My novel The Austens is now available for pre-order from Jane Austen Books!
If you like, you can pre-order The Austens for pickup at the JASNA AGM (in Baltimore in October) from Jane Austen Books, one of my favourite bookstores. Or you can order it shipped directly to you.
Pre-order from Jane Austen Books. (They accept international orders.)
I’ll be speaking at the AGM—my talk is called “Books as Children”—and I’ll be there for the book signing on Sunday, October 12th. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!
Susan Allen Ford, author of What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (And Why) and editor of Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line writes that
“The novel both captures Austen’s voice and brings the people around her to life. It’s carefully built on historical research but is so skillful that it doesn’t call attention to the scholarship. The characters and story and settings—England, Bermuda, Halifax, and the high seas—captivate. I sat down to read The Austens one morning, and I couldn’t do anything else until I finished it that evening. This is a book all kinds of readers (and especially those interested in Jane Austen) will love.”
Additional sources:
Newly available for pre-order from Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.de.
Pre-order signed copies from two of my other favourite stores, Bookmark and Woozles! (Both are based here in Nova Scotia but will ship anywhere in North America.)
I don’t think I can even begin to count how many books by, about, and inspired by Jane Austen I’ve bought from Jane Austen Books, Bookmark, and Woozles over the years. Many thanks to all my friends at all three places. It’s really quite lovely to see my own Austen-inspired novel on their websites.
You can also pre-order from Indigo, McNally Robinson, King’s Co-Op Bookstore, Block Shop Books, LaHave River Books (where I’ll be doing a reading in November), and many other sources in Canada. On the 49th Shelf website you can search for an independent Canadian bookseller near you.
I also want to share the exciting news that copies of “my own darling” book have arrived from the publisher, earlier than expected. A few days ago, I received a “birthday” card for the book from a friend in the morning, and then the books arrived on my doorstep that afternoon. Perfect timing. Both the card and the box of books were a lovely surprise. (And the friend had no way of knowing the books would be delivered that day.)
I did not do an unboxing video or anything fancy. I didn’t even take pictures of the books until later. I just wanted some quiet moments with my daughter and this novel I’ve been working on for such a long time.
The printed book is even more beautiful than I thought it would be, with a smooth, matte texture on the cover, a pretty interior design, and the gorgeous watercolour painting of Government House in Halifax by J.E. Woolford. I’m very happy with the way it looks, and I hope you’ll feel the same!
My daughter did snap this one Polaroid not long after I had opened the box. (It looks like an ancient photo, but I swear it’s new. Not sure why it’s so dark—it was taken on a sunny afternoon.)
As I mentioned last week, I had been planning to take a break from writing these posts for the rest of the month—but this news (as I expect you’ll agree!) was just too good to save until September.
I can share details about the book launch for The Austens, too: it will be on Tuesday, October 21st at 7:00 p.m. in the Regency Ballroom at the Lord Nelson Hotel, 1515 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia. All are welcome!
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Here are the links to the last two posts, in case you missed them:
Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery, and the Cavendish Literary Festival
New and Wonderful Books (Solo Camino: An Empowering Guide for Women, by Renée Hartleib; The Secrets of Thorndale Manor, by Syrie James; and The Arrows of Fealty by Jill MacLean)
P.S. If you’re interested in the celebration of “Jane Austen in the Public Gardens” in Halifax on August 17th (this Sunday!), rsvp on our Facebook event page.
My debut novel, The Austens, will be published by Pottersfield Press on September 15th. Now available for pre-order!
Copyright Sarah Emsley 2025 ~ All rights reserved. No AI training: material on http://www.sarahemsley.com may not be used to “train” generative AI technologies.
