AUSTEN AT SEA

Two sets of siblings—unmarried sisters Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson, and bachelor brothers Nicholas and Haslett Nelson—make their way overseas to meet Sir Francis Austen, Jane Austen’s last surviving brother.

The year is 1865. The Civil War is coming to a close, emancipation is on the horizon, the evolution of women’s rights is on everyone’s minds, and Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson—the headstrong and independent daughters of a well-to-do Massachusetts Supreme Court justice—have a secret. Both avid fans of Jane Austen and her work, they have conspired with the author’s last surviving brother, Francis, to visit him in England. Little do they know that they aren’t the only Austen fans in touch with Francis. At the same time, down in Philadelphia, Nicholas and Haslett Nelson, two handsome Civil War veterans and rare book dealers, have also been corresponding with Francis, who has promised them access to an Austen artifact that could change their lives forever. Together, the Stevensons and the Nelsons—accompanied by an outlandish and somewhat befuddling cast of literary characters, including the likes of Louisa May Alcott—make their way across the ocean to England. The story that unfolds here moves at a rapid-fire pace and is convoluted at best. The result lacks the emotional depth and wit of the Austen novels it's paying homage to, and will leave readers struggling to connect. 

A rushed and emotionally flat story.