This pastiche, peopled with actual historical figures, follows the trials of a new governess whose charge is Fanny Austen, the eldest daughter of Edward, Jane’s wealthy brother. Through Anne's time there, she develops a special kinship with Jane and the attention of Jane's brother Henry. They are fleshed-out the ideal amount for secondary characters and contribute to the story in meaningful ways, avoiding the pitfall of so many ancillary characters – superfluity. The novel opens with Anne Sharp arriving at Godmersham Park to take up a post as governess to young Fanny, eldest daughter of the family.

This is the perfect description of Anne's time at Godmersham Park, as she was always wary of offending both the family and the servants.

Queda claro que Henry y Anne sienten algo entre ellos, pero a la vez, Anne no lo quiere admitir por cómo se ha criado y las figuras masculinas que la han rodeado, ¿o quizá porque es lesbiana? Tal fue la conexión que existió entre Anne y Jane que, tras la muerte de la autora en Winchester, Cassandra Austen escribió aquellas líneas famosas “Se ha ido la parte más importante de mi misma” como queriendo dejar claro que Jane era su compañera en la vida y no Anne… se dice que ambas mujeres, limaron aspereza tiempo después, pero si que me ha sorprendido ese aspecto de una persona que, en mi cabeza, era tremendamente generosa como Cassandra. On 21 January 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess. Mrs Tritton survived her husband by 26 years and after her death in 1983 the estate was bought by the Sunley family, who undertook a major repair programme. Tanto se concentra en estos tres personajes y tangencialmente en Elizabeth Austen, su hija, Miss Harris y algún personaje más que aparece en forma de "cameo", que luego cuesta entender la relación con otros personajes como Cassandra o Edward, que para ser el amo de la casa, aparece bien poco, aunque es natural pues delegaba en su mujer.

It’s a reasonably busy household with so many children, visiting houseguests, and family events, but not a particularly active one, and I felt the story lacked energy. Gill Hornby uses Fanny Austen’s diaries, which detail her days with the governess Anne Sharp, but employs some literary imagination to elaborate on Anne’s intriguing backstory. in " The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly " Publishing This Week" newsletter.

Tampoco se entiende, aparte de los celos fraternales, que Cassandra tuviera problemas con Anne, porque no se ficcionaliza ningún conflicto, supongo que porque la autora no tiene datos suficientes. I had to let go of that expectation and recognize that Anne is a different sort of character – she doesn’t have to confront the men or anyone else who mistreat her – as cathartic as that would have been to read.