The minute I saw the letter, I knew it was hers. There was no mistaking it: the salutation, the tiny, precise handwriting, the date, the content itself, all confirmed its ancient status and authorship…
Samantha McDonough cannot believe her eyes--or her luck. Tucked in an uncut page of a two-hundred-year old poetry book is a letter she believes was written by Jane Austen, mentioning with regret a manuscript that "went missing at Greenbriar in Devonshire." Could there really be an undiscovered Jane Austen novel waiting to be found? Could anyone resist the temptation to go looking for it?
Making her way to the beautiful, centuries-old Greenbriar estate, Samantha finds it no easy task to sell its owner, the handsome yet uncompromising Anthony Whitaker, on her wild idea of searching for a lost Austen work--until she mentions its possible million dollar value.
After discovering the unattributed manuscript, Samantha and Anthony are immediately absorbed in the story of Rebecca Stanhope, daughter of a small town rector, who is about to encounter some bittersweet truths about life and love. As they continue to read the newly discovered tale from the past, a new one unfolds in the present--a story that just might change both of their lives forever.
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by: Penguin Group
Pages: 432
Genre: Fiction/ Jane Austen Inspired
Author: Syrie James
Find out more here: Syrie James
Purchase this book: Barnes & Noble and Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT THE GHOST OF JANE AUSTEN :
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :
While "The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen" doesn't involve the ghost of Miss Austen per se, it does involve the ghostly presence of her letter and the allusion to a manuscript written, read to Cassandra and mysteriously lost. This mystery makes one think of a Jane Austen still alive in spirit and mourning the loss of her little unfinished book...longing for someone to find it. This is the stuff of Syrie Janes's mind and her book. A wonderful premise, and an entertaining book in and of itself.
Ms James's very fertile imagination is brought to bear in her novel as she guides us from the discovery of a letter suspected of being written by Miss Austen, to the outcome of finding the lost manuscript amidst the vast library of a country manor's library. I loved the whole intrigue! The setting of England and surround countryside, the manor itself and the characters she develops are fascinating.
Main characters Samantha and Anthony are delicious together. The push-pull of their relationship coupled with the mystery of the book they find is beautifully developed. The connection of both the characters in the story and the novel and believable and alive. Syrie James is a writer who sparks the visual in us as we read.
This is a book a Jane Austen lover cannot miss. Based on the idea of Austen's lost books and notes, this novel takes a "possible" and turns it around to become an absorbing and fascinating probable.
A thoroughly enjoyable book which I can highly recommend if you can suspend your belief a little! Ghostly...I can only suspect that Miss Austen haunts more than just Chawton House!
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
1 comments:
I can definitely suspend my belief a little! Looks awesome!
Share your thoughts!