More than that, I enjoy learning about the role of women in the early part of 1800's, that tells the story about the complexities of societal class, position, friendships, and matters of the heart. Anne Sharp arrives in Kent as an unknown thirty-one year old woman whom the Edward Austen’s have hired sight unseen through the influence of a family acquaintance to fill the role of governess to their oldest daughter, Fanny. Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby is biographical fiction for the general market, which is a bit out of my normal reading genre. When Jane, her sister Cassandra, and mother come to stay at Godmersham Park, it’s a turning point in Anne’s life. But Anne is keenly aware that her new role is an awkward one: she is neither one of the servants nor one of the family, and to balance a position between the ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ members of the household is a diplomatic chess game.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. From one chapter to the next, you might find that a fair amount of time has passed, which not only has a jarring effect but also leaves you feeling as though you have missed out on the events and goings-on of the characters’ lives. Henry on the other hand, moves between an Austenian hero with the misfortune of having a wife, and no fiancée, and on the other, someone who is a seducer, a kind of Willoughby, and it all seemed very strange to me. This seems quite unfair given how little evidence there seems to be about her personality either way. The story highlights how powerless even smart, independent-thinking, well-bred women were: without a man you were utterly vulnerable.

This change of circumstances comes as a shock to Anne and it takes her a while to settle into her new job and way of life. She forms a particularly close bond with Fanny’s Aunt Jane, and although neither knows it at the time, their connection will develop into a lifelong friendship. En este caso se habla de Anne Sharp, institutriz en la casa de Edward y Elizabeth Austen, que da nombre al título, y se basa en una ficcionalización de los hechos descritos en el diario de Fanny Austen, sobrina de la conocidad autora, así como en los hechos reales de los que se tiene conocimiento sobre esta mujer. Her own circumstances are now reduced and she is conscious of the social status difference and need to satisfy the Austens.

It impugned her family honour, played down her clear teaching abilities and reduced her to a bedraggled scrap. Anne’s and Jane’s friendship is delightful, but doesn’t come about until around two-thirds into the book. It is based on a real-life person, Anne Sharp, governess to Jane Austen's niece from 1804 to 1806, and a close friend to Jane. stars - rounded up because of the author’s note at the end which I found far more interesting than the rest of the book. Trying to teach Fanny, she finds her pupil's mind more akin to granite, blocking out any challenging notion.That meant there were several storylines that looked like they were going to go somewhere but were never mentioned again. Edward inherited Godmersham Park, and wealth and lands, married a fashionable woman, and had numerous children to provide for.