Jane Austen鈥檚 sister destroyed her letters. 鈥楳iss Austen鈥� imagines the reasons.
Jane Austen may have completed only six major novels in her 41 years, but the sequels, spinoffs, and movies they have spawned are nearly as ubiquitous as Shakespearean derivatives. 鈥淢iss Austen,鈥� Gill Hornby鈥檚 well-researched, slyly barbed historical novel, is a worthy addition, sure to enthrall Janeites.
The titular Miss Austen is Jane鈥檚 devoted older sister, Cassandra, who outlived her by 28 years and who, in Hornby鈥檚 telling, guarded her beloved sister鈥檚 legacy with zeal. The novel is set mainly in 1840 鈥� when an aging Cassandra shows up at relatives鈥� soon-to-be vacated Kintbury vicarage, determined to rescue her sister鈥檚 letters to a favorite confidante from the prying eyes of posterity. Her baldly stated mission is 鈥渢o find and destroy any evidence that might compromise Jane鈥檚 reputation.鈥� But each letter Cassandra reads sends her 鈥� and Hornby鈥檚 narrative 鈥� back to the events it evokes, which span the years from Cassandra鈥檚 engagement in 1795 through Jane鈥檚 death in 1817.
To the lasting consternation of historians, Cassandra Austen did in fact destroy much of Jane鈥檚 correspondence 鈥� hundreds of letters between the two sisters. What did she want to hide? That question is partly what drives this novel, which attempts to render Cassandra鈥檚 actions comprehensible if not altogether forgivable.
Like Austen鈥檚 cunning social satires, Hornby鈥檚 novel works on multiple levels. On the surface, it鈥檚 the story of a smart, attractive Regency woman who, after the death of her fianc茅, resigns herself to spinsterhood and a financially straitened life whose gratifications rest in being dutifully useful 鈥� to her parents, her talented sister, and her wealthier brothers鈥� fecund families 鈥� since fortunes 鈥渟eemed only to run down the male line.鈥�
On another level, it鈥檚 a vivid portrait of Austen and her family, based in part on Hornby鈥檚 speculative re-creation of those missing letters, which she fills with entertainingly acid commentary about various relatives and friends, and evidence of worrisome mood-swings that veer between 鈥渟ullen and silent, or brittle and wicked.鈥� In this telling, Jane is always at her lowest when circumstances thwart her writing 鈥� as when she, her sister, and their parents are forced into an unsettled, nomadic existence after their brother James and his irritating wife Mary take over the family home, Steventon Rectory.聽聽聽
Dig a little deeper and you鈥檒l find not just tonal echoes of Austen鈥檚 prose, but several borrowed plot points, including a strategically timed illness, a prejudicial misreading of character, and a protagonist who, like Emma in the eponymous 1815 novel, learns a lesson about the hubris of meddling in others鈥� affairs.
As in Austen, there鈥檚 lots of courtship drama, but Hornby has slyly inverted the marriage plot and the notion that for a story to end happily, it must end in a betrothal. Cassandra, who like Jane is clearly sharper than most of the men in her life, comes to cherish the freedom of spinsterhood and to realize that her 鈥渉appiest moments had been passed in the company of excellent women.鈥� "Miss Austen" celebrates not just Virginia Woolf鈥檚 room of one鈥檚 own, but a home of one鈥檚 own 鈥� and the joys of female companionship.
Hornby鈥檚 novel offers a decidedly modern, feminist slant, which is announced by its epigraph from Austen鈥檚 鈥淧ersuasion鈥�: 鈥淢en have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. ... The pen has been in their hands.鈥� 鈥淢iss Austen,鈥� with its jabs at doltish males and entrenched gender inequity, pointedly features the female point of view. Cassandra has to wait for her wealthy brother Edward鈥檚 鈥渟tolid mind to make its pedestrian progress鈥� after she plants the idea that he should provide his mother and sisters with a cottage on his Chawton estate. Hornby adds bitingly, 鈥淪he had to wait a good while.鈥�
When the Austen ladies finally achieve their dream, Jane exults, 鈥淲e took the sow鈥檚 ear that fate offered us, and fashioned from that something quite wonderful.鈥� Cassandra replies, 鈥淲e have found our Utopia! I can imagine no better life than the one we have here.鈥�
A happy ending that may involve real estate but doesn鈥檛 involve marriage, we marvel! Not so fast. 鈥淢iss Austen鈥� continues to twist and turn deliciously to expose the dangers of blindly promoting one鈥檚 own idea of utopia, whether married or single, 鈥渁s the only true happiness.鈥�
