This is the first novel by this author that I have read. Apparently she has written several books around the theme of Jane Austen and her family. This one was very enjoyable, and worthy of a Jane Austen story. It is closely based on true events and characters in Jane Austen's family, this time after her death., and tells the story of Fanny Knight and her step daughter Mary Knatchbull, who marries Fanny,s brother, Ned. For me, it was a little too long and slightly predictable but well-written and fun to read.

‘The Elopement’ is Gill Hornby’s latest exploration of the lives of Jane Austen’s relatives, and very good it is too. Based on the diaries of Fanny Knatchbull (nee Knight), Hornby explores the benefits and pitfalls of the nineteenth century blended family when Fanny takes on six stepchildren, promising her volatile husband that she will be their new mama. Fanny’s presence is not as welcome as she might hope and, above all, the eldest and only girl, Mary Dorothea and she are never at ease with each other.

Happily, for Mary, Fanny’s younger siblings adore her and she is soon the best of friends with Cassy whilst also enjoying sociable times with Fanny’s brothers. As the title suggests, at some point there will be scandal and intrigue, out of which will develop a family schism.

Hornby tells this story using a light touch of Jane Austen’s style – just enough for the reader to be well and truly transported back to Regency England without the novel becoming a horrible parody or a clumsy pastiche. As she explains in her Author’s Note, a good deal has been imagined as Fanny’s diary cannot capture all of her characters’ thoughts and feelings. Nevertheless, the character portrayals are most convincing. It’s not difficult to believe in both the loneliness and the comradeship that these people must have felt, their dedication to duty, their desire for children and fear of childbirth, and the overwhelming importance of family.

Readers who have enjoyed Hornby’s other Austen Knight novels will love this one too. Sharply observed, well researched and wonderfully told.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Century for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.