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.

This is an enjoyable book. Gill Hornby returns to the wider world of Jane and Cassandra Austen’s family as she explores the relationships between the Knights (their eldest brother’s children) and the Knatchbulls.

The novel opens with the possible engagement of Fanny Knight to Sir Edward Knatchbull. In fact, the book is an imaginative re-telling of Fanny’s diaries and provides the reader with a great insight into the lives of the family, as well as some of the challenges faced by women through a lack of choices in this very patriarchal world. For example, marriage is a matter of family choice and what can a young lady do when she has fallen in love with someone who then quickly falls out of favour of her father? The title gives this away … but Hornby adds great emotional depth the characters as they wrestle with their conscience. As ennobling as falling in love can be, it can also be deeply divisive without family approval.

This is a novel filled with warmth, wit and a range of characters. A must read for fans of ‘Miss Austen’.

I am not always a fan of books which take fact and expands it into fiction, sometimes there is too much of the authors own opinion and sometimes prejudice included. I am happy to say that this book does not fall into either category
Based on Jane Austen’s extended family this is a fascinating insight into life around 1820. Written very much in the style of Jane Austen this is a welcome addition for those interested in her life.
Interest around Jane Austen is intense at the moment, even fabric has been designed with her in mind.

“The Elopement” follows on from Gill Hornby’s previous books on the Austen world but this time focuses on the life of Jane Austen’s niece Fanny Knight who has become something of an old maid but is then unexpectedly matched with a wealthy widower, Sir Edward Knatchbull. While there is no love in the marriage, Fanny eventually believes that the match is a good one and takes on the role of mother to his five children. One of these is Mary who is most beloved and yet somewhat neglected. Fanny hopes to give her much guidance but struggles to bond with the girl. And as the Knight and Knatchbull families become better acquainted, an event which no one foresaw brings both joy and despair.

As with “Miss Austen” and “Godmersham Park”, this book is an entertaining and easy read. It really plunges you into the regency era and must have been very well researched both as to the wider history and that of the people involved. And while I found a couple of the characters annoying (which meant I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I’d hoped), that is probably because the author kept their behaviour as true to life as possible and in all of history and the present day, there are annoying people! Additionally, I am always pleased to see the plight of women in that era being highlighted - the good, the bad and the in between. I am certain that people who have enjoyed Hornby’s previous work will enjoy this book, as I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to Gill Hornby, Random House UK, Cornerstone | Century, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Elopement is a reimagination of Jane Austen’s niece, Fanny Knight’s, life. The characterisation fell flat and the writing style failed to grip my attention. It was, unfortunately, quite boring. I’m sure it has it’s audience, but it was not for me. Unfortunately had to dnf.

I love the classics, especially those of Jane Austen, and Gill Hornby has really picked up the mantle and is writing brilliant classic style novels. Her first, Miss Austen was brilliant, and The Elopement I'm delighted to say is just as good.
It's full of warmth wit and suspense and I'd highly recommend.
Thanks to Gill Hornby, Century and NetGalley for the ARC.

It is 1820 and Sir Edward Knatchbull, a man of strict principles and high Christian values, is a widower solo parenting his brood of children after the death of his wife.

When her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, his daughter Mary Dorothea’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, and Fanny's brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming.

As Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an especial bond with one of the brothers 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 possibly want to stand in their way?

The Elopement is the third title in Gill Hornby's series of novels about Jane Austen's sister Cassandra, and the wider Austen family. It is beautifully written, perfectly researched, and the Regency world of family and society is richly rendered and perfectly evoked.

I loved and adored the first two, Miss Austen and Godmersham Park, and thought they could not be bettered, but, in this third title, Gill Hornby has excelled herself and has taken the series to another level.

It is based on the diaries of Fanny Knatchbull (née Knight), and is told in the most delicious Austen-esque prose. It is absolutely pitch-perfect, and I revelled in the pithy remarks, the polite and cleverly cloaked put-downs, the dry wit, the characterisation, and the very grounded observations on a polite society built on a rigid code of manners and expectations.

The characters are deftly drawn and the focus of the narrative alternates between Fanny and Mary. From their respective points of view we can gather impressions of the novel's entire cast of characters, but also get an informed view of the two women themselves. We see how Fanny has a lack of self-awareness, and so little awareness of what is going on around her. There is often a huge dissonance between what she thinks and perceives, and reality itself. We also see how Mary Dorothea is far from the wet lettuce that Fanny has written her of as being, and that she has far more spark, spirit and intelligence.

The character development is very skilful though and over the course of the novel Gill Hornby cleverly ensures that Fanny appears neither completely ridiculous or utterly unlikeable.

As the title suggests, an Elopement does occur, and as the novel's four parts play out like the acts of a play, it handles themes of family, love, marriage, as well as familial and societal expectations, and personal obligation and responsibility.

It is an exploration of the choices open to women at that time: whether to be more pragmatic, accommodating or submissive to expectation and obligation, and marry for security and status, or to marry for love. Both options required enormous courage

In exploring these options the novel also portrays the wider lot of women in Regency England: whether that be the spinster roles of Marianne Knight and Cassandra Austen who become enmeshed in house keeping and child minding, or, marriage and the ensuing lottery of multiple pregnancies which at best affect a woman's energy and health, and at worse result in early death.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Elopement and if you're a Jane Austen fan it won't disappoint! I cannot recommend it highly enough. Thank you to Cornerstone for access to a Netgalley eARC.

I was asked by NetGalley to review this book. I was aware of Miss Austen due to the BBC dramatization of the authors book so was interested to read this as I am a fan Of Pride and Prejudice. I was interested to see how this story would and would this be a good as Miss Austen - I was not disappointed.

This book is essentially about Jane's family and Fanny Knight a niece of Jane. Fanny loses her mother when she was young and helped her father with the running of the house.

Fanny ends up marrying a widower in her twenties - at that time it was important to marry but one had to marry within their social class which Jane Austen explores often. The other aspects - people very rarely married for love and such an emphasis on class and fortunes.

The storyline is good and is well written also. A good recommended read due for publication July 8th 2025.

The Elopement tells the story of Mary Dorothea Knatchbull, the step-daughter of Fanny Austen Knight (late of Godmersham Park and niece of Jane Austen). Mary Dorothea has an awful childhood with her mother dying when she was very young and being left to rot in a boarding school. She keenly feels the death of her mother, the absence of her brothers who are also away at school, and her desire to please her father, Sir Edward.

When he takes her out of school at the age of 13, little does she know her life is starting a new chapter when her father marries Miss Fanny Austen Knight of Godmersham Park. Her hopes for family life are quickly dashed by her new mama, although she spends the next few years enjoying the company and lives of her colourful Austen relatives.

Her social world increases, but with it comes the knowledge of friends falling in love, only for their marriage hopes to be stopped by family and other practicalities – from not enough money to not enough social status. There are whispers of elopement too, a huge scandal for the time. First her poor governess falls in love and is dismissed, followed by Ned Austen Knight, and her dear sister Cassy. Mary Dorothea wonders if she will make a love match and it seems like her parents have their own ideas over a suitable match.

Mary Dorothea falls for Ned Austen Knight, heir to the Godmersham and Chawton estates. When her father forbids her to accept his marriage proposal, the couple elope to Gretna Green, the first place they can legally marry. What would Jane Austen say? Mary Dorothea achieves the love match denied others but at the cost of an estrangement from her family which lasts decades.

I really enjoyed this book. It is so easy to imagine yourself in the magical world of the Knights and Austens at this time and the author brings it all to life vividly. I cried at the injustice of Mary Dorothea passing away so early when she deserved a long life with her children and which she didn’t get to enjoy with her own mother.

This book had a slow start and I wasn’t actually sure who the main character of the story is. I feel it switches between Fanny, the “mother” and Mary, the dutiful daughter. I found my feelings changed towards which character I preferred, constantly switching between Fanny and Mary. The book took us on a journey through many years whilst we read through the family growing up and then the ending!!! Argh! Completely threw me. All in all though I loved the book and it was an easy cosy read and very emotional.

I am a keen reader of books influenced by Jane Austen and her works, and Gill Hornby’s novels are some of the best of these. Although this is not a sequel as such, one of the main characters in ‘The Elopement’ is Fanny Knight, Jane Austen’s niece, who the reader met in ‘Godmersham Park’, and like the earlier novel, this new stand-alone novel benefits from the author’s careful research into the real Fanny Knight’s diaries, which I understand Fanny kept from the age of 11.

The very engaging and well-written plot has two main protagonists, Fanny herself and her step-daughter, Mary Dorothea. I was especially interested in the extent to which Fanny must have either forgotten or ignored her childhood emotions. I assume that her diaries show how little empathy she had for the feelings of others, Mary Dorothea in particular.

I found this book very difficult to put down, racing through it to the satisfying ending, and have no hesitation in recommending it.

I have to say from the outset that I think trying to write in Jane Austen's style is very brave and Gill Hornby's writing does echo in some part Austen's wit and observational writing.
However, it is a pale imitation at best, with heavy overtones of Bridgerton creeping in throughout.
There are two main female protagonists, Fanny and Mary,. Fanny featured in the first of the Godmersham books, but Mary is introduced as a young girl in The Elopement when Fanny marries her widowed father.
Gill Hornby does try to show how Fannny's inability to form a loving relationship with Mary stems from her own fear if saying or doing the wrong thing, but more often than not Fanny comes across as a selfish, jealous and a fairly unattractive character. It is difficult to see how her own family view her as sweet and kind. Mostly she just seems extremely dull witted. Her doting on her own children while more or less ignoring those in her step family is really unattractive, and it is increasingly difficult as the book goes on, to find her at all sympathetic.
Mary is a great deal more fun, and that's where Bridgerton comes in...Mary is a 21st century creation with a Regency facade.
Mary's romance with the impossibly handsome and charming Ned is shown as being so perfect, despite the small matter of an elopement, and the consequent estrangement from her ( let's be honest ghastly) father.
There are far worse Regency style novels, and ,as I have said, there are glimpses of clever writing, but all in all, I was not very taken with The Elopement and I wouldn't look forward to reading another in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley for an earc of this title in return for an honest review of it

Another well written period drama from this author. I found the pacing quite slow, but could visualise the characters, costumes, dialogue extremely well. Fans of historical period drama will enjoy this. Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy.

Another well researched but slightly uneven book based on the lives of those surrounding Jane Austen. Overall I enjoyed this but the authors previous books were more engaging.