Overall, what do you think of Miss Austen?

Overall, what do you think of Miss Austen?

I really liked it! I didn't know anything about Jane Austen's life or family before reading this, so I learned a lot, and I loved the way Hornby portrayed the relationship between Jane and Cassandra. I thought Cassandra was a fantastic character and I found her love story to be incredibly moving.

This is one of several books read that demonstrates a living heir removing parts of the legacy left by a dead relative. If based on fact, this allows the relative and/or author to determine much of the life of the passed. It appears to be a rather common theme lately. "And Cassandra saw now, understood for the first time, the immensity of the task that she had lately set for herself: How impossible it was to control the narrative of one's family history."

Not knowing a lot about Jane Austen's life, I feel that this book led me to know more about Cassandra than Jane. I didn't feel that I would enjoy either.

When I started reading Miss Austen, I knew only that the story would be about Cassie, Jane's sister. I limit my reading about a book ahead of time so that I can read and not be influenced by other reviews or even too much about the book itself. I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Austen. I found the flashbacks to the past helpful in fleshing out the current story. I also appreciated the family tree at the beginning of the book.

I'm on the fence about this book. On one hand, I commend Gill Hornby for positing an explanation for Cassandra's "control of the narrative of [her] family history." She has seamlessly woven historical details with her imagined history. Kudos to her for that. On the other hand, the book didn't keep my attention as I hoped it would. I did find the ending satisfactory, so I'm glad I hung in.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed reading this book. One of my good friends is an over the top fan of all things Austen and I admit to some eye rolling when she gets going about the delicious Mr. Darcy. However, this was a well written possible explanation of one of those literary mysteries, like the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie, that beg for an author to attempt to come up with a logical, reasonable explanation. This explanation was plausible to me! I did read some reviews by Janeites who were upset by Jane's secondary role in the book, but Cassandra was a fascinating character, who was obviously the wind beneath her sister's sails, and she carried the narrative easily. My Book Club will hear positive reasons to read and enjoy this novel from me when we finally get to meet in person next week after a year of Zoom.

Gill Hornsby takes the reader back to a time when single women were dependent on their families for their living circumstances especially as they aged. They had few options for earning a living. It was interesting to note that Jane Austen received little compensation from her books while she was alive. The author clearly captures the time period but the book’s pace is slow.

I really enjoyed it. I didn't know much about the Austin sisters and I found the story to be very interesting. I thought the book would be about Jane prior to reading it and it was a nice surprise to learn about the other characters. I thought it was well written.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be interesting. I have not read any books by Jane Austen, but after reading this novel, I feel inclined to give her books a try.

Because I am a former educator and a frequent reader of English authors and titles, the pace of this book does not bother me at all as some others have said it did them. On the contrary, I enjoyed it tremendously and I feel that Gill Hornsby did an excellent job mimicking the style of writing Ms. Austen herself used in her many brilliant novels. This was a focus for me in reading this work. In addition, I very much appreciate Hornsby's focus on the era and her explanation of life at the time these two women lived. It gives the her reader a clear and detailed view of what it was to be a woman living in that time-frame and allows the reader to easily see it in contrast to our own time. ( Perhaps things are not as bad for present-day women as we may believe?) Further, I enjoyed seeing the role of Cassie played out here and because I have not read, in detail, a great amount of Jane Austen biography, this gave me a bit of an idea of what her character may have been like - at least according to Hornsby. I will add that it did not allow me to see Jane in as positive a light as I may have once held her, and it did give credit to Cassie for the person I thought Jane to be. Now I must go back and begin to seriously study the biographies of Jane Austen to see - more definitively - who she was. In short, I thoroughly loved this novel, and it has opened new areas of thought and study for me.

I liked this book. This was my first five star read of 2021. I thoroughly enjoy 19th century British literature and really liked the interplay with Persuasion in this novel. This is my favorite novel of Jane Austen's and I like the way it was used in this book. I am glad that I read this book. I wish that we learned more of the Fowle sisters, but this novel was focused on Cassie finding the letters Jane wrote to their mother. Cassie was a busy bee, nosy character who thought she did the right thing, but I am not convinced that destroying letters and manuscripts was the correct way to control her sister's legacy.

Miss Austen, the book, was very interesting to me, but not highly entertaining. I did like the author's style of writing, wherein she let readers draw their own conclusions about each character.
Miss Austen, the character, struck me as being too enamored of herself.

One of my daughters is a huge fan of Jane Austen. She loves all things related to her. I honestly asked for this book because of her fascination. I was happy to learn I could add some interesting things from reading the book to share with her. I found I enjoyed some parts of the novel and other parts I liked less. I felt like Kathy Ann- disappointed by the fact that Jane’s sister made the decision to destroy the letters as a way to control the narrative of her sister’s legacy.

It was okay--but it certainly did not reveal any more about Jane Austen than is already out there. It seemed to be more about Cassie than Jane. I have a sister three years younger than myself. I have always considered her my best friend throughout my life but the relationship between Jane and Cassie was really very strange to me. I just simply could not get my head around the weakness of these women and their abnormal co-dependency. The busy bodyness of Cassie was easy to understand. She may not have been as heavy handed as Mary but she was every bit as much of a control freak. I really did not like either woman very much and don't think they would have been favorites if I lived at the time--but then again they didn't care about anyone outside their circle of three--Mother and the girls.

I enjoyed Miss Austen but was far from enthralled. I'm happy I finished the book, but had I not been reading for the book club, I can't say I would have made it all the way to the end. I am usually disappointed by Jane Austen spinoffs, and this book is no exception. It left me feeling as if the story wasn't complete. The writing isn't bad, but the story was a little dull to me.

I enjoyed the book, although I am not a fan of the jumping around to different time tables. Sometimes it is hard to follow. I didn't know anything about Jane Austin and her family, just about the books that Jane had written. I liked reading about Jane and her siblings and the letters that Jane had written.

I would give it a B -- not great but very readable. Cassy is an interesting woman and I admired her very practical and logical reasons for her actions. Her family needed Jane's reputation to be preserved. It had a very stately pace -- but only somewhat slow in places. I did notice that while the book tried to read true to the period, a modern word would plop down occasionally.

I enjoyed this story of love, loyalty and family. I love books that offer new perspectives and viewpoints. I have a deeper appreciation of Jane Austen and her sister.

I loved it! I feel like I can read a novel of Jane's and have a much deeper appreciation of it after reading "Miss Austen".

I liked the book I did not know much about Jane Austin so while reading the book, I had to look up more history about them. Finding out about the history of places times and people has always been something I enjoy finding out more about. This book helped to understand the sisters better and the times they lived in,