{"product_id":"gillhornbygodmershampark","title":"Gill Hornby - Godmersham Park","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten by Gill Hornby. Themes include Fiction, Literary, Romance, Historical, Small Town \u0026amp; Rural.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Utterly absorbing and illuminating. Written with a sure and stylish hand. Gill Hornby's best book yet.' \u003cb\u003eEsther Freud\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e__________________________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom The #1 Bestselling Author Of Miss Austen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn 21 January 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess. At 31 years old, she has no previous experience of either teaching or fine country houses. Her mother has died, and she has nowhere else to go. Anne is left with no choice. For her new charge - twelve-year-old Fanny Austen - Anne's arrival is all novelty and excitement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe governess role is a uniquely awkward one. Anne is neither one of the servants, nor one of the family, and to balance a position between the 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' members of the household is a diplomatic chess game. One wrong move may result in instant dismissal. Anne knows that she must never let down her guard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Mr Edward Austen's family comes to stay, Anne forms an immediate attachment to Jane. They write plays together, and enjoy long discussions. However, in the process, Anne reveals herself as not merely pretty, charming and competent; she is clever too. Even her sleepy, complacent mistress can hardly fail to notice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeanwhile Jane's brother, Henry, begins to take an unusually strong interest in the lovely young governess . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd from now on, Anne's days at Godmersham Park are numbered.\u003cbr\u003e__________________________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eMiss Austen\u003c\/i\u003e and Gill Hornby\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The perfect book to wrap yourself around on a dark night' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eStylist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The great joy of \u003ci\u003eMiss Austen\u003c\/i\u003e is that the reader feels immersed in a world that is convincingly Jane's from the first page. \u003ci\u003eMiss Austen\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel of great kindness, often unexpectedly moving, with much to say about the status of \"invisible\" older women. Above all, it's concerned with the triumph of small acts of goodness; you can't help feeling that Jane would have approved.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'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' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'This is a deeply imagined and deeply moving novel. Reading it made me happy and weepy in equally copious amounts.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKaren Joy Fowler, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Jane Austen Bookclub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'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' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'It won't surprise me if this is one of the books of the year, it's a delight, one of those that you don't want to end.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRte\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A charming novel... capturing the spirit of the brilliant sardonic Jane, and reminding the reader of how brutal life was for women in Austen's era, it's an ingenious and affecting embroidery on the fact of the author's life.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Mirror\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Fans of \u003ci\u003ePride and Prejudice\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEmma\u003c\/i\u003e will enjoy this touching story[...] In her meticulously researched third novel, Gill Hornby skillfully imagines the correspondence between the sisters.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eMiss Austen\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ean ingenious imaginary explanation\u003c\/b\u003eof how so many of Jane's letters came to be destroyed... With flashbacks and wonderful domestic detail, \u003cb\u003eHornby brings to life the Austen family\u003c\/b\u003e, using the known to speculate on what might have been.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e Audio Book of the Week\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'Extraordinary and heart-wrenching, \u003ci\u003eMiss Austen\u003c\/i\u003e transported me from page one. A remarkable novel that is wholly original, deeply moving, and emotionally complex. A gift to all Austen lovers.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLara Prescott, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Secrets We Kept\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Gill Hornby ingeniously imagines what Cassandra Austen's own life might have been like, both before and after Jane's untimely death, casting a different light on the familiar biographical picture without in any way distorting it.' \u003cb\u003eDeirdre Le Faye, editor of \u003ci\u003eJane Austen's Letters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Miss Austen is affecting, thought-provoking, and makes you think about both Jane and Cassandra Austen in a new light.' \u003cb\u003eHelena Kelly, author of \u003ci\u003eJane Austen, The Secret Radical\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'A pitch perfect novel, fond and atmospheric. It reads as if Gill was born to write Cassandra's story, and she brings her whole witty and sympathetic self to the task.' \u003cb\u003eKirsty Wark\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Tender and touching ... Hornby deftly describes the psychological toll that such uncertainly took on Jane, and movingly celebrates the fortitude of Cassandra whose greatest love was her sister' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A moving, often funny novel. Richly imagined and spryly told, it reinstates overlooked Cassandra as the most important person in Jane's life' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMail On Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Utterly absorbing. The lives of the Austen sisters are recreated with a brilliant sureness of touch that can only be achieved by deep study of the period.' \u003cb\u003eArtemis Cooper\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A wonderfully original, emotionally complex novel that delves into why Cassandra burned a treasure trove of letters written by her sister, Jane Austen' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIrish Examiner\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'In this subtle and delicate novel, Gill Hornby has created a clever, warm-hearted character in Cassandra, Jane Austen's sister' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWoman \u0026amp; Home\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003ePeople are going to love it, but I wonder if any screen adaptation will be able to convey the hidden treasure within this thoughtful story.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Engrossing ... the warm relationship between the sisters is particularly well written.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGood Housekeeping\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll books at Vastela are pre-owned. Condition varies from good to near-new. No book is sold in unacceptable condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vastela Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57935636463990,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0707\/7144\/1981\/files\/9781529125900.jpg?v=1779467930","url":"https:\/\/www.vastelabooks.com\/products\/gillhornbygodmershampark","provider":"Vastela Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}