Gill Hornby

A richly imagined novel inspired by the true story of Anne Sharp, a governess who became very close with Jane Austen and her family by the #1 International bestselling-author of Miss Austen.On January 21, 1804, Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess. At thirty-one years old, she has no previous experience of either teaching or fine country houses. Her mother has died, and she has nowhere else to go. Anne is left with no choice. For her new charge—twelve-year-old Fanny Austen—Anne's arrival is all novelty and excitement. The governess role is a uniquely awkward one. Anne is neither one of the servants, nor one of the family, and to balance a position between the "upstairs" and "downstairs" members of the household is a diplomatic chess game. One wrong move may result in instant dismissal. Anne knows that she must never let down her guard. When Mr. Edward Austen's family comes to stay, Anne forms an immediate attachment to Jane. They write plays together, and enjoy long discussions. However, in the process, Anne reveals herself as not merely pretty, charming, and competent; she is clever too. Even her sleepy, complacent, mistress can hardly fail to notice. Meanwhile Jane's brother, Henry, begins to take an unusually strong interest in the lovely young governess. And from now on, Anne's days at Godmersham Park are numbered.

Whoever looked at an elderly lady and saw the young heroine she once was?England, 1840. For the two decades following the death of her beloved sister, Jane, Cassandra Austen has lived alone, spending her days visiting friends and relations and quietly, purposefully working to preserve her sister’s reputation. Now in her sixties and increasingly frail, Cassandra goes to stay with the Fowles of Kintbury, family of her long-dead fiancé, in search of a trove of Jane’s letters. Dodging her hostess and a meddlesome housemaid, Cassandra eventually hunts down the letters and confronts the secrets they hold, secrets not only about Jane but about Cassandra herself. Will Cassandra bare the most private details of her life to the world, or commit her sister’s legacy to the flames?Moving back and forth between the vicarage and Cassandra’s vibrant memories of her years with Jane, interwoven with Jane’s brilliantly reimagined lost letters, Miss Austen is the untold story of the most important person in Jane’s life. With extraordinary empathy, emotional complexity, and wit, Gill Hornby finally gives Cassandra her due, bringing to life a woman as captivating as any Austen heroine.

There's only room for one Queen A hilarious and touching novel about the social world of school mothers.It's the start of another school year at St. Ambrose. While the children are busy in the classroom, their mothers are learning sharper lessons. Lessons in friendship. Lessons in betrayal. Lessons in the laws of community, the transience of power...and how to get invited to lunch.Beatrice -- undisputed queen bee. Ruler, by Divine Right, of all school fundraising, this year, last year, and, surely, for many to come.Heather -- desperate to volunteer, desperate to be noticed, desperate to belong.Georgie -- desperate for a cigarette.And Rachel -- watching them all, keeping her distance. But soon to discover taht the line between amused observer and miserable outcast is a thin one.The Hive is a wickedly funny and brilliantly observed story about female friendship, power plays, and the joys and perils (well, mainly perils) of trying to do one's part.

The small town of Bridgeford is in crisis. Downtown is deserted, businesses are closing, and the idea of civic pride seems old-fashioned to residents rushing through the streets to get somewhere else. Bridgeford seems to have lost its heart.But there is one thing that just might unite the community -- music. The local choir, a group generally either ignored or mocked by most of Bridgeford's inhabitants, is preparing for an important contest, and to win it they need new members, and a whole new sound. Enlisting (some may say drafting) singers, who include a mother suffering from empty-nest syndrome, a middle-aged man who has just lost his job and his family, and a nineteen-year-old waitress who dreams of reality-TV stardom, the choir regulars must find -- and make -- harmony with neighbors they've been happy not to know for years. Can they all learn to work together, save the choir, and maybe even save their town in the process?All Together Now is a poignant and charming novel about community, family, falling in love -- and the big rewards of making a small change.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’1820. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, Sir Edward – a man of strict principles and high Christian values.But when her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary’s life is suddenly changed.Her new stepmother comes from a large, happy and sociable family and Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends. Her aunt, Miss Cassandra Austen of Chawton, is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming.And as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an especial bond with one Mr Knight in particular.Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. They expect no opposition. After all, each is from a good family and has known the other for some years.It promises to be the most perfect match. Who would want to stand in their way?

Jane Austen grew up to become the greatest woman writer in the English language. Unlike most brilliant artists, though, she wasnt rebellious or moody. In fact, quiet, neat, well-mannered Jane was so much less demanding than her more forceful brothers and sisters that she tended to be overlooked. Even when she showed clear signs of her genius, no one took any notice. As far as her parents were concerned, the only hope for their daughter was that she should marry, as soon and as well as possible. But Jane was disgusted at the idea that she should just hook a man for his money. Marriage, in her view, had to be for love, and nothing else. And it was her own quest for true romance that provided such rich material for her books

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. His enormous output includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertory and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

Please Note The individual books included in this listing will be dispatched as per the original UK ISBN and UK edition cover image shown—are included in the Gill Hornby Collection 2 Books Set (Miss Austen & Godmersham Park):📚 Books in This Miss Austen Godmersham park Miss Throughout her lifetime, Jane Austen wrote countless letters to her sister. But why did Cassandra burn them all?1840: twenty three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family's friends, the Fowles.She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she can never allow to be revealed.As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane's history, and her own. And she faces a stark should she act to protect Jane's reputation, or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity?Godmersham Early evening, 1804: Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent.Alone and desperately in need of an independent income, she is to become a governess to twelve-year-old Fanny Austen.But her new role in this large household where she is neither a servant nor a member of the family is an awkward one, and Anne is keenly aware that one wrong move may result in her instant dismissal.Then dashing Henry Austen and his younger sister Jane come to stay.Both take an immediate interest in the pretty, clever governess, and Anne quickly becomes drawn into the above-stairs life of the Austen family.Soon, and despite her best efforts, she finds she is falling in love.But has her survival at Godmersham Park just become a good deal more precarious?