A wonderfully original, emotionally complex 'reading-group' novel that delves into why Cassandra burned a treasure trove of letters written by her sister, Jane Austen - an act of destruction that has troubled academics for centuries.
Gill Hornby is the author of the novels The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury, Berkshire, with her husband and their four children.
Without romanticising its period setting or underplaying the
precariousness of any woman's position in this society, it
celebrates unexamined lives, sisterhood and virtues such as
kindness and loyalty. * SUNDAY TIMES *
This is the perfect book to wrap yourself around on a dark
night. * STYLIST *
Miss Austen voices the (hitherto) shadowy figure of
Cassandra, the villainies of the piece, and makes her flesh and
blood.... Gill Hornby is at her best describing the
complex bonds between the "excellent women" of her story. She
describes the horrors, but also the pleasures, of spinsterhood.
* THE TIMES *
So good, so intelligent, so clever, so entertaining - I adored
it. -- CLAIRE TOMALIN
Hornby's gift to the world of Austen lovers is to return to
Cassandra her rightful recognition as Jane's most intimate and
sustaining relationship, her greatest love. This is a deeply
imagined and deeply moving novel. Reading it made me happy and
weepy in equally copious amounts. -- KAREN JOY FOWLER, author
of THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB and WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE
OURSELVES
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