornby's creation from her earlier book. But I was never quite sure what the point of her was in The Elopement. Perhaps Hornby just wanted to underline that these novels were inter-linked? Plot-wise though the books are all standalones. It is just that Miss Austen was a masterpiece and the latter two have limped in its wake.
I had expected that The Elopement was going to depict the events which precipitated the estrangement between the Knight and Knatchbull families. To an extent it did, but I found the plotting rather rushed with the titular elopement occurring so close to the novel's conclusion. Hornby fails to drive home the pain that estrangement causes. Despite Sir Edward Knatchbull's faults and his tendency to insult and fall out with everyone he meets, Mary Dorothea loves him. Her pain is he would rather dig in his heels on how Right is on his side than recognise the pain he is causing with his behaviour. Mary Dorothea has the choice between a lifetime of misery or going against her father. The result is that their relationship breaks down and he is too weak a man to repair it.
Estrangement is messy and unpleasant and grubby and embarrassing. It comes after you have looked in the eye of someone you love, told them that their behaviour is unbearable and they have looked back at you and not cared at all. It is recognising that the other person is unwilling or incapable of hearing you and that you just have to let go for your own sanity. Hornby never really engages with this level of complexity. A simple retelling of events is fair enough but after the insight that Hornby has proved she can provide, it is still slightly disappointing.
Overall, this was a fairly muddled little book but a reasonably entertaining one nonetheless. I doubt that it will get its own BBC miniseries but it was a quick enough read which shed some light on the subsequent lives of Jane Austen's relatives. Still, it is not one that I would rush out to buy for myself. Any book is worthwhile that can promote the memory of these tragic short-lived women who did not live to see their children grow up. I do think though that Hornby has taken what she can from the lives of Jane Austen's extended family and that it may be time to go and seek inspiration in pastures new.

Widower Sir Edward Knatchbull is in want of a wife and his children are in need of a stepmother. He finds her in Miss Fanny Knight, a dutiful, sober-minded spinster, niece of Jane Austen, who has overseen the family estate since her mother died.
This is a marriage of mutual convenience more than love, although Fanny hopes for it. She has great respect for Sir Edward, to the extent that she hardly dares contradict or challenge him because of his fearsome temper.
Fanny excels at household management but she lacks the necessary motherly kindness and affection which the children require. Mary Dorothea, Sir Edward’s beloved only daughter, feels this loss acutely and responds with icy politeness.
In Mary’s eyes, “The Mother” is aloof, lacking in empathy and compassion. Fanny makes wrong assumptions and doesn’t take the time to really understand how she feels. This leads to an awkward, apparently unbreachable distance between them. However, Mary gets on splendidly with the rest of the Knight family.
The warm, comforting friendship of the sisters and Aunt Cassandra provides the love and support she needs. Mary falls deeply in love with the heir, a charming, charismatic chap called Ned. A match between them appears highly desirable but not everyone approves.
Mary risks her reputation, her father’s opprobrium, her stepmother’s shock and dismay and her brothers’ potential upset when an elopement seems to be the only possible way to achieve the marriage of her dreams.
This Regency romance is brilliantly written in the style of Jane Austen, with her trademark attention to detail, engaging dialogue, and dry wit. It’s perfect summer escapism.
Based on family history, gleaned from Fanny Knight/Knatchbull’s meticulous journaling, this is the third novel in the author’s celebrated series and I can’t wait to catch up with the rest. Grateful thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for the eARC.

It seems we Jane Austen fans can’t get enough of the Austen related novels and spin-offs that have proliferated in recent years. But if you’re looking for something that stands out in this very crowded field, then you can’t go wrong with Gill Hornby’s books.
Like 'Godmersham Park' and 'Miss Austen', 'The Elopement' is another novel based on the Austen family. It is an entertaining, believable, warm and witty novel in which Horny returns to the wider world of Jane and Cassandra Austen’s family as she explores the relationships between the Knights and the Knatchbulls.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC.

What a wonderful book and a ‘must read’ for any Austen fan, filling in as it does the gaps in what we know of the Austen family history and its connections.
Fanny having almost given up hope of finding a suitor is betrothed to a local landowning gentleman who is widowed with young children. Once wed, Fanny rapidly realises that, although she is well suited to helping run a large and busy estate she has no idea how to be a mother to young children. The eldest is Mary who is devoted to her dear father and is happy to accept his new bride but sadly finds her to be cold and distant.
Attaining the age of 18, Mary defies convention and embarks on a relationship with Fanny’s younger brother Ned. Despite family objections and her father’s threat to cut her off, Mary elopes with Ned to get married in Gretna Green.
Meticulously researched and a veritable delight for the literary senses. Loved this from start to finish..

Like 'Godmersham Park' and 'Miss Austen', 'The Elopement' is another novel based on the Austen family. It is told from the perspective of two characters, Fanny Austen Knight (Jane Austen's niece), and her stepdaughter, Mary Dorothea Knatchbull, and it covers the first few years of their relationship, from Fanny's marriage to Mary Dorothea's father, Sir Edward Knatchbull, when Mary Dorothea was just 13, until the titular elopement when she is 17 and beyond.
The story is mostly faithful to historic events, Fanny Knight was a prolific journaler and documented all the events of this novel, although in Gill Hornby's version she doesn't come off as a very sympathetic character, despite being Jane Austen's favourite niece.
The Austen family are always a delight, and particularly in contrast to the awful Sir Edward Knatchbull and his reign of tyranny over his family. It is well established in regency romance that a difference in birth, station or wealth, would be an obstacle to marriage - but Sir Edward's objection to Mary Dorothea's choice seems to be based purely on prejudice, stubbornness and complete lack of understanding of his daughter. Although he is irredeemably terrible, Fanny comes off almost as bad with her completely selfish lack of interest in her stepchildren and her slavish devotion to her husband's opinions.
'The Elopement' is different from the other two Austen family books, in that Jane Austen has already died before the book begins, yet her words are quoted throughout the book and her wit and wisdom pervades the text. Another rich and fascinating glimpse into the world of the Austen family - a delightful read.

Mary Knatchbull lives with a highly principled father. It is a quiet, spiritually full existence with exacting standards. When he marries Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, however, life is peppered with colour and activity. Fanny comes from a happy and busy family, with Mary becoming fast friends with her stepmother’s sisters (including a Cassandra Austen, if that name rings a bell). Moreover, there’s romance to be found in the form of a Mr Knight and the two are thrilled at the thought of marrying. And because it's such a perfect match, no one could find a problem, right? Well, you’ll have to read and see. I’m so fond of Gill’s books for their vividness at explaining the historical period. She also truly cares about her characters and their welfare.