I hope you’re enjoying celebrating Jane Austen 250 this year! I feel like I am in the midst of a very Jane Austen summer – and have been a little silent on my blog as I have some very exciting articles coming out soon that I’ve been writing instead. But, for now, I am incredibly thrilled over the next few weeks to share with you some books and exhibits I have had the pleasure of reading and visiting, beginning with Six Weeks By The Sea…

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One of the greatest mysteries about Jane Austen is if she ever fell in love. We get so excited about Tom Lefroy, but Austen family lore says that the great love of her life was actually a man she met by the seaside during the summer of 1801 or 1802, who then died before they could be together.

In Six Weeks By The Sea, Paula Byrne brings this to life, imagining through this delicious novel how this might have happened at Sidmouth, and giving Austen her great love story.

I’ve been a fan of Paula Byrne and her work on Jane Austen for years, so I was incredibly honoured to receive an advance copy. I read this in two sittings whilst I was by the sea (unfortunately not at Sidmouth, but close enough!) and I loved it.

Byrne seamlessly moves between fact and imagination, honouring Austen whilst also opening up this mysterious period in her life for us to think about. She also touches upon the wider history of the time, particularly the sea, empire and expansion, helping us to understand the context of the world Austen was living in.

Also, most importantly, the novel doesn’t suggest that Austen only needed a great love in her life to be able to think of characters like Mr Darcy (one of my pet peeves).

Austen loved flirting, loved people, loved personalities: she was an incredible observer of those around her. For example, when visiting a museum exhibition in April 1811 in London, she wrote to Cassandra that she “had some amusement at each, tho’ my preference for Men & Women, always inclines me to attend more to the company than the sight.”

She knew what it was like to fall in love, to have crushes, to build meaningful relationships with others, without ever having married. This novel thoroughly respects her genius without leaning into this, and now makes me hope some unknown manuscript material might turn up telling us about this period in her life…

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Thank you Fontana Books and Paula Byrne for gifting me an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. Six Weeks By The Sea is out in the UK on 28th August!