Group Read- March

[Sophia]

Ah yes! The one that got away...

[Ahnya]

Ceri wrote: "Sophia wrote "Oh no! :( Hate it when that happens. And it was a brilliant comment, right? :)"

Yes, it was dazzling with wit and insight, and I won't manage such a good one again!"

Lol! I hate when that happens. You have that moment of clarity, and type exactly what you want to say, then you click the wrong thing and poof! It happens to me all the time when I am writing a review.

[Debbie]

It's happened to all of us, I'm sure. It's certainly happened to me!

[Anji]

Debbie wrote: "It's happened to all of us, I'm sure. It's certainly happened to me!"

Yup, me too! You never quite manage to recapture that exquisite moment of clarity/inspiration/erudition/whatever in the second, third or, if you're really unlucky (and yes, I have been on more than one occasion) multiple re-typings.

[Eliza]

Ack! I didn't manage to finish this book by the end of the month. Got sidetracked by work and home improvement projects. I still want to finish it. I thought I was going to have to pay another $8 to read the second half (I hate it when books are done this way), but thankfully the second is on kindle unlimited.

[Sophia]

Eliza wrote: "Ack! I didn't manage to finish this book by the end of the month. Got sidetracked by work and home improvement projects. I still want to finish it. I thought I was going to have to pay another $8 t..."

No sweat, Eliza! I'm sure there are others who are still working on and also plan to move on to the second book. That's neat that you can borrow that one.

[Sophia]

Group Read Check In Three

Final Date- Were you able to finish? What did you like about GKE: Charity Envieth Not? Did it do the job of being a good parallel companion story to the original Emma? Was there a particular aspect of the book the really resonated with you? Anything draw you out of the story? Final thoughts or good quote.

Thanks for participating in the first group read for Austenesque Lovers. Having many readers and comments made this a fantastic experience for me. Look forward to seeing some more of that with the next group read in May with Lady Susan.

[Erika]

I have to say I just finished the book a few hrs ago. I enjoyed the book, though I have to say that it was different than what I thought. I have read several of Amanda Grange's JA Hero books and my mind was thinking in that direction. But Charity Envieth Not was very different. They are more in diary form versus novel form from his POV. I have not read Emma, just watched the movies, so I don't know how well it paralleled Emma, though from the movies, I'd say yes. It also gave light and explained something that you'd really only know if you were viewing the going ons from Mr Knightley's perspective.

I found it interesting all the duties that Mr Knightley keeps himself busy with, and that he is really a hands-on gentleman farmer. One thing this book makes more clear to me is why his is in a three way tie for first place of JA boyfriends for me, tied with Darcy and Wentworth of course. One thing this book still has me fuzzy on is how Mr Knightley fell in love with Emma. I am not the biggest fan of Emma, I find her a bit naive yet full of herself, and oh so very spoiled!!! In CHN, Mr Knightley's realization of his love is so drastic in my opinion, since for most of the book he is annoyed with her naivety, self importance, and stubbornness. He also seems irritated with everyone in the community putting her on a pedestal and bowing down to her. So for him to just **boom** be in love it seemed contrived to me.

I loved seeing how humble Mr Knightley is, willing to converse with any and all from the upper echelons of society to the poorest of the poor. He treats everyone the same and has kind words for all, except Mr Churchill in his mind. I love how he is fair in his decisions as a magistrate, and not a frivolous fop just because he has the money.

So where I truly enjoyed it, I had to give it a 4.5 star rating because it didn't always keep my attention as rapidly as was my hope. That doesn't mean it is bad, but just made my progress slow. I would recommend this book to other JAFFers and I plan to read its sequel Lend Me Leave soon to finish the story.

[Sophia]

Nice summation, Erika!

I was able to finish this one and I will definitely read Lend Me Leave to finish the story.
It's been a while since I read Emma, but it felt like it was doing a good job paralleling that story. And as a retelling from Mr. Knightley's POV, I thought it was a good companion to the original.

Like you, his occupations beyond Gentleman and Estate Owner to farming, magistrate, and village committee, were fascinating to me and filled in the gaps of his character and personality that are only partially revealed in Emma.
LOL, Yes, this book really pulls out certain traits of the various characters with some, like Emma, not looking well at the moment. Truthfully, it was the non-romantic aspects that drew me most. His bantering with his brother, tenderness with John's family and taking on his niece's cat, his compassion and patience for lesser members of his community. And even his care over the Woodhouses as neighbors.
There's good build up for what is to come and I want to see the Frank and Jane thing and the Eltons from Mr. K's perspective.

I am most definitely glad you helped come up with the group read idea with this book. :)

[Debbie]

Sophia wrote: "Group Read Check In Three

Final Date- Were you able to finish? What did you like about GKE: Charity Envieth Not? Did it do the job of being a good parallel companion story to the original Emma? W..."

Well, anyone who's read my numerous posts here knows that I finished and then read George Knightley, Esquire: Lend Me Leave so I could continue to match both books to Emma. I found Barbara Cornthwaite paid meticulous attention to detail in writing her books to perfectly parallel Jane Austen's. Since I was reading them back and forth just a few chapters at a time, it was easy to see how well the timeline, events and characterizations corresponded. Yet, at the same time, Cornthwaite, in a very natural way, introduced enough new story elements to make her books more than just a simple rewrite from a different point of view. I was really impressed with the similarity in the writing style, too. As I've said in a previous post, occasionally I would be uncertain whether it was Cornthwaite or Austen I was reading and would have to look at the kindle book cover to be certain!

As Ericka (and, previously, Abigail) said, I really enjoyed learning more about exactly what responsibilities were expected of an estate owner. I've read a lot of books where a character is described as being directly involved in management of his estate, but I've never before read one one that gave such specific examples. As someone who enjoys literature but not necessarily history, I found it really gave me a better appreciation of how challenging that role really was.

I guess my final thought is that I was glad I read BOTH George Knightley, Esquire: Charity Envieth Not and George Knightley, Esquire: Lend Me Leave, and I encourage everyone who enjoyed the first book to continue with the second.

[Debbie]

I just want to add my thanks to Sophia for coordinating this entire GR group and for suggesting this group read in particular. I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to when we do the same with Lady Susan.

[Mary]

And so say all of us!!!

[Claudine]

I can't wait to read Lady Susan with everyone and see the movie!! It really looks incredible and the early reviews are so promising!!

Thanks Sophia for all that you do for us!!

[Barbara]

As the author of the GKE books, I hope it's ok to post and say how fun it has been to follow this thread for the last week or so. I'm so glad a lot of you liked it, and also glad that all that research I did into landowners and magistrates in the Regency period paid off. :) I think I will join you for the Lady Susan group read in May, if that's ok.

[Debbie]

I don't think anyone will disagree when I say the more the merrier, Barbara. I'm also glad you got to read all the compliments about your excellent books. You certainly provided us with a lot to enjoy!

[Abigail]

We love authors here, Barbara! Not speaking for the group but speaking for myself, it would be great to have you with us for Lady Susan and any other discussions that strike your fancy. Sophia Rose is a wonderful, positive, welcoming moderator, and the group follows her lead!

[Ceri]

How lovely to have you here, Barbara. I read both of the books, and very much enjoyed them. I've read Emma quite a few times. I don't profess to know it inside and out, but it's clear from reading George Knightley Esquire that you do!

[Claudine]

I completely agree Barbara! This group is awesome and we would love to have you join us!

[Patricia]

I love this book! I finished within a couple weeks with both books. This has to be my favorite one related to Emma. I would read this again in a heartbeat and cant wait to read more by the author.

This has been my favorite JAFF with Emma ! :)

[Sophia]

So glad this was a successful choice for our first group read. I can't take full credit as Erika was my partner in crime. Thanks to her, too. Feel free to continue posting thoughts on GKE books one and two here as you finish up the first and/or second books.

@Barbara Cornthwaite- Oh yay, pleased you stopped by, Barbara. As you can see, we loved your book(s). ;) And absolutely add my desire to have you join us for Lady Susan.

[Erika]

Aww shucks Sophie, I did nothing but mention I've been itching to read the book. :) But I'm glad to be of service and getting everyone reading together. I'm sorry it took me so long with reading it and commenting, RL got away from me.

Barbara, I have to ask you if you wrote stories for any of the JAFF websites like www.dwiggie.com prior to writing Charity Envieth Not? Cause I thought I had read an early story by you but now I can't find it. As I said in my review, Emma is not my favorite JA heroine, but Mr Knightley is in my Top 3 JA heroes. CEN just reinforces why I adore him so much. Though sometimes I still wonder about him and Emma!! I plan to read Lend Me Leave soon to finish the story. Thank you for an amazing look at such a Gentleman!!!

[Barbara]

Thank you, everyone, for your kind welcome. :)

Erika, I haven't written any stories for any JAFF websites. I am quite possibly the world's slowest writer--it took me five or six years to write the Knightley books, and I haven't finished anything since. Not only am I a slow writer, but I'm also too busy to do much writing in this season of my life, although I miss it a lot. Maybe the group read in May will give me overwhelming inspiration. :)

[Ceri]

Well I never got round to re-writing my amazing comment that Goodreads ate, but I did review both books on my blog. I'll copy them over here at some point, but if you'd like to check out my reviews of the books they are here:

Book 1: https://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot...

Book 2: https://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot...

[Sophia]

Haha, yes, the amazing comment. :)

I enjoyed your first part review. I'll have to catch the second one soon.