Having spectacularly failed to get beyond page 30 of my U3A Reading Group book in November, I’m delighted actually to have read this month’s choice, Miss Austen by Gill Hornby, which we will be discussing today. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Miss Austen here on Linda’s Book Bag.
Miss Austen was originally published by Penguin imprint Arrow in 2020, was given a rebranding to coincide with the BBC television series in 2025 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here.
Miss Austen
Throughout her lifetime, Jane Austen wrote countless letters to her sister. But why did Cassandra burn them all?
1840: twenty three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family’s friends, the Fowles.
She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she can never allow to be revealed.
As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane’s history, and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane’s reputation, or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity?
My Review of Miss Austen
Cassandra Austen is on the hunt for her sister, Jane’s, letters.
What a super book! I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Austen.
Gill Hornby’s narrative style is pitch perfect, being accessible to the modern reader, but with a tone that Jane Austen herself would recognise. I loved the wry, observational humor threaded throughout the narrative that echoes the type of wit found in Jane Austen’s novels. The direct speech, the societal norms, the place of women in society added a fabulous sense of the era so that the historical setting of the book feels every bit as engaging as plot and character.
What I found so brilliant was that Miss Austen stands as a fascinating story in its own right without the need to know anything about Jane Austen or her writing. However, a little knowledge adds absolute delight in seeing where themes and characters have been woven into those books from real life. It makes reading Miss Austen great fun.
Normally I am not a fan of narratives that range backwards and forwards across timeframes, but in Miss Austen I loved it. The letters, the times before and after Jane’s death, the meticulous detail that is never intrusive – all add up to a satisfying and entertaining read.
I loved discovering more about Cassandra – and indeed Jane. Gill Hornby writes with such assured knowledge that, whilst Miss Austen is a work of fiction, I felt I had learnt a considerable amount whilst being thoroughly entertained. Neither sister is presented superficially, so that they feel authentic and real. Both women have flaws and I felt one of the great strengths of the narrative was the development of Cassandra’s self-knowledge by the end of the story.
The themes of Miss Austen are perfectly pitched and whilst they represent the times in which the novel is set, they have huge resonance for today’s society. Through Cassandra’s life we encounter the impact of wealth, gender, societal position and expectation, familial duty and all manner of relationships, marriage and friendship. This has the effect of providing an aspect for any reader to engage with and enjoy.
At a time when reading has eluded me, Miss Austen has been a great solace. I found it compelling, interesting and written with assured originality and depth. Indeed, I loved it!
About Gill Hornby
Gill Hornby is the author of The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for younger readers.
Her subsequent novels, Miss Austen and Godmersham Park were Sunday Times bestsellers, and Miss Austen is a four-part BBC adaptation starring Keely Hawes as Cassandra Austen. She is also the President of the Jane Austen Society.
Gill lives in West Berkshire with her husband and four children.
For further information, follow Gill on X @GillHornby and Instagram.
English (US) · 