Book review

 Miss Austen

Written by Gill Hornby (Published 2020, 265 pages)

The Book Has Been Adapted Into A 4 Part Series By The BBC And Will Premiere On

PBS’s Masterpiece On May 4, 2025.

The Miss Austen of the title is not Jane, but her older sister and best friend, Cassandra. The novel opens in the year 1840 as Cassandra, now a spinster in her late 60’s, arrives at the vicarage in the village of Kintbury after a long journey from Chawton. Cassandra had first been to Kintbury vicarage following her engagement to Tom Fowle whom she had met when he was a student of Mr. Austen’s in the rectory at Steventon. Tom’s tragic death at the age of 28 is recounted in one of the book’s early flashbacks. We later learn a possible reason why Cassandra never married even though she had other opportunities.

The novel moves between the year 1840 and earlier years in the life of Jane and Cassandra as well as other people in their family and circle of friends. The fictionalized story weaves together the lives of three families: the Austens (parents and children), the Lloyds (sisters Eliza, Martha and Mary) and the Fowles (Tom and his brothers and 3 sisters).

Cassandra has a specific purpose in going to Kintbury in 1840. Tom’s brother, Fulwar, has just died and the vicarage must be vacated for the next vicar. Since the Fowles have been living there for many decades, Cassandra is determined to retrieve letters written to and from Eliza Fowle (nee Lloyd) and Jane. Eliza’s death preceded her husband’s, therefore the letters must still be in the house. The story seeks to answer a question that has long plagued Austen scholars: Why did Cassandra burn so many of her sister’s letters? The author makes a convincing case that Cassandra needed to make sure the letters did not disclose anything that would tarnish Jane’s reputation or reveal anything about Cassandra’s personal life. 

The book is especially compelling when describing the peripatetic and financially precarious life of the two sisters and Mrs. Austen after the death of Rev. Austen. This was a difficult time for all of three women, but hardest of all for Jane. Her spirits were at a low ebb, and her writing suffered. Through all their trials, Jane and Cassandra drew closer and formed a lasting bond that endured beyond Jane’s death. Combining known facts with fiction, the author skillfully constructs letters written by Jane that Cassandra finds and reads, giving her new insights into her sister’s state of mind.

The author, Gill Hornby, lives in Kintbury, England and includes a map of the village, circa 1840, at the beginning of the novel. This book is sure to interest Janeites who wish to learn more about the relationship between Jane and Cassandra and ways the family tried to present the author’s life as serene, peaceful and without drama in spite of evidence to the contrary. 

Merry Toups is the Literary Advisor to

JASNA Louisiana Region