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A richly imagined novel of the Austen family by the #1 International bestselling-author of Miss Austen.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
1820. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, Sir Edward – a man of strict principles and high Christian values.
But when her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary'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. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming.
And as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an especial bond with one Mr Knight 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 want to stand in their way?
"An affecting, and even somewhat feminist, return to the world of the Austen family and its offshoots. There's a method to the author's impeccably researched look at 19th-century manners: Not only does she get to the titular event (never fear, there's an Austen-worthy young gentleman involved), but she shows the choices available to the era's women. Austen herself would approve. Janeites, rejoice!" —Kirkus Reviews
"Hornby continues her series devoted to the family of Jane Austen with a supple tale of Fanny Knight, the eldest daughter of Jane's brother Edward. Hornby breathes life into the characters, highlighting the societal restrictions faced by women in Regency England and their roles as daughters and wives." —Publishers Weekly
"Thanks to the author's ability to make her characters and their struggles engaging and relatable, this is an excellent work of detailed historical fiction and a timeless story of family and love. A novel to savor." —Booklist
This information about The Elopement was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo courtesy of the author
Gill Hornby is the author of the novels Miss Austen, The Hive, All Together Now and Godmersham Park, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury, England, with her husband and their four children.
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