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Cassandra and Jane: A Jane Austen Novel
They were beloved sisters and the best of friends. But Jane and Cassandra Austen suffered the same fate as many of the women of their era. Forced to spend their lives dependent on relatives, both financially and emotionally, the sisters spent their time together trading secrets, challenging each other's opinions, and rehearsing in myriad other ways the domestic dramas that Jane would later bring to fruition in her popular novels. For each sister suffered through painful romantic disappointments - tasting passion, knowing great love, and then losing it - while the other stood witness. Upon Jane's death, Cassandra deliberately destroyed her personal letters, thereby closing the door to the private life of the renowned novelist . . . until now.
In Cassandra & Jane, author Jill Pitkeathley ingeniously reimagines the unique and intimate relationship between two extraordinary siblings, reintroducing readers to one of the most intriguing figures in the world of literature, as seen through the eyes of the one person who knew her best.
270 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
September 6, 2017
I wouldn't call this novel historical fiction; it is fiction based on conjecture. No one really knows that much about the relationship between Jane Austen and her sister because Cassandra destroyed many of Jane's letters and personal material when she died to protect her privacy. The sisters remain an enigma to historians and literary scholars, so conjecture and the imaginations of other writers will have to suffice.
January 18, 2009
As a huge fan of Jane Austen’s novels, I have always been curious about her life. Unfortunately, historians can’t shed much light, because very little documented information exists about Jane. Despite a lack of biographical facts, I was still excited to read Cassandra & Jane, A Jane Austen Novel. Even a fictionalized look into Jane Austen’s life is better than nothing at all. Unfortunately, this book neither informs nor entertains the reader. Narrated by Cassandra, Jane’s older and closest sibling, the story focuses on Jane’s family rather than her own mysterious life. Cassandra herself is boring and prudish, and her descriptions of Jane lack detail and description. Unlike Jane Austin’s novels, the characters in this book are underdeveloped and dull. Jill Pitkeathley tries to write historical fiction, but fails in her attempt to portray an interesting life. I would have enjoyed the book much more if it actually read like a Jane Austen novel. Where are my outspoken and clever heroines? Where are my brooding, yet passionate men? At the very least, can I please get one sexual-tension-filled ballroom? Instead, this book simply reminds me, yet again, that there is only one Jane Austen. Skip this book and reread your favorite Jane Austen novel. Trust me; you’ll be much more satisfied and entertained.
January 5, 2010
What is the most tragic and disappointing thing you know about author Jane Austen’s life? My immediate choice would be that she died too young and wrote too few novels, and at a close second would be that after her death in 1817, her sister Cassandra destroyed many of her personal letters to protect her privacy. This act of sisterly devotion is greatly lamented by historians, biographers, scholars, and Austen enthusiasts, limiting what information that we do know to her edited letters and family recollections. The complete reason why they were destroyed will always be a mystery, but one can imagine from Austen’s surviving letters and novels that her keen sense of social observation and biting irony played a key factor in her sister’s decision to remove them forever from family and public scrutiny.
In author Jill Pitkeathley’s recently re-issued 2004 novel Cassandra & Jane, we are offered a chance to explore that chasm left by Cassandra Austen’s bonfire of humanity as Pitkeathley imagines the back story of two beloved sisters who were the best of friends, honorable confidants and devoted to each other through all the ups and downs of their heartbreaking life in rural 18th-century England. This bio fic is told from the viewpoint of Cassandra’s experience of their life together, as only she would know, and is a creative blending of historical fact with a fictional narrative that is both believable and compelling.
The story begins with a prologue to their story. It is 1843, and Cassandra Austen now seventy years old is still residing at Chawton cottage in Hampshire, the house where she and her sister Jane lived together until her untimely death at age forty-one in 1817. She has kept everyone of the letters that her sister ever wrote to her safely stored in her sister’s rosewood trunk after her death. Her family has known of their existence, but she has safeguarded them for twenty-six years from their perusal. She fears that when she is gone, that they will pour over them examine and discuss every detail and then publish them for posterity, and profit. She has now re-read them and sorted them into two piles. She must not forget her responsibility to her sister, and to her memory, as Jane had previously warned her “No private correspondence could bear the eye of others.”
As we are transported into Jane Austen’s world, Cassandra shares their story together in an honest and open manner, dropping her protective older sister mantle for glimpses of the influences that shaped Jane’s personality through her family, social sphere, environment and 18th-century social stricture that bound her financially and emotionally. Their remarkable friendship is the highlight of this novel as they suffer and survive together through romantic aspirations and disappointments, frustration on their financial dependence on their relations, and rejoice in Jane Austen’s early success as a writer.
Austen enthusiasts will recognize many historical facts known of their lives that permeate through the novel, and in turn revel in the allusions from their real lives that are transported into Austen’s novel’s. Life imitating art, or art imitating life? Without overt sentimentality, author Jill Pitkeathley has skillfully blended the tragic and joyful lives of two remarkable 18th-century women who chose different avenues to leave their footprint on posterity; - one who would become a literary legend by remarkably revealing social foibles through wit and guile in her novels, and the other renowned for what extreme measures she took not to reveal them in her own sister. This moving and enjoyable rendering of biography and fiction tops my list of favorite Austen inspired novels for this year, and I highly recommend it.
In author Jill Pitkeathley’s recently re-issued 2004 novel Cassandra & Jane, we are offered a chance to explore that chasm left by Cassandra Austen’s bonfire of humanity as Pitkeathley imagines the back story of two beloved sisters who were the best of friends, honorable confidants and devoted to each other through all the ups and downs of their heartbreaking life in rural 18th-century England. This bio fic is told from the viewpoint of Cassandra’s experience of their life together, as only she would know, and is a creative blending of historical fact with a fictional narrative that is both believable and compelling.
The story begins with a prologue to their story. It is 1843, and Cassandra Austen now seventy years old is still residing at Chawton cottage in Hampshire, the house where she and her sister Jane lived together until her untimely death at age forty-one in 1817. She has kept everyone of the letters that her sister ever wrote to her safely stored in her sister’s rosewood trunk after her death. Her family has known of their existence, but she has safeguarded them for twenty-six years from their perusal. She fears that when she is gone, that they will pour over them examine and discuss every detail and then publish them for posterity, and profit. She has now re-read them and sorted them into two piles. She must not forget her responsibility to her sister, and to her memory, as Jane had previously warned her “No private correspondence could bear the eye of others.”
As we are transported into Jane Austen’s world, Cassandra shares their story together in an honest and open manner, dropping her protective older sister mantle for glimpses of the influences that shaped Jane’s personality through her family, social sphere, environment and 18th-century social stricture that bound her financially and emotionally. Their remarkable friendship is the highlight of this novel as they suffer and survive together through romantic aspirations and disappointments, frustration on their financial dependence on their relations, and rejoice in Jane Austen’s early success as a writer.
Austen enthusiasts will recognize many historical facts known of their lives that permeate through the novel, and in turn revel in the allusions from their real lives that are transported into Austen’s novel’s. Life imitating art, or art imitating life? Without overt sentimentality, author Jill Pitkeathley has skillfully blended the tragic and joyful lives of two remarkable 18th-century women who chose different avenues to leave their footprint on posterity; - one who would become a literary legend by remarkably revealing social foibles through wit and guile in her novels, and the other renowned for what extreme measures she took not to reveal them in her own sister. This moving and enjoyable rendering of biography and fiction tops my list of favorite Austen inspired novels for this year, and I highly recommend it.
June 22, 2010
Besides being the devoted sister to one of the most cherished and beloved authors, Cassandra Austen is best known for her devastating destruction of many of Jane Austen's letters and correspondence. What was in these precious letters that Cassandra didn't want the world to see? What new insight to Jane Austen's personality would they have provided? Admirers of Jane Austen's novels cannot help but harbor a desire to know more about this wonderful woman's character, yet, because of her letters being destroyed we are only able to know what Cassandra wanted us to know. In her biographical fiction novel, author Jill Pitkeathley envisions the special relationship between Cassandra and Jane, displaying what she believes might have been the true character of Jane Austen and provides answers to questions like: Was Jane Austen ever in love? What occurred in those long years where she did not write?
What is unique about this novel is that it is told from Cassandra's perspective and narrated through her voice. Cassandra's story begins with Jane's birth, which almost at the age of three, Cassandra has a slight memory of, and continues with her childhood, adulthood, and death. The relationship between Cassandra and Jane is filled with sisterly affection and intimacy. Ms. Pitkeathley portrays the wonderful candor between the two sisters and the dependence they had upon one another. However, Ms. Pitkeathley makes a point to show that the relationship between Cassandra and Jane was not a “picture of perfection.” While still maintaining that Cassandra and Jane meant the world to each other, Ms. Pitkeathley illustrates that there were times where jealousy, insecurities, and distance crept into their relationship. Moreover, she depicts our beloved Jane as having faults such as impatience and sometimes bitterness.
What a delightful and illuminating biographical fiction novel! While some aspects of Jane Austen's life and family history were already familiar to me, there was still plenty for me discover and learn in this novel. I greatly enjoyed how the author inferred Jane Austen's feelings and thoughts about the events in her life and found myself in complete agreement with her conjectures. I do believe that with three sister-in-laws who died in the midst of or as the result of childbirth that it is completely natural to assume that Jane Austen would be a little frightened of the danger of having children. In addition, I find it very reasonable that with the move to Bath, her father's death, their looming financial predicaments, and her acceptance/rejection of Harris Bigg Wither's marriage proposal that Jane Austen would go through a period of depression that would forestall her writing.
One aspect of this novel I took pleasure in was observing the connections and similarities between Jane Austen and many of her character creations. Through this novel I was able to imagine her as a Marianne Dashwood when she was young and in love with Tom Lefory, a satirical Elizabeth Bennet with her biting wit, and perhaps a little bit of a Charlotte Lucas when she contemplated a marriage of convenience. I was also able to observe how Cassandra was the inspiration for Jane's quieter and gentler characters such as Jane Bingley and Elinor Dashwood. I think Ms. Pitkeathley did a marvelous job of re-imagining and rendering the personalities of these sisters. There is no way of knowing how accurate she is, but I found her interpretations and assumptions to be viable and well-supported. Occasionally there was a moment where I felt that Jane was a little too harsh or self-absorbed and Cassandra a little too insecure, but those were few and far between.
If you are interested in Jane Austen's missing correspondence and the relationship between Jane and Cassandra Austen, or if you are enamored with all these biographical fiction novels that have recently been in vogue, Cassandra and Jane is a novel you will not want to miss! I cannot get enough of these bio-fic novels, I have loved each one I have had the good fortune to come across! I eagerly anticipate reading Jill Pitkeathley's newest novel, Dearest Cousin Jane (published in March 2010), as I am curious to learn more about Jane Austen's lively and independence-loving cousin, Eliza de Feuillide, and her influence on Jane Austen's life and writing.
Austenesque Reviews
What is unique about this novel is that it is told from Cassandra's perspective and narrated through her voice. Cassandra's story begins with Jane's birth, which almost at the age of three, Cassandra has a slight memory of, and continues with her childhood, adulthood, and death. The relationship between Cassandra and Jane is filled with sisterly affection and intimacy. Ms. Pitkeathley portrays the wonderful candor between the two sisters and the dependence they had upon one another. However, Ms. Pitkeathley makes a point to show that the relationship between Cassandra and Jane was not a “picture of perfection.” While still maintaining that Cassandra and Jane meant the world to each other, Ms. Pitkeathley illustrates that there were times where jealousy, insecurities, and distance crept into their relationship. Moreover, she depicts our beloved Jane as having faults such as impatience and sometimes bitterness.
What a delightful and illuminating biographical fiction novel! While some aspects of Jane Austen's life and family history were already familiar to me, there was still plenty for me discover and learn in this novel. I greatly enjoyed how the author inferred Jane Austen's feelings and thoughts about the events in her life and found myself in complete agreement with her conjectures. I do believe that with three sister-in-laws who died in the midst of or as the result of childbirth that it is completely natural to assume that Jane Austen would be a little frightened of the danger of having children. In addition, I find it very reasonable that with the move to Bath, her father's death, their looming financial predicaments, and her acceptance/rejection of Harris Bigg Wither's marriage proposal that Jane Austen would go through a period of depression that would forestall her writing.
One aspect of this novel I took pleasure in was observing the connections and similarities between Jane Austen and many of her character creations. Through this novel I was able to imagine her as a Marianne Dashwood when she was young and in love with Tom Lefory, a satirical Elizabeth Bennet with her biting wit, and perhaps a little bit of a Charlotte Lucas when she contemplated a marriage of convenience. I was also able to observe how Cassandra was the inspiration for Jane's quieter and gentler characters such as Jane Bingley and Elinor Dashwood. I think Ms. Pitkeathley did a marvelous job of re-imagining and rendering the personalities of these sisters. There is no way of knowing how accurate she is, but I found her interpretations and assumptions to be viable and well-supported. Occasionally there was a moment where I felt that Jane was a little too harsh or self-absorbed and Cassandra a little too insecure, but those were few and far between.
If you are interested in Jane Austen's missing correspondence and the relationship between Jane and Cassandra Austen, or if you are enamored with all these biographical fiction novels that have recently been in vogue, Cassandra and Jane is a novel you will not want to miss! I cannot get enough of these bio-fic novels, I have loved each one I have had the good fortune to come across! I eagerly anticipate reading Jill Pitkeathley's newest novel, Dearest Cousin Jane (published in March 2010), as I am curious to learn more about Jane Austen's lively and independence-loving cousin, Eliza de Feuillide, and her influence on Jane Austen's life and writing.
Austenesque Reviews
October 26, 2008
Cassandra and Jane by Jill Pitkeathley. (Harper, 2008.)
Meh.
What did I expect of this fictional memoir of Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra? When I first heard of it, I thought the author was wise to use Cassandra's voice instead of trying to emulate Jane's. (Of course, Jane's narrative would have ended much sooner than Cassandra's.)
I have yet to read any of the Austen spin-offs because I don't read Austen solely for plot, and I'm not sure I want to know what happened once Jane had, as it were, closed the book on them. This book, however, posits itself as historical fiction.
Recently, I read Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman. Before I read this wonderful, rich book, I knew nothing of medieval Wales or Europe. I still cannot pronounce the names of most of the characters. However, I know them, I know how they fit into history, and I have a sense of how it was to live in those times.
(Trust me, I know this is an unfair comparison.)
I can not say the same of this book. The only character I got to know in any depth is Cassandra, and I neither like nor trust her. All I know at the end is that she was a jealous and sometimes- spiteful sister who enjoyed Jane's writings, but understood little of the creative process or spirit. Jane remains one-dimensional, shoved from one heartbreak to the next, or one disappointment to the next, with Cassandra interposing her own saccharine suffering into every nook and cranny. I didn't even have the satisfaction of reading colorful descriptions of clothes or foods, for heaven's sake! In fact, the lack of sensory detail probably predisposed me to dislike this book more than any other deficit.
Meh.
Meh.
What did I expect of this fictional memoir of Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra? When I first heard of it, I thought the author was wise to use Cassandra's voice instead of trying to emulate Jane's. (Of course, Jane's narrative would have ended much sooner than Cassandra's.)
I have yet to read any of the Austen spin-offs because I don't read Austen solely for plot, and I'm not sure I want to know what happened once Jane had, as it were, closed the book on them. This book, however, posits itself as historical fiction.
Recently, I read Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman. Before I read this wonderful, rich book, I knew nothing of medieval Wales or Europe. I still cannot pronounce the names of most of the characters. However, I know them, I know how they fit into history, and I have a sense of how it was to live in those times.
(Trust me, I know this is an unfair comparison.)
I can not say the same of this book. The only character I got to know in any depth is Cassandra, and I neither like nor trust her. All I know at the end is that she was a jealous and sometimes- spiteful sister who enjoyed Jane's writings, but understood little of the creative process or spirit. Jane remains one-dimensional, shoved from one heartbreak to the next, or one disappointment to the next, with Cassandra interposing her own saccharine suffering into every nook and cranny. I didn't even have the satisfaction of reading colorful descriptions of clothes or foods, for heaven's sake! In fact, the lack of sensory detail probably predisposed me to dislike this book more than any other deficit.
Meh.
September 27, 2013
Abandoned at page 45. What a boring book! I absolutely love Jane Austen but this was just bad. The writing style is extremely poor, there are a lot of typos ("comte" in French isn't spelled "compte" when referred to an Earl, "compte" is actually the verb "to count"....little detail that bothered me exceedingly) and some of the sentences are run-on. Cassandra was an extremely boring narrator and Jane is portrayed as having a very exuberant personality. The story is like, half biography, half novel, which makes it difficult to follow and boring. There is no flow between the sentences and ideas; one moment Cass is relating her friend's wedding, the next her own proposal, then suddenly she leaves...It's like...the heck??? The events seem to be just told randomly and there seems to be no logic flow and continuation to this book. Plus, the lack of details was especially annoying. I know I didn't read much of it, but it was enough to know that it was time to stop an move on to something else. Did I mention it was boring???
My advice is skip this waste of time, and read actual Austen novels instead. Thank God I only spent $2 on this!
My advice is skip this waste of time, and read actual Austen novels instead. Thank God I only spent $2 on this!
April 8, 2020
I enjoyed this book for what it was and reading it simply as conjecture. For some reason, it took me a long time to get through it. It didn’t captivate me like I thought it would. I was surprised by the many grammatical errors in the book. Jane would be very disappointed in that.
September 26, 2008
A well-written short piece of historical fiction that supposes how the relationship between Jane Austen and her sister progressed over time, including the loves they both lost and how Jane's career as an author emerged. Romantic and poignant.
March 30, 2009
Blech. Interesting concept; badly written text.
October 14, 2020
"They were beloved sisters and the best of friends. But Jane and Cassandra Austen suffered the same fate as many of the women of their era. Forced to spend their lives dependent on relatives, both financially and emotionally, the sisters spent their time together trading secrets, challenging each other's opinions, and rehearsing in myriad other ways the domestic dramas that Jane would later bring to fruition in her popular novels. For each sister suffered through painful romantic disappointments -- tasting passion, knowing great love, and then losing it -- while the other stood witness. Upon Jane's death, Cassandra deliberately destroyed her personal letters, thereby closing the door to the private life of the renowned novelist ... until now.
"In Cassandra & Jane, author Jill Pitkeathley ingeniously reimagines the unique and intimate relationship between two extraordinary siblings, reintroducing readers to one of the most intriguing figures in the world of literature, as seen through the eyes of the one person who knew her best."
~~back cover
A lovely reimagining of Jane Austen's life, showing in full detail the fate of women in the Regency era who never married while giving full scope to Jane's struggles and triumphs with her writing. So many facts that were taken for granted leapt out at me: both Jane and Cassandra had no permanent home, and spent a great deal of time at their married relatives, helping with childbirth and the children -- unpaid nannies and nurses. Cassandra was not allowed to go to Jane's funeral, as women were not allowed at funerals. Women have eight, nine, eleven children (and dying in childbirth) because birth control hadn't been invented. Women's second (or third?) class status was taken for granted, as are today's prejudices and acceptance of the status quo. But to go back, through books, and vicariously relive that status is definitely an eye opener!
"In Cassandra & Jane, author Jill Pitkeathley ingeniously reimagines the unique and intimate relationship between two extraordinary siblings, reintroducing readers to one of the most intriguing figures in the world of literature, as seen through the eyes of the one person who knew her best."
~~back cover
A lovely reimagining of Jane Austen's life, showing in full detail the fate of women in the Regency era who never married while giving full scope to Jane's struggles and triumphs with her writing. So many facts that were taken for granted leapt out at me: both Jane and Cassandra had no permanent home, and spent a great deal of time at their married relatives, helping with childbirth and the children -- unpaid nannies and nurses. Cassandra was not allowed to go to Jane's funeral, as women were not allowed at funerals. Women have eight, nine, eleven children (and dying in childbirth) because birth control hadn't been invented. Women's second (or third?) class status was taken for granted, as are today's prejudices and acceptance of the status quo. But to go back, through books, and vicariously relive that status is definitely an eye opener!
August 27, 2021
Meh... There's really nothing new in this imagined biography of Jane Austen's life told from the perspective of her older sister Cassandra. The book reads like a timeline with commentary so if you are a true Janeite, you already know all of this and if you're new to the author, it will probably be a pretty dull introduction. I much more prefer to see an author take these same tirelessly repeated facts and do something creative with them---as Stephanie Barron does in her Jane Austen mysteries series, for instance.
If the novel is subpar, the author commentary at the end is nothing but pages of textbook feminist robotic repeatings. "Subjugation" of women, "marriage almost always led to a life of endless childbearing with all of its inherent dangers"...yada yada yada... Oh, and this one: "marriage had to be the aim because without it any unmarried woman was totally dependent on the support of her male relatives..." Even though the very person she's writing about proved herself to be an independent woman of means---as did many, many women of the day. Times are not that different now---much as we'd like to imagine them to be.
All in all, I enjoyed the Jane reminiscing as I'd not read anything about her in awhile---but I found this work to be mainly a regurgitation of all the facts we Janeites are already welllllllll aware of.
If the novel is subpar, the author commentary at the end is nothing but pages of textbook feminist robotic repeatings. "Subjugation" of women, "marriage almost always led to a life of endless childbearing with all of its inherent dangers"...yada yada yada... Oh, and this one: "marriage had to be the aim because without it any unmarried woman was totally dependent on the support of her male relatives..." Even though the very person she's writing about proved herself to be an independent woman of means---as did many, many women of the day. Times are not that different now---much as we'd like to imagine them to be.
All in all, I enjoyed the Jane reminiscing as I'd not read anything about her in awhile---but I found this work to be mainly a regurgitation of all the facts we Janeites are already welllllllll aware of.
May 30, 2019
This was an absolutely lovely piece of historical fiction/biography. I love Jane Austen’s novels and reading about the regency era. Pitkeithley’s novel I feel perfectly fit into the genteel English country society environment that was so iconic in Austen’s books and which Jane herself lived in. The book is narrated by Jane’s sister Cassandra, told from the perspective of her looking back over the life she shared with her beloved sister up to Jane’s death. An author’s note at the end remarks that this novel is an effort to portray what Jane and Cassandra’s life together may have been like, why Jane never married and why Cassandra destroyed some of her letters after Jane’s death. Much of the life of these two women is a mystery, and this work of speculative fiction attempts to piece together what clues we have to paint a full picture of who they were and how their differing personalities fit in to this period in history — struggling with dependency on male relatives, facing the tragedies of unfulfilled romance, and accepting their role in society as “spinster aunts”. It’s a wonderfully written story, and truly moving to see how close these two sisters were. (I totally cried when Jane died.) I would highly recommend this book to any Austen fan or history nerd!
May 15, 2017
I'm rounding up somewhat.
As a fan of Jane Austen's novels, and knowing a bit about her relationship with her sister Cassandra, I found the idea of this book very intriguing. I was eager to see any informed speculation about what information we lost when Cassandra burned many of Jane's letters. But this Cassandra makes for a depressing and stifling narrator. She alternates between self-justification and self-doubt about her role in various turning points in Jane's life, and explains her destruction of the letters as an attempt to sanitize Jane's reputation to the point of insipid saintliness, as well as to conceal times of partial estrangement or bitterness between the sisters.
I would also have liked to see some information, in an afterword or otherwise, about the author's basis for this portrayal of Cassandra, her relationship with Jane, and her motives for burning the letters.
For all that, I found the account of Jane's life and the snippets from her surviving letters interesting enough to keep reading. (I hope those details that went beyond what I'd learned elsewhere are accurate.)
As a fan of Jane Austen's novels, and knowing a bit about her relationship with her sister Cassandra, I found the idea of this book very intriguing. I was eager to see any informed speculation about what information we lost when Cassandra burned many of Jane's letters. But this Cassandra makes for a depressing and stifling narrator. She alternates between self-justification and self-doubt about her role in various turning points in Jane's life, and explains her destruction of the letters as an attempt to sanitize Jane's reputation to the point of insipid saintliness, as well as to conceal times of partial estrangement or bitterness between the sisters.
I would also have liked to see some information, in an afterword or otherwise, about the author's basis for this portrayal of Cassandra, her relationship with Jane, and her motives for burning the letters.
For all that, I found the account of Jane's life and the snippets from her surviving letters interesting enough to keep reading. (I hope those details that went beyond what I'd learned elsewhere are accurate.)
May 27, 2020
I loved this book and the characters. I’ve read almost all of Jane Austen’s books and watched the movies over and over again. I love her stories and felt this books just imagined and excited the life Jane Austen so well to keep me entertained. Though Janes life was so very different than what I would have thought it to be- I loved how it contrasted to her books. But each time one of her characters or books were discussed or brought up I find myself loving how they were imagined to come about and guessing which was which as her writings become to flourish through her life. I absolutely loved Jane and Cassandra relationship and felt so deeply drawn to them and their love for each other as dear sisters. I wanted to cry in several scenes and laugh in others. This book was so beautifully written and imagined.
January 14, 2022
This book is well-written, and very imaginative. . . but that's my problem with it. I don't often read history books, but when I do, I want them to be factual, not fictional. I don't mind fan fiction, when a story is written using another author's characters and so forth, but when I read about real people, I want their reality, not made-up stories about them. I enjoyed the book well enough, but had a hard time discerning where the line was between what was real about Jane and her family, and what was merely conjecture.
I was, however, deeply saddened to discover that her brother George was very much real. I understand that the family handled things as they saw best, as many people do now, but it deeply saddens me when a disabled person is foisted off on the care of other people, and does not even receive visits from their own family. This happens entirely too often.
I was, however, deeply saddened to discover that her brother George was very much real. I understand that the family handled things as they saw best, as many people do now, but it deeply saddens me when a disabled person is foisted off on the care of other people, and does not even receive visits from their own family. This happens entirely too often.
August 29, 2023
I loved this gentle tribute to two famous sisters, Cassandra and Jane Austen. The voice speaking is Cassandra's, and the author does a wonderful job of capturing the times they lived in. They are two single women who would be called spinsters at that time. Jane is the superior wit and the more open character, and Cassandra is content to bask in her glow. I like reading about Jane's writing habits and the history of how she published her novels. In the beginning, she published anonymously only named as "a Lady." We also get insight into the lives of the five Austen brothers. Sadly, more than one of the Austen wives died in childbirth, two of them giving birth to their eleventh child. It doesn't seem unusual for the two sisters to have feared the dangers of marriage. The fact that Ruth Rendell gave the novel gave the novel a complimentary review says a lot for me.
September 1, 2022
One of the things about Historical Fiction is that's Fiction. And it's sometimes hard to separate Fact from Fiction. Especially in the case of something written like this is as a Historical Memoir. You have to remember that the story will be colored by the writer's life.
Dragged at first but picked up at that turning point in Jane's life of jilting Harris Bigg-Wither. Had a vague feeling that I might have read this before. Or maybe it's because I've read so much Austenesque.
All in all, I neither loved it or hated it hence the middle of the road 3 Stars. But that's partly me. You may like it. I prefer my Austenesque to do be retellings or Jane solving murders like my favorite Stephanie Barron Jane Austen Mystery Series.
Dragged at first but picked up at that turning point in Jane's life of jilting Harris Bigg-Wither. Had a vague feeling that I might have read this before. Or maybe it's because I've read so much Austenesque.
All in all, I neither loved it or hated it hence the middle of the road 3 Stars. But that's partly me. You may like it. I prefer my Austenesque to do be retellings or Jane solving murders like my favorite Stephanie Barron Jane Austen Mystery Series.
August 19, 2017
While I was intrigued by the premise of this book I did not like the execution. It was informative about life for women at that time and gave information that I personally did not know about the life of Jane Austen and her family the way it was presented was depressing. I did not like the narrator and her viewpoint at all and in the was glad when the book ended. I was hoping for some joy at some point the happy moments were few and far between and did not balance the darkness of the other parts of the book. I did not enjoy reading this novel and cannot recommend it.
October 13, 2019
Although I know the author used a lot of creative license in this fictitious memoir, it really rang true to me given what we know of Jane Austen's personality and relationship with her sister. Told from Cassandra Austen's point of view, it shows the sisters' frustrations in life and love, the evolution of Jane's writing, and their relationship with their large family and close friends. That said, I think it's most likely to be interesting to those readers who are already fans of and highly familiar with Austen's novels.
January 29, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jill Pitkeathley novel concerning the life of these two famous sisters, Jane and Cassandra Austen. Woven throughout, we the readers who have read Austen novels, can get a glimpse as to how some of Jane’s books were written. What events in her life may have prompted certain characters, story lines.
I appreciate the author’s imagination as to the dynamics of what this sister relationship may have looked like.
I appreciate the author’s imagination as to the dynamics of what this sister relationship may have looked like.
November 6, 2023
A novel of imagined sisterhood communications and sisterly love. This story is written from the viewpoint of Jane Austin’s elder sister, Cassandra. Cassandra revered her sister, in life and after her death. I have not studied Jane Austin’s life, so does this novel reflect reality of her life? An interesting read, with examples of how the suppression of women by men led to unhappy lives for women.
July 28, 2017
Surprisingly absorbing, filled with details and personal insights, only slightly fictionalized and convincing enough even for Austen devotees. The daily life of Jane and her sister emerges in a convincing and ultimately touching way. Austen addicts will soak this one up in one long weekend binge.
October 6, 2017
There should be a category for "Conjecture historical fiction." This is SO much guessing that it slips away from being any true insight. However, the author makes a noble effort in capturing Austen style. Entertaining, but not engaging.
December 31, 2022
Enjoyable Read
Places and people, timeliness and Jane's work are all meticulously referenced. Reading this story reminds me of the days when Austen lived and how few opportunities there were for having portraits done or how precious were the preserved momentos.
Places and people, timeliness and Jane's work are all meticulously referenced. Reading this story reminds me of the days when Austen lived and how few opportunities there were for having portraits done or how precious were the preserved momentos.
July 29, 2024
How can the book say a Jane austen novel in big letters under the title? I have to say most people who pick up this book think it's you know, a Jane austen novel. Shouldn't it say a Jane austen historical novel???
May 13, 2017
Not novel, not Biography, not interesting.
This was like reading a Wikipedia entry. infirmational, but not as believable.
This was like reading a Wikipedia entry. infirmational, but not as believable.
May 17, 2017
i really enjoyed this book.
October 30, 2017
Jane Austen's life as told by her sister. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and a glimpse, albeit fictional, of Jane's writing process and her relationship with her only sister.
January 3, 2020
Interesting to Austen fans, although one must put an emphasis on “fiction” rather than “historical.”
October 21, 2021
Charming! A must read if you are an Austen fan!
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