I found this fair-condition paperback at the Book Cellar, and picked it up for release at an upcoming Jane Austen tea. (True, the attendees will all have read it - but I couldn't resist the theme!)

This is perhaps my favorite Austen book - though whichever one I'm reading at the moment tends to have an advantage {grin}. [My favorite screen adaptation of this one is the 1995 film starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, though I did love some of the performances in the 2007 TV-movie, especially that of Anthony Head as the vain Sir Walter.]

This book's got a different tone than most of Austen's others, with heroine Anne being something of a Cinderella rather than the vivacious Emma or Elizabeth. It also turns the usual plot sideways, a bit; in this case it begins with the aftermath of a match that was un-made, by a trusted family friend who dissuades the heroine from marrying a man of insufficient fortune - but when the heroine's own family fortune decline dramatically it sets the stage for some significant changes all 'round. While Anne did pine for her lover much longer than would seem reasonable these days, all worked out satisfactorily in the end, and I enjoyed all the secondary characters and subplots as well as the main romance. Anne's hypochondriac sister Mary is one of the funniest of Austen's characters, and the Admiral and his wife are among the most happily married!

[The TV Tropes page for the novel has some entertaining info.]

I plan to leave this book in or near the tea shop at around 1:30 or so, on my way in to meet BCers tobysrus and edithdoll at today's "Jane Austen" tea organized by the Jane Austen Society. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2017 Movie release challenge. ***