Jane Austen's 250th: Gill Hornby for The Elopement

'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, we are hosting a week of literary events for books on and about the great author!

To kick things off, we welcome Gill Hornby, the author of the novels The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers.

Gill joins us to celebrate The Elopement, the sequel to Miss Austen and Godmersham Park.

1820, and the marriage between wealthy widower Sir Edward Knatchbull and Jane Austen's handsome, dutiful niece Fanny Knight is widely praised as being the most excellent match in the county.

As Sir Edward's wife, Fanny is expected to apply herself to the raising of his five children with the same dedication she has shown towards her siblings at Godmersham Park. In particular, she pays care to young Mary Knatchbull - the only girl of the family, and the apple of her strict father's eye.

Poor Mary has hitherto been raised under a cloud of quiet misery. But as the Knight and Knatchbull families merge, she discovers something like fun. The Knight girls are so sweet and the boys .... so very handsome and charming and madly athletic - especially Ned, the eldest and therefore the heir to Godmersham Park.

As Mary approaches her seventeenth birthday, a bond forms between her and Ned Knight, an understanding that leads, on the last day of the year 1825, to Ned declaring his hand. Sir Edward's outrage is immediate; his refusal unyielding. Ned Knight is his own wife's brother! The situation is simply unseemly. And besides, he dislikes the fellow. The marriage will never take place.

There appears to be only one solution for Ned and Mary - but can it really involve elopement?

On Godmersham Park:

'So envious of anyone yet to read this. A triumph!' Nigella Lawson

'A masterly piece of storytelling.' Helena Kelly

'The great writer is brought to life in this clever, well-researched piece of fiction' The Times

'Godmersham Park has some of the same understated wit and sharp observation as Austen's novels' Sunday Times