Jane Austen Book Club: Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby

Welcome to our Truth Universally Acknowledged Book Club: here's your chance to reread your favourite Jane Austen books in the company of like-minded readers. Even better, you can explore the perceptiveness and skill of her writing for the first time.

Why not join Ros and Sue as we immerse ourselves month by month in the delights of Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sanditon and Lady Susan. We'll also read other authors who have been inspired by Jane's work to create their own versions of her stories: Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid, Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo, The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and the occasional factual title including Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home (published in 2021 and accompanied by a BBC documentary, Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors).

And if you have any further suggestions for Austen-themed books, do share them with us.

Please bring along £1 (or £12 for the year) as a contribution to Meetup fees - this £1 is only payable by non-IVC fully-paid members (and can be reclaimed if you decide to join the CambsIVC membership group).

Reading choice for Tuesday 13th January:
Godmersham Park by Miss Austen author Gill Hornby. January 1804: Anne Sharpe arrives at Edward Austen's country estate, Godmersham Park in Kent, to take up the position of governess. At 31, she desperately needs an income if she is to survive, but Anne is keenly aware that her new role is an awkward one: to balance between 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' is a diplomatic chess game... one wrong move may result in instant dismissal. She has just begun to settle into her position when dashing Henry Austen and his younger sister Jane come to stay.

Read so far:
Sense and Sensibility (published 1811)
Sense & Sensibility - Joanna Trollope (published 2013)
Miss Austen - Gill Hornby (published 2020)
Pride and Prejudice (published 1813)
The Other Bennet Sister - Janice Hadlow (published 2018)
Longbourn - Jo Baker (published 2013)
Death Comes to Pemberley - P D James (published 2011)
Mansfield Park (published 1814)