Miss Austen

A Novel of the Austen Sisters

By: Gill Hornby

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

"In a cultured, melodious voice, narrator Juliet Stevenson becomes Miss Cassandra Austen, older sister to Jane and keeper of her memory." (AudioFile magazine, Earphones Award winner)

For fans of Jo Baker’s Longbourn, a witty, poignant audiobook about Cassandra Austen and her famous sister, Jane.

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 and unwed, spending her days visiting friends and relations and quietly, purposefully working to preserve her sister’s reputation. Now in her 60s 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"A deeply imagined and deeply moving novel. Reading it made me happy and weepy in equally copious amounts." (Karen Joy Fowler)

"A delightfully astute reimagining of Jane Austen’s life that offers a shrewd take on Regency gender roles.... Ms. Hornby enlivens the exhumation with inspired touches of social comedy and a cast of appealing eccentrics." (Wall Street Journal)

©2020 Gill Hornby (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Hornby’s gift to the world of Austen lovers is to return to Cassandra her rightful recognition as Jane’s most intimate and sustaining relationship, her greatest love. This is a deeply imagined and deeply moving novel. Reading it made me happy and weepy in equally copious amounts." (Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves)

"Unputdownable. So good, so intelligent, so clever, so entertaining - I adored it." (Claire Tomalin, author of Jane Austen: A Life)

"Extraordinary and heart-wrenching, Miss Austen transported me from page one. A remarkable novel that is wholly original, deeply moving, and emotionally complex. A gift to all Austen lovers." (Lara Prescott, author of The Secrets We Kept)

Marvelous!

This was a wonderful account of the Austens, through the eyes of Cassandra. The narration was wonderful! Highly recommended!

Transporting Read!

Gill Hornby’s delightful text so expertly read by Juliet Stevenson in a studied and sympathetic manner, made the time listening fly by with great pleasure.

A Must For Jane Austin Fans! I

I am so glad I decided to listen to, rather than read this book.
The author created a story worthy of Jane herself & the narrator made it come alive. After finishing the book I spent an afternoon reading about Jane & Cassandra on the Internet, the author did an amazing job of interpreting their lives.

Juliet Stevenson is perfection as always

Juliet Stevenson is perfection as always. Wonderful story. I've a Print Copy for my Forever Shelf.

Good storytelling

What an interesting way to tell Cassandra’s story! The use of old letters as gateways to the flashbacks is captivating. It also allows the perspective of others to be introduced. That said, the story drags in places, but is worth persevering through to the end.

The narration could be better. You hear a lot of her mouth and breath sounds and the pauses can be long enough that I thought the audio had stalled. The voices she does for some characters are a little ridiculous. I was a little confused at one point because Mary Ann sounded very much like a man!

Lovely!

This book was so well written and performed, I didn’t want it to end. I loved it!

Perfect imagining.

The author perfectly captured the feel of the Austen world and how could anyone narrate it better than Ms. Stevenson?

A most unusual book!

I turn 70 this year. How rare to encounter a heroine near my age and circumstance. How wonderful to have validated my own feeling of being both my young and my mature self, body and soul. How encouraging to read a story that is so frank in demonstrating that contentment and joy are our best life, rather than perfect circumstances, or delirious happiness, or burning passion.

Atmospheric

A lovely, atmospheric and beautifully read story. Highly recommended for all Austen fans. Happy listening!

Enjoyable

For perspective, I’m a huge JA fan. I’ll read most anything that’s related. I thought this story was a little slow to catch my interest but I ended up enjoying the ideas being presented. For those not as passionate about JA, it’s probably not the best choice.