As Mary approaches her seventeenth birthday, a bond forms between her and Ned Knight, an understanding that leads, on the last day of the year 1825, to Ned declaring his hand.
MY REVIEW
This was another book tied into Jane Austen’s family members and I really enjoy historical fiction when it’s connected to real people but not as well known as say Jane herself. Though it’s brilliant we do have instances of Jane Austen in books; it’s nice to know more about those that were around her or her peers. In this case Jane Austen passed and it’s about the family surrounding one of Jane’s older brothers; Edward Austen Knight.
Edward has a happy family and they are quite content at Godmersham. His eldest daughter Fanny has gone off to marry Sir Edward Knatchbull and though it’s not a marriage of love it is one that develops into some good affection. She has five step children and Mary Dorothea is the eldest. And here lies most the focus of the book. There is quite a lot of Fanny Knight/Knatchbull in this but the story revolves mostly around Mary Knatchbull and the match of love she finds with Ned Knight and also her life in general; as Fanny’s stepdaughter and one attached to the Knight and Austen family through ties of her father’s marriage to Fanny.
Jane’s sister Cassandra is in this as well and it was interesting to see the differences in all these families that were connected.
The pacing is a bit off on this one compared to her first book. I have read Miss Austen but not Godmersham Park as of yet though it seems I might be adding that one to my up next list. This is the third book in these tales revolving around Jane’s family and peers. I have to see this one did not hold up as well as the first. I don’t mind that we weren’t particularly meant to like Fanny Knight but I did feel as if this book had her in it too much because it never truly felt like Mary’s book. More Mary and Fanny’s and it was disjointed because of that. Would I read more by Hornby? Absolutely, I still enjoyed this it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be for flow and focus. The prose is still well written and engaging and the characters were quite interesting, making me invested in their outcomes.
There we have it, this beautiful book will be out on shelves May 22 (2025) and I cannot wait to own my physical copy in my hands.
3.5/5 Cups of coffee from me. Thank you so much to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
My review to her fist book: https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2020/01/16/miss-austen-earc-review/
The Caffeinated Reader 
Leave a comment