But, the deepest longing she feels comes from exposure to Fanny’s letters from Aunt Jane and then the arrival of the wry, witty woman herself shows Anne the true friendship and companion of the heart she has been missing all her life. I enjoyed Hornby’s previous novel Miss Austen, which imagines Cassandra Austen’s life after Jane’s passing. A governess was neither part of the family nor part of the servant group so their lives would have been very lonely. Probably because genius is so hard to imagine; genius in daily life, living in the disguise of an ordinary person. Henry on the other hand, moves between an Austenian hero with the misfortune of having a wife, and no fiancée, and on the other, someone who is a seducer, a kind of Willoughby, and it all seemed very strange to me.

It's a good while before we meet Jane; much of the book is taken up with Anne's struggles to adapt to being a governess. The story is more character than plot driven, which while not inherently bad, does cause the book to be quite slow-paced.Godmersham Park follows Anne Sharpe, the real life friend of Jane austen , who falling on hard times was forced to seek employment as a governess in the home of Jane's brother Edward. Based on the events of Anne Sharps life, the story develops each personality and relationship well, with even lesser characters experiencing personal growth. The two-year period at Godmersham was not the happiest time for Anne, and while this is an intriguing book, it is not cheerful or uplifting for the most part.

So she stood still and patient upon the black and white chequered floor, like a small pawn on a chessboard. It focuses on her and Henry Austen, a kind of Henry Tilney who seems to be attracted to the young woman, although there cannot be any fairy tale here, since Henry is married. Un retrato de una criada "no criada" en una época difícil, donde ser mujer, soltera y pobre, aunque con profesión, podía ser un lastre en la vida. From the number one bestselling author of Miss Austen , a powerful and moving novel featuring Jane Austen's closest friend and confidante . Hornby vividly portrays the limited and proscribed roles available to women, who were forced to marry men they did not love, or to live precariously or in poverty.Anne is surrounded by her own drama, and although sheltered by the Austens, also there, without really knowing what her emotions and feelings are towards them, she begins to suffer, because although she is not a conventional character, she finds difficult to understand kindness without any payment, and herself, she didn't seem to control her own emotions very well. La propia Jane Austen hace hincapié, por ejemplo en “Orgullo y prejuicio” en cuales son las enseñanzas adecuadas para una mujer o en “Sentido y sensibilidad” se indica que dependen de la bondad de familiares cuando se quedan solas y sin un padre que las apoye, tal y como les sucedió a la propia Austen o a Anne Sharp en sus vidas reales. Tanto se concentra en estos tres personajes y tangencialmente en Elizabeth Austen, su hija, Miss Harris y algún personaje más que aparece en forma de "cameo", que luego cuesta entender la relación con otros personajes como Cassandra o Edward, que para ser el amo de la casa, aparece bien poco, aunque es natural pues delegaba en su mujer.