Little is known about Anne Sharp, except that she was the governess of Jane Austen's niece Fanny, and became a close friend of the author's, that she suffered from ill health, and lost her post as Fanny's governess because of it, and that, after many trials and tribulations, she ended up as the formidable headmistress of a Liverpool girls' school. In imagining a story for her, Gill Hornby gives her a rather exotic background, which I do not find entirely convincing. A bluestocking and proto-feminist, scorning convention and with an unshakeable contempt for men, Anne is in other respects shockingly naive for a woman of over thirty - the reader will guess the family secret that leads to her being left almost penniless long before she does. In short, I did not feel that she convinced me as a woman of her time. But she grew on me, and her story was an interesting one, and Jane Austen herself, and her brother Henry, were entirely convincing - so, in all, a quietly enjoyable book.

To be taken to the April meeting of the York Bookcrossing group, in the Eagle and Child pub, Petergate.

An enjoyable read for Jane Austen fans.

Free