Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Natalie Jenner’s latest book Austen At Sea is historical fiction at its richest. Set in 1865, two Boston-born Jane Austen devotees connect with Jane’s only surviving brother, in a setting that alternates between Boston, Massachusetts and Chawton, England where Jane wrote her books. The sisters and others become embroiled in an Austen family battle related to whether family secrets should stay hidden or be shared. At the same time, love stories abound and Jenner parses out the wisdom of Jane’s six books for how to measure life, love and happiness.
Two Austen-Loving Sisters Spark a Transatlantic Adventure
The novel opens in early April 1865. As transatlantic steamships link Boston to Europe and rail lines connect it to the rest of the United States, the city feels “like the center of the world — or at least the pounding heart of a nation.” But with the Civil War ending, women’s suffrage is a hot topic amongst the “bluestocking” intellectual elite because even in the progressive Boston of 1865 women have little power and few choices. Such is the case for sisters Henrietta and Charlotte Stevenson, who — despite their open-minded father William being a justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Court — are kept close to home. Their love of Jane Austen prompts them to pen a secret letter to Admiral Francis Austen, asking for details about his famous sister, now dead almost fifty years.
In his nineties, Francis is thrilled to receive their letter, “a thick paper … delicately fragranced by a far-off feminine hand.” Facing the end of his life, his well-traveled military career gives him little pleasure. Rather, he sees his sister’s books “accruing immortality with each new reader and every passing year” and commits to “safely distributing certain objects, so that Jane’s personal reputation can grow, as her writing so amply did.” He invites Henrietta and Charlotte to visit him at the Austen family home in Chawton and extends the same invitation to two Philadelphia-based rare-book collectors and brothers. Francis’s daughter Fanny is horrified by his intentions.
Henrietta and Charlotte book the next passage on a steamship to England and another Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Thomas Nash comes along as chaperone, sent last minute by their doting father. Not only are the Philadelphia brothers on the same ship, but so is Louisa May Alcott. The ten-day sail is lifechanging for all, with a romance from out of the blue, vibrant discussions by all and thespian activities spearheaded by the talented Louisa herself.
Family Secrets, Forbidden Objects and a Race Against Time
As Sir Francis meets his guests in Chawton, their keen interest in his stories thrills him, as does talking about “the eternal puzzle that was his brilliant sister.” But Fanny still opposes his desire to share anything about Jane. Can he unload the precious artefacts to his guests in time? Before he dies and before Fanny intervenes? Over the next seven months the story unfolds at a fast pace, rife with scandals, lawsuits, broken hearts and tabloid-like accusations. An epilogue set in July 1880 in Chawton brings the story to a tender yet highly satisfying close.
Austen At Sea is well-paced and impeccably researched. Jenner includes several real-life historical figures — not just Louisa May Alcott — to deepen the plot, including an English pioneer in family law, a leader in the British suffragette movement and a Harvard professor of oratory. Skillful use of third person omniscient point of view makes the vast array of characters come alive. Pitted against each other in both British and Boston courts, their vibrant conversations — about women’s property rights, divorce, and differences between the English courts and their slightly more liberal Boston counterparts — shine a fresh light on transformative times.
Austen At Sea offers a glimpse into the thinking of the early feminist movement and how women started to be seen and see themselves in the public eye. William’s love interest, one of the more evolved single women in the story, decries the onerous laws that make a woman’s possessions revert to her husband upon marriage. “’I known they look like things’” — she waves her hand around the house she owns by herself — “‘but they are an extension of me. Here, no matter the constraints of the world around me, I can express myself. ‘”
Timeless Wisdom from Jane Austen in a Bold New Context
While Jane Austen wrote about the landed gentry of the late eighteenth century her observations pertain to a human nature that still makes us want to be our best selves and to love deeply. Evoking Austen’s Mansfield Park, Jenner writes that “Freedom is not about ensuring you get everything you want, but rather becoming the best self that you can be.” More than one character invokes Mr. Knightly’s heart-throbbing statement to Emma upon declaring his own heart: “’If I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more.’”
Jenner’s own words are equally evocative. A minor character shares with Henrietta the nostalgia Louisa May Alcott carries for her sisters: “How the strength of the family comes from caring about others as much as oneself. How our differences buff each other to a diamond-like shine — by forcing us to see ourselves in relation to others, we gain greater knowledge of the self.” As the lawyer in William Stevenson is forced to admit, “’We are carried along in life by everything that has come before … and far more than we can understand.’” Jenner helps us understand the past we all share, and with Austen At Sea has fashioned a book well worth the read.
About Natalie Jenner:
Natalie Jenner is the author of the instant international bestseller The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls. A Goodreads Choice Award runner-up for historical fiction and finalist for best debut novel, The Jane Austen Society was a USA Today and #1 national bestseller, and has been sold for translation in twenty countries. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer, career coach and, most recently, an independent bookstore owner in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. Visit her website to learn more.
