The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen

Syrie James has done it again with her latest: The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen (#258)!  I gave this book a rare (for me!) five star rating on the Good Reads website, I enjoyed it so much.  This novel-within-a-novel begins with the accidental discovery of a clue which leads American librarian Samantha McDonough to a remote British country house in pursuit of a previously unknown manuscript by Jane Austen.  How the manuscript is discovered, the emotional complications which ensue and the self-knowledge that Sam gains in the process of influencing what should be done with it by the interested parties provide the modern day wrapping around the text of Austen's first, unpublished novel The Stanhopes.

Although this novel is over four hundred pages in length, I hated to come to the end of it.  That's just the way I felt about Ms. James' previous Jane Austen tribute novel The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen.  It's one of the very few books in this genre that I've lent to friends with a chain attached to it, to make sure I'd get it back.  Including the present day story allows James to comment on Jane Austen's writing style and to speculate on what made her tick as an author in an non-scholarly way, though she's careful to give Samantha some relevant qualifications to present her point of view.  Of course, it doesn't hurt in The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen that Samantha expresses her preference for Persuasion as her favorite Jane Austen novel: it's mine, too. 

I was so disappointed when my book club read Persuasion a few years ago at my suggestion and no one else even liked the book, but found it tedious and boring.  One member of the group had checked out an edition from the library that included the text of the novel on the left side, and a compendium of footnotes on life in early nineteenth century Britain on the other (complete with lavish illustrations!) so as to make reading the book in a thoughtful way impossible.  She kept hijacking the discussion with pictures she found in these notes that had nothing to do with Anne Elliott or Captain Wentworth.  Sigh.  From that point on, I decided I would only discuss Austen with people of like minds.  Unfortunately, I haven't found too many here in Florida, so reading a book like The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen or The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen is balm to my soul.

If you're a Jane Austen fan yourself, you'll love this book.  If you're not, but are willing to approach this novel with an open mind, you might discover a whole new world you've been missing.  If you really can't stand the idea of Jane Austen as an author of great influence and you've read this far, you have my sincere sympathy.