Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner

 

In Boston, 1865, Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson, daughters of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, have accomplished as much as women are allowed in those days. Chafing against those restrictions and inspired by the works of Jane Austen, they start a secret correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother, now in his nineties. He sends them an original letter from his sister and invites them to come visit him in England.

In Philadelphia, Nicholas & Haslett Nelson—bachelor brothers, veterans of the recent Civil War, and rare book dealers—are also in correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, who lures them, too, to England, with the promise of a never-before-seen, rare Austen artifact to be evaluated.

The Stevenson sisters sneak away without a chaperone to sail to England. On their ship are the Nelson brothers, writer Louisa May Alcott, Sara-Beth Gleason—wealthy daughter of a Pennsylvania state senator with her eye on the Nelsons—and, a would-be last-minute chaperone to the Stevenson sisters, Justice Thomas Nash.

It's a voyage and trip that will dramatically change each of their lives in ways that are unforeseen, with the transformative spirit of the love of literature and that of Jane Austen herself.

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About The Author

Natalie Jenner is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY and BLOOMSBURY GIRLS, which have been translated in over twenty languages worldwide. Natalie's third novel, EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, releases on May 14, 2024. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer and career coach and once owned an independent bookstore in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. 

 

My Review

 

I found it hard to get into this book, and as I kept turning page, hoping I would be drawn in more.
What a concept, two sisters and two brothers, walking in the steps the steps of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.
From Massachusetts to England and return, from shipboard romances, to finding lost treasures, to court cases.
I see from this period of time, just after the Civil War, how limited women's rights were, and even worse in England.
I wanted to love this read, and I'm sure some will!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin's Press, and was not required to give a positive review.