Novelist Gill Hornby takes us into the world of the Austen family, and introduces her latest fictionalisation of the lives of the Austens. In The Elopement, Mary Knatchbull’s life is changed when her widowed father marries Fanny Knight.
Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends, and as Mary starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms a special bond with one Mr Knight in particular. Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. Who would want to stand in their way?
Hornby is author of novels The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. Her novel Miss Austen has been adapted for screen on BBC One starring Keeley Hawes.
