The Elopement by Gill Hornby is very cleverly written. Yes, it spends a lot of time setting up the dynamic between protagonists Mary Dorothea Knatchbull and her stepmother Fanny Austen Knight (the favorite niece of author Jane Austen).
So it is possible that the reader might find the beginning rather slow.
But it is important to persist, for Ms Hornby paints a wonderful and authentic picture of two women, who while not hostile exactly, don’t really like each other.
And so, how do they cope when they are forced to socialize?
Of course, being British, they act!
Fanny presents her inauthentic self with a rather loud laugh that is meant to convey the idea that she is not stuffy, nor pompous, only wishing to be her stepdaughter’s friend. However, she does insist that 13-year-old Mary Dorothea, who is still grieving her own mother, call her “Mama.”
Mary Dorothea, although very young, armors up mostly by being silent. When she does speak, however, she does it with great effect. Forced to use the name that she would have preferred to keep for her long-dead mother, she intersperses the pronunciation of that now-odious word with strategic pauses. She is not being impolite, exactly. But she is throwing up a barrier between herself and her stepmother.
And so it is not surprising that Fanny Knight, now Lady Fanny Knatchbull, is not keen to spend time with this young person who is so adept at making her feel uncomfortable. She means to spend more time with her. But somehow doesn’t get around to it.
And that is how she fails Mary Dorothea. For, as she doesn’t spend any time with her, Mary Dorothea remains a puzzling stranger. And her first impressions of the girl—that she is a colorless, lifeless creature with impeccable manners and no personality—do not change.
We, however, can see that this is not true. For many people become very fond of Mary Dorothea, starting with one of the maids at Chawton, who becomes her lifelong friend. Then there are Fanny’s younger sisters Marianne, Louisa and Cassy. Lastly, or course are the various Mr. Knights— all six of them Fanny’s brothers—two of whom become very interested…
I will let you read this marvelous book to find out what happens next. It is the third in a series of books that Gill Hornby has written about the Austen family, that includes Miss Austen and Godmersham Park. All are highly recommended.
