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A Visit to Highbury/Another View of Emma
Charming, intelligent, and imperious, Miss Emma Woodhouse, the eponymous heroine of Emma, is one of Jane Austen's best-loved creations - as is the village of Highbury turned upside down by Emma's well-intentioned but misguided matchmaking. Joan Austen-Leigh, Austen's own great-great-grandniece, takes readers back to this world with a novel of such style, wit, and wisdom that it is sure to thrill Austen fans both old and new. Utterly faithful to the original story of Emma, A Visit to Highbury is a parallel novel that looks at life in Austen's beloved village through the eyes of Mrs. Goddard, the mistress of the local school attended by Emma's protegee, Harriet Smith. Mrs. Goddard's London-based sister, Mrs. Pinkney, has made a rather hasty second marriage. Lonely for company, she begs Mrs. Goddard for news. In the gossipy exchange of letters that ensues, the sisters speculate about such mysteries as the origins of Jane Fairfax's pianoforte, why young Harriet would have declined Robert Martin's marriage proposal, and what caused Mr. Elton to rush off to Bath. These stories unfold along with Mrs. Pinkney's own heartwarming tale, for - in true Austen tradition - hers is a story of love threatened by misunderstanding. With prose as sparkling and insightful as her esteemed ancestor's, Austen-Leigh offers a work that is an essential companion to Emma and a delightful novel in its own right.
182 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1995
3 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
Joan Austen-Leigh
25 books5 followersJoan Austen-Leigh, born in Victoria, Canada, is a collateral descendant of Jane Austen. Under the name Joan Mason Hurley, she is the author of over twenty plays which have been produced all over North America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 26, 2018
"In a Time Where One’s Town was One’s World…”
TYPE OF AUSTENESQUE NOVEL: Epistolary Novel, Minor Character, Alternate Point-of-View
TIME FRAME: (October 1813) Mrs. Weston’s Wedding – (August 1814)
MAIN CHARACTERS: Mrs. Goddard, her sister Mrs. Pinkney, Mr. Pinkney, Harriet Smith, and Mrs. Pinkney’s young friend Charlotte Gordon
WHY I WANTED TO READ THIS NOVEL: I first read this retelling back in 2003 when I was eagerly searching out any published Austenesque works I could find. I’ve reread it three times since them and find that my enjoyment and admiration for this work increases with every reread!
SYNOPSIS: Covering the same timeline as Jane Austen’s Emma, this shows the same story from the perspective of Mrs. Goddard. In this epistolary novel the letters are exchanged between Mary Goddard and her sister, Charlotte Pinkley, who after being recently widowed has married a second time to man she doesn’t love.
WHAT I LOVED:
- A Conversation Through Letters: The two sisters exchange 70 letters in this retelling – full of the events and cares of their lives, newsy gossip about their neighbors, complaints, lamentations, and admonishments. The letters were so effortlessly and eloquently written you would think you were witnessing a conversation between two close friends instead of letters written days and weeks apart.
- Minor and Original Characters: I love how Ms. Austen-Leigh fleshed out and developed Mrs. Goddard. I admired her cheery attitude, warm heart, and strength. To know the constraints on women during the time period she lived and to see how she established a successful school to support herself, while providing education and a nurturing home to so many young girls is an impressive feat! Mrs. Pinkney, on the other hand isn’t as maternal and giving. She is earnest and devoted, but sometimes could be a little outspoken and unfair in her judgments. I loved spending time with these two interesting and charming sisters, I’m sure Jane Austen herself would have delighted in such well-drawn and engaging creations!
- Multiple and Different Story-lines: Since she isn’t present at all the important scenes and events of Emma, Mrs. Goddard learns much through reports and gossip from other minor characters and servants. What she doesn’t know is left up to speculation and conjecture – which she oftentimes shares with Mrs. Pinkney and her husband. The other main story-line focuses on Mrs. Pinkey and her newly married husband. Their marriage is one of convenience, isolation, and mutual regret. But when Mrs. Pinkney befriends a young school girl next door, things begin to change for our unhappy couple.
- Mutual Acquaintances: I loved how there were several occasions where Mr. and Mrs. Pinkney would encounter someone with a connection to Highbury in London or Bath. Hearing their impressions and information about the John Knightleys and Mr. Elton were brilliant additions.
- Clever Nods to Jane Austen’s Other Novels: I absolutely loved finding these subtle allusions and parallels to several of Jane Austen’s novels. Some of my favorites were seeing Charlotte ponder using Gowland’s to help her freckles and witnessing Mrs. Pinkney get all defensive about her penchant for reading novels.
- The Author is Jane Austen’s Relative: Joan Austen-Leigh is Jane Austen’s great-great-great niece! I just think that is so cool!
WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:
Not a thing!
CONCLUSION:
With meticulous attention to period language, tone, and the events and characters of Jane Austen’s Emma, Joan Austen-Leigh gives readers a most enchanting and memorable visit to Highbury. Those who long to live in this idyllic village will feel wonderfully at home with Mrs. Goddard as she relates all her exciting news, cares, and busy nothings to her dear sister in London. Inventive, reverent, and incredibly well-executed!
Note: This story was published under the a different title, Mrs. Goddard, Mistress of a School, in 1993
TYPE OF AUSTENESQUE NOVEL: Epistolary Novel, Minor Character, Alternate Point-of-View
TIME FRAME: (October 1813) Mrs. Weston’s Wedding – (August 1814)
MAIN CHARACTERS: Mrs. Goddard, her sister Mrs. Pinkney, Mr. Pinkney, Harriet Smith, and Mrs. Pinkney’s young friend Charlotte Gordon
WHY I WANTED TO READ THIS NOVEL: I first read this retelling back in 2003 when I was eagerly searching out any published Austenesque works I could find. I’ve reread it three times since them and find that my enjoyment and admiration for this work increases with every reread!
SYNOPSIS: Covering the same timeline as Jane Austen’s Emma, this shows the same story from the perspective of Mrs. Goddard. In this epistolary novel the letters are exchanged between Mary Goddard and her sister, Charlotte Pinkley, who after being recently widowed has married a second time to man she doesn’t love.
WHAT I LOVED:
- A Conversation Through Letters: The two sisters exchange 70 letters in this retelling – full of the events and cares of their lives, newsy gossip about their neighbors, complaints, lamentations, and admonishments. The letters were so effortlessly and eloquently written you would think you were witnessing a conversation between two close friends instead of letters written days and weeks apart.
- Minor and Original Characters: I love how Ms. Austen-Leigh fleshed out and developed Mrs. Goddard. I admired her cheery attitude, warm heart, and strength. To know the constraints on women during the time period she lived and to see how she established a successful school to support herself, while providing education and a nurturing home to so many young girls is an impressive feat! Mrs. Pinkney, on the other hand isn’t as maternal and giving. She is earnest and devoted, but sometimes could be a little outspoken and unfair in her judgments. I loved spending time with these two interesting and charming sisters, I’m sure Jane Austen herself would have delighted in such well-drawn and engaging creations!
- Multiple and Different Story-lines: Since she isn’t present at all the important scenes and events of Emma, Mrs. Goddard learns much through reports and gossip from other minor characters and servants. What she doesn’t know is left up to speculation and conjecture – which she oftentimes shares with Mrs. Pinkney and her husband. The other main story-line focuses on Mrs. Pinkey and her newly married husband. Their marriage is one of convenience, isolation, and mutual regret. But when Mrs. Pinkney befriends a young school girl next door, things begin to change for our unhappy couple.
- Mutual Acquaintances: I loved how there were several occasions where Mr. and Mrs. Pinkney would encounter someone with a connection to Highbury in London or Bath. Hearing their impressions and information about the John Knightleys and Mr. Elton were brilliant additions.
- Clever Nods to Jane Austen’s Other Novels: I absolutely loved finding these subtle allusions and parallels to several of Jane Austen’s novels. Some of my favorites were seeing Charlotte ponder using Gowland’s to help her freckles and witnessing Mrs. Pinkney get all defensive about her penchant for reading novels.
- The Author is Jane Austen’s Relative: Joan Austen-Leigh is Jane Austen’s great-great-great niece! I just think that is so cool!
WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:
Not a thing!
CONCLUSION:
With meticulous attention to period language, tone, and the events and characters of Jane Austen’s Emma, Joan Austen-Leigh gives readers a most enchanting and memorable visit to Highbury. Those who long to live in this idyllic village will feel wonderfully at home with Mrs. Goddard as she relates all her exciting news, cares, and busy nothings to her dear sister in London. Inventive, reverent, and incredibly well-executed!
Note: This story was published under the a different title, Mrs. Goddard, Mistress of a School, in 1993
June 14, 2015
A Visit to Highbury is an epistolary novel that parallels the storytelling of Jane Austen’s Emma without most of Emma’s characters appearing directly in the tale. Joan Austen-Leigh, a descendant of the famous author, retells the story through a gossipy correspondence between the schoolmistress Mrs. Goddard and her sister in London, Mrs. Pinkney.
This is an ingenious premise that for the most part serves the story well, though it requires the occasional stretch of credulity (something not foreign to Jane Austen’s plots, either). The sequence of action in the original novel is followed closely and treated as a series of small mysteries: Mrs. Goddard reports scenes and events that she has observed, or have been reported to her, without fully understanding their import, and Mrs. Pinkney and her husband analyze them and interpret their meaning (sometimes with improbable prescience). For the most part this is an entertaining way for a reader familiar with Emma to revisit the action, though occasionally it feels a little coy, and the accidental connections between the Pinkneys and the characters of Emma are sometimes unlikely.
Meanwhile, there is a parallel story on the Pinkney side to be reported. They live next door to a refined London girls’ school and find themselves befriending one of the pupils there. Her storyline is also laden with improbable connections and coincidences, but it is told with energy and charm and adds a great deal to the variety and liveliness of this novel. Their interactions with her also come to affect the Pinkneys’ own lives, allowing them to develop as characters. All these threads are carefully set up and woven together, making a novel that moves along nicely. I very much liked the combination of familiar story and surprise.
I also liked Joan Austen-Leigh’s grasp of Regency manners and mores. Everything seemed to be historically accurate, from world events to attitudes about servants and the whole gamut between. The author inhabits her world with seeming effortlessness, and while making no major errors that I could discern, doesn’t hit us over the head with her research.
This was my second reading of a work originally published in 1993; I read it in an uncorrected proofs version that was sold to me by an online vendor as if it were a real copy of the book (boo, hiss). Highly recommended for readers of Austenesque fiction and light historical fiction!
This is an ingenious premise that for the most part serves the story well, though it requires the occasional stretch of credulity (something not foreign to Jane Austen’s plots, either). The sequence of action in the original novel is followed closely and treated as a series of small mysteries: Mrs. Goddard reports scenes and events that she has observed, or have been reported to her, without fully understanding their import, and Mrs. Pinkney and her husband analyze them and interpret their meaning (sometimes with improbable prescience). For the most part this is an entertaining way for a reader familiar with Emma to revisit the action, though occasionally it feels a little coy, and the accidental connections between the Pinkneys and the characters of Emma are sometimes unlikely.
Meanwhile, there is a parallel story on the Pinkney side to be reported. They live next door to a refined London girls’ school and find themselves befriending one of the pupils there. Her storyline is also laden with improbable connections and coincidences, but it is told with energy and charm and adds a great deal to the variety and liveliness of this novel. Their interactions with her also come to affect the Pinkneys’ own lives, allowing them to develop as characters. All these threads are carefully set up and woven together, making a novel that moves along nicely. I very much liked the combination of familiar story and surprise.
I also liked Joan Austen-Leigh’s grasp of Regency manners and mores. Everything seemed to be historically accurate, from world events to attitudes about servants and the whole gamut between. The author inhabits her world with seeming effortlessness, and while making no major errors that I could discern, doesn’t hit us over the head with her research.
This was my second reading of a work originally published in 1993; I read it in an uncorrected proofs version that was sold to me by an online vendor as if it were a real copy of the book (boo, hiss). Highly recommended for readers of Austenesque fiction and light historical fiction!
July 30, 2008
I made the mistake of reading this when I was in the throes of my first Austen love. It was not a mistake because it was bad. Actually, it was rather good. It just lead me to believe that sequels to Austen novels could be a good idea. Which has been proven wrong pretty much every single time since then.
This is a sequel to Emma, told through letters between Mrs. Goddard, the schoolteacher, and her sister. We get to see, from a new perspective, and one that was largely silent in the books, what became of Emma, Mr. Knightley, Harriet, and the rest. Most delightfully, Mr. and Mrs. Elton move away to a snobby parish in London, thank goodness. This manages to remain true to the tone of the original novel, and the letters seem like they really could have come from a lady of Mrs. Goddard's time period and circumstances. Altogether a very pleasant revisiting of Emma for those who loved the original.
** By the by, the book was written by one of her great-grand neices, which may account for how closely she attempted to imitate Jane's style.
This is a sequel to Emma, told through letters between Mrs. Goddard, the schoolteacher, and her sister. We get to see, from a new perspective, and one that was largely silent in the books, what became of Emma, Mr. Knightley, Harriet, and the rest. Most delightfully, Mr. and Mrs. Elton move away to a snobby parish in London, thank goodness. This manages to remain true to the tone of the original novel, and the letters seem like they really could have come from a lady of Mrs. Goddard's time period and circumstances. Altogether a very pleasant revisiting of Emma for those who loved the original.
** By the by, the book was written by one of her great-grand neices, which may account for how closely she attempted to imitate Jane's style.
December 26, 2019
The only JA spinoff of which I am aware that is actually written by an Austen descendant! Joan Austen-Leigh is JA's great-great-great niece, and it must be the family connection which inspired her to remain so steadfast and true to JA's writing style. Here is none of the sometimes-questionable behavior to be found in other spinoffs, none of the outlandish plots. Instead, this is a simple epistolary novel, written only as a companion volume to EMMA, consisting of letters between Mrs. Goddard and her London-based sister, Mrs. Pinkney. Though hardly groundbreaking or incredibly insightful, it was enjoyable and, most importantly, faithful to Austen's spirit.
February 18, 2017
This well connected fan-fiction written by Jane Austen's great great great great niece is a quick and delightful read. It is not a book that can be read on its own, it can only be enjoyed if someone has knowledge of the story in "Emma." This epistolary novel does fill in some gaps in the Emma story, and wonderfully draws on the world that Jane Austen created.
February 20, 2018
Eh. Just an accelerated version of Emma but with subsequent plots. Nothing incredibly original about it since its written alongside Austen's original novel but it didn't enhance or contribute the storyline of Emma itself.
March 1, 2023
Revisit Jane Austen's Emma through letters between a character in the book and her sister. (I almost said "her fictional sister," but the whole thing's fictional, of course.) It's fun for the Austen-ite.
July 12, 2017
Loved it! I thought I wouldn't care for it but found it impossible to put down.
October 12, 2023
Loved the fact that it stayed faithful to the original!
September 4, 2016
I’m a small person sometimes. Maybe I’m a small person most of the time; I’m not sure. But I went into this book predisposed to not liking it. Why, might you ask? Well for starters, I generally don’t like follow-on books about peripheral characters. I mean, they’re peripheral. You’re not supposed to care what they do or why. Second, I generally don’t care for books that are a series of letters. It’s just too difficult to develop characters well and keep me interested. And third, and this is where I divulge my smallness, the book was written by Jane Austen’s distant relation (like Jane’s greatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreat niece or something similar), who STILL keeps the “Austen” name. And it just felt to me like a crutch and that I should be wary of it lacking in real artistic talent and that was the only way she could publish.
Well, shame on me, to both. I really enjoyed A Visit to Highbury: Another View of Emma, due in large part to vivid characterizations and real, honest-to-goodness writing of which Jane herself would have approved.
I was hooked from the first letter. The book is a series of letters between two sisters: Mrs. Pinkney (new to the Emma world) and Mrs. Goddard who, as some of you may recall, was Harriet Smith’s school mistress. In the original, Mrs. Goddard never had dialog, but it was made clear that she had some standing in the community, was a friend of Emma’s father, and was generally well-involved in Highbury.
The sisters need to catch up after a long period of slothful correspondence and Mrs. Goddard begins to tell Mrs. Pinkney all of the goings on of Highbury life. Of course, there has to be some rather blatant contrivances to make the dialog go back and forth. A few examples: Mrs. Pinkney’s husband’s apothecary is the very same one that Emma’s sister, Mrs. John Knightley uses for her family in London. Thus Mrs. Pinkney can report on the Knightleys of London. Or Mrs. Pinkney runs into Mr. Elton in Bath on his wife-hunting trip. And so forth. But for all of that, Ms. Austen-Leigh delightfully wraps both Mrs. Pinkney’s London world and Mrs. Goddard’s Highbury world together, giving some well-thought out explanations and insights into the major characters of Highbury. One of my favorite examples, despite how I dislike Harriet Smith, is more knowledge of the Martin family, since the sisters met Harriet while attending Mrs. Goddard’s school. Another wonderful insight is into the fall of Mrs. and Miss Bates in society and poverty.
There is only as much insight into Emma and Knightley as is realistic for two sisters really unrelated to their romance can be. And that is disappointing on the one hand but very appropriate and satisfying on the other.
Sadly, this book did not feed my thirst for plausible explanations of why George Knightley would fall in love with selfish, immature little Emma. But I don’t suppose that Ms. Austen-Leigh set out to do so. In the mean time, I enjoyed enlarging my perspective of Highbury and will have to wait until someone else can try to pen an explanation to this mystery.
Well, shame on me, to both. I really enjoyed A Visit to Highbury: Another View of Emma, due in large part to vivid characterizations and real, honest-to-goodness writing of which Jane herself would have approved.
I was hooked from the first letter. The book is a series of letters between two sisters: Mrs. Pinkney (new to the Emma world) and Mrs. Goddard who, as some of you may recall, was Harriet Smith’s school mistress. In the original, Mrs. Goddard never had dialog, but it was made clear that she had some standing in the community, was a friend of Emma’s father, and was generally well-involved in Highbury.
The sisters need to catch up after a long period of slothful correspondence and Mrs. Goddard begins to tell Mrs. Pinkney all of the goings on of Highbury life. Of course, there has to be some rather blatant contrivances to make the dialog go back and forth. A few examples: Mrs. Pinkney’s husband’s apothecary is the very same one that Emma’s sister, Mrs. John Knightley uses for her family in London. Thus Mrs. Pinkney can report on the Knightleys of London. Or Mrs. Pinkney runs into Mr. Elton in Bath on his wife-hunting trip. And so forth. But for all of that, Ms. Austen-Leigh delightfully wraps both Mrs. Pinkney’s London world and Mrs. Goddard’s Highbury world together, giving some well-thought out explanations and insights into the major characters of Highbury. One of my favorite examples, despite how I dislike Harriet Smith, is more knowledge of the Martin family, since the sisters met Harriet while attending Mrs. Goddard’s school. Another wonderful insight is into the fall of Mrs. and Miss Bates in society and poverty.
There is only as much insight into Emma and Knightley as is realistic for two sisters really unrelated to their romance can be. And that is disappointing on the one hand but very appropriate and satisfying on the other.
Sadly, this book did not feed my thirst for plausible explanations of why George Knightley would fall in love with selfish, immature little Emma. But I don’t suppose that Ms. Austen-Leigh set out to do so. In the mean time, I enjoyed enlarging my perspective of Highbury and will have to wait until someone else can try to pen an explanation to this mystery.
August 19, 2012
See review of "an assembly such as this." This is a re-write of Emma, and as such, does okay because it does not really attempt to re-tell the story. Instead, it's an epistolary novel, which even Jane Austen couldn't manage well. So I can't be too huffy about how contrived it is. The main characters are partly made up, and partly ancillary characters who never speak in the the original book. It would work better if they didn't show themselves so very much wiser and more observant than Austen's main characters. One would think they knew how the original book ends. :)
Really, if you want to tell a well-known story from the point of view of the lesser character, you have to be Tom Stoppard, and the original story has to be Hamlet. One woman's opinion.
Oh yes, Mary Reilly is another excellent example of how to re-visit another author's work. And A Northern Light. In both cases, the re-imaging works because the characters are fully realized main characters, and the original story is rightly submerged in the new. And the new story is a compelling one. That is where A visit to Highbury falls down. It's more than a little dull.
Really, if you want to tell a well-known story from the point of view of the lesser character, you have to be Tom Stoppard, and the original story has to be Hamlet. One woman's opinion.
Oh yes, Mary Reilly is another excellent example of how to re-visit another author's work. And A Northern Light. In both cases, the re-imaging works because the characters are fully realized main characters, and the original story is rightly submerged in the new. And the new story is a compelling one. That is where A visit to Highbury falls down. It's more than a little dull.
January 13, 2013
Loved it! This book and the second one (and sadly there are only two)Later Days at Highbury, have one of the best Jane Austen "esque" voices I have come across. The book consists of letters back and forth between Mrs. Goddard in Highbury and her sister Mrs. Pinkney in London. Mrs. Goddard is the headmistress of the school that Harriet attends in Jane Austen's Emma. In that book Mrs. Goddard does not have a speaking role, but is mentioned.
So A Visit to Highbury is the story of Emma, told peripherally through letters between Mrs. Goddard and Mrs. Pinkney and also other events and characters (like Mrs. Pinkney) that are not in Emma at all.
Some reviewers have objected to the "epistolary" nature of the book, but I like books that are made up of letters. Besides, many of the letters relate events and conversations as if they were the narrative in a regular book, so in many cases it reads just like a regular book.
All in all, if you like Jane Austen continuations and re-tellings you will love this book.
So A Visit to Highbury is the story of Emma, told peripherally through letters between Mrs. Goddard and Mrs. Pinkney and also other events and characters (like Mrs. Pinkney) that are not in Emma at all.
Some reviewers have objected to the "epistolary" nature of the book, but I like books that are made up of letters. Besides, many of the letters relate events and conversations as if they were the narrative in a regular book, so in many cases it reads just like a regular book.
All in all, if you like Jane Austen continuations and re-tellings you will love this book.
January 20, 2013
The cover is quite perfect for what I picture to be Frank Churchill singing with Jane Fairfax at the pianoforte. It's fitting.
This was a cute addition to the story of Emma and another side of things we did not see in Jane Austen's Emma. It is written in an epistolary fashion and is very cute. Mrs. Goddard writes back and forth with her sister from Highbury to London with news about each other's lives.
Love and romance all around and in typical Austen style her great-great-niece? (the great-grandaughter of Jane's nephew). It was a nice mix between Lady Susan in Emma's world.
This is how an Austen extension book should be written. I've read many and many were good, but this stayed in Austen fashion and kept the characters in their roles. Did not feel like fan fiction like some others I have read, it was very very good and entertaining. Great book. Recommended by all Austen fans.
Italian Brat's Obsessions
This was a cute addition to the story of Emma and another side of things we did not see in Jane Austen's Emma. It is written in an epistolary fashion and is very cute. Mrs. Goddard writes back and forth with her sister from Highbury to London with news about each other's lives.
Love and romance all around and in typical Austen style her great-great-niece? (the great-grandaughter of Jane's nephew). It was a nice mix between Lady Susan in Emma's world.
This is how an Austen extension book should be written. I've read many and many were good, but this stayed in Austen fashion and kept the characters in their roles. Did not feel like fan fiction like some others I have read, it was very very good and entertaining. Great book. Recommended by all Austen fans.
Italian Brat's Obsessions
June 22, 2021
A really excellent companion to Emma. The language and manner of speaking is perfectly in keeping with the time, and it was fun seeing how a third party might observe the events of the novel. I also enjoyed the new characters and their plotlines and was surprised to find myself just as invested in, for example, Mr. and Mrs. Pinkney's new marriage as the secret of Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill. I did wish the novel could have featured more of Emma - she is one of my favorite characters, so it was a little strange to me to see her relegated to such a backseat, but I know that given the narrator is a middle aged school mistress for a school Emma didn't attend, there wasn't much opportunity for interaction. And that really was a very small quibble for me! I actually found myself wishing at the end that the book continued past the events of Emma, because I enjoyed Mrs. Goddard and Mrs. Pinkney's observations on the occupants of Highbury so much.
July 21, 2008
I make a minor hobby of collecting Jane Austen spin-offs and this is one of the best I've read in a while. The writing style was extremely pleasant and evocative of Austen's own. And it was fun to watch Mrs. Goddard & her sister speculate on the events in the Emma storyline from an appropriately limited point of view. My main quibble is that the story seemed unfinished at the end (the author exhausted the Emma plotline and left her non-Emma characters with implied happy endings, but not realized ones). Granted, the author really had no choice. If you're writing an epistolary novel and if the characters you've created must meet face to face to resolve their storylines, you're kind of stuck. How weird would it be to have them write each other notes over tea?
July 26, 2011
How on God's green Earth did this little gem slip by me? And how did I miss an Austen sequel written by an actual descendant of Jane herself? I am all astonishment. ( sorry, I had to put that in there). Well anyway, this rather short novel is written as letters between Mrs Goddard and her newly married sister. I didn't expect much but what a delight it was to read. It was funny and charming and classy. So many writers today forget how important the gentleness of manners are to Jane Austen enthusiasts and spoil what might have been a worthy novel with out of place modern vulgarity. Don't they understand that Austeneasque novels are our escape from the harshness of modern life? I wonder now if this lady will write any more. She could give Joan Aiken a run for her money.
February 22, 2010
This book written by Jane Austen's great-great-grandniece, is as pleasurable to read as Jane's original Emma. It evokes the same atmosphere of Highbury as you read in the book or viewed in the movies. Through Mrs. Goddard's letters to her sister, Mrs. Pinkney living in London, you get a peek at what might have gone on behind the scenes in Emma and to become better acquainted with Mrs. Goddard, the mistress of the boarding school where Harriet Smith resides. I shall purchase this book to add to my Jane Austen collection.
March 27, 2010
This was very enjoyable. A good read - she's certainly not Jane Austen, but who is? She takes a minor character, Mrs. Goddard, and fleshes her out. In my opinion, this was a much better addition to an Austen story than writing a sequel - the writer's view of the characters never quite match your own! With 'Emma' as a backdrop, you enter the lives of two sisters. You get an interesting view of how a minor character may have seen the events of the book, but get a new story as well - one that's surprisingly well written.
November 6, 2012
I first read this book about 10 years ago, during one of my "Emma" phases. I fell in love with it. It was the first Austen segual I had ever read and it set the bar exceedingly high. So far very few have come close to equalling it much less surpassing it.It as stated was written by Austen's own great-great-great grand neice, but whether she was able to hone in on JA's tecnique by shared family blood or just her own talent(Maybe both) may never be known.But this is a delightful compaign book to Emma. I recommend any Austen fan read this wonderful novel.
j
j
May 29, 2009
I was leary at first about reading this book by a relative of Jane Austen....especially doing a sequel to one of her books. Surprisingly it was very well done. All in the style of letters between two sisters who had a bit of information from different aspects on the same stories. Very intriguing. I am actually more than willing to read more from this author other than this "Austen Sequel". It was a very enjoyable read written in truely a style like Jane herself.
March 9, 2009
Written as letters from Mrs. Goddard to her sister in London about the goings-on in Highbury. The author is the great-niece of Austen, herself. At first I was bored with the letter format and with already familiar characters and plot. About half-way I began to enjoy a new character and plot-line through Mrs. Goddard's sister and was glad I read it in the end.
June 18, 2014
This book was just delightful. Yeah, these bit players knew more about the main action of Emma than was likely. But honestly, the characters in the story--the sisters writing the letters, poor Charlotte, and Mr. Pinkney--were more interesting to me, in fact, than the Emma parts. Just a sweet little set of letters.
July 25, 2008
If you read Emma and loved it, then you'll enjoy these letters from Mrs. Goddard to her sister telling her all about Highbury. You get to read about the same events but from someone else's point of view, and it really does make it interesting.
June 16, 2010
My favorite in the Jane Austen fan fiction genre. I actually have re-read this one a few times (thought not as frequently as I've re-read Emma.) The author is a great-niece of Jane Austen and she is duly respectful of her ancestor's characters.
May 23, 2011
This was really well-done, and by Jane Austens actual G-G-G-neice! It's format of letters between two sisters (one of whom is a lesser character in Emma) discussing events in the town of Highbury where Emma lives is great and subtle!
January 29, 2008
Another attempt to add to the works of Jane Austen. Based on Emma, this story is told by letters between Mrs. Goddard and her sister who resides in London. A gentle read.
October 19, 2009
An interesting take on Emma and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
December 27, 2010
The best copycat Jane Austen book I ever read. Read like Jane Austen wrote it!
April 7, 2014
A Visit to Highbury: Another View of Emma by Joan Austen-Leigh 3.5 Regency Teacups out of 5. Started very slow but the 2nd half was a delight. The stars of this book are Mrs Goddard and her sister.
July 4, 2015
Super charming view of Emma drawn from letters between sisters. Worth a read!
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