A quirky Austen dilemma--what a treat!
Jane Austen's Ghost by Jennifer Kloester
I was intrigued at the start and hooked by the end of the Prologue. I still did not know quite what I was letting myself in for. But thank you Jennifer Kloester for an entrancing, frequently humorous, and very different ride! Full disclosure! I'm not that keen on Austenesque knock offs and I was hesitant to go here. So glad I succumbed! What a deliciously amusing and witty piece of work!
In 1816 Jane is confronted by an Anglican clergyman, Reverend James Stanier Clarke, a crony of the Prince Regent (say no more!) at Carlton House with a view to wedding her. He refuses to take NO for an answer. Im busy referencing either Osborne Whitworth, the disgusting clergyman from Poldark, or a more worldly, degenerate version of Obadiah Slope from Barchester Chronicles.
Clarke is determined to have Jane either in this world or the next.
Clarke is both selfish and sinister. He takes a tome of old incantations, a grimoire, of the "Dark Pagan Arts", and basically places a curse on Jane. Jane does die early, plagued by sickness for a few months (my thoughts turned to Clarke and his vengefulness) and is buried ... in Winchester Cathedral!
Fast forward to 2019. Cassandra Austin, always unlucky in love has fled to her irrepressible renegade Great-Aunt Butters (Lady Butters), hiding out from the judgemental parentals, especially her father. Naturally an Austen aficionados . (To my mind Cassandra is somewhat of a Bridget Jones type character).
But back to the storyline thus far. This is when things become Interesting! Something twitchy is going on in Winchester Cathedral. It turns out there are ghosts hovering around, angry and upset. They are stuck in the Phantral Realm and cannot enter the Celestial Realm.
And yes! It all goes back to the despicable Voldemort-like actions of the abhorrent Clarke. The curse is well and truly in play. Clarke's aim was to join with Jane as a partner, forever in eternity. Yuk! If he couldn't have her in this life he'd ensure having her in the afterlife.
Our intrepid group: amongst them Auntie B, Bishop Stiles (the Bishop of Winchester) Cassie and the rather dishy Oliver Carling (down from Oxford), must build on the past and somehow lift the curse so that all those trapped spirits can pass through, without (as a previous Bishop asserts) letting Clarke enter "the Ghostly Plane [so that] Miss Austen will be freed from an eternity bound to one who is not fit to lick her boots."
An aside! Useful information I did learn--the name for a group of ghosts and how to battle them using a shroud, ‘A fright of ghosts?’ As Aunt B explained, ‘The correct plural term. And it worked because it is not a sheet. It’s a shroud.' ‘Ghosts hate to be reminded that they’re dead. A shroud is an unpleasant memory-jogger.’
I loved Jennifer Kloester's use of language, particularly when looking at the correspondence interspersed throughout the story with Clarke and his friend Vicesimus Knox who is trying to stop Clarke from "executing [his] Malignant Plot." (my capitalization because that's how I found myself reading it. Mind you a lot of the wonderful comments throughout seem to me to demand capital letters.)
Oh and I almost swooned at the thought of Aunt B's car, "a 1929 black four-door [Lagonda] saloon". Ok, I double swooned!
Meanwhile, back in 1817 Vicesimus Knox is doing all he can so that "Miss Austen may be freed from a dreadful bondage and find peace in her eternal rest." Of course these things rebound and forces are unleashed that make Halloween look saintly. And my Voldemort fantasies just became more dire! There were times when I did look for Dumbledore's help. But Cassie and the gang must make do.
I loved Knox's assertion that Jane Austen is a mere female author whose works will not endure. And even this can have consequences, as we in the present discover. Mmm!
But the present is where the fight takes place, and we are lead through secret scared Cathedral business, with guardians, Ancient Lore decrees, and the Phalantral Gate.
The struggle seems doomed at every turn. Frankly I was just so cross with some of the high handed individuals Cassie must deal with. There were other moments of questioning along with Cassie who can be trusted, and then occasions when a few tears were discreetly shed.
Kloester 's research is impressive. It is the fine feast spreading out as a background and giving depth to the novel.
This was a fun read with a hearty nod to Jane Austen, that plays with fantastical 'what ifs.' I was awed by the way Kloester uses aspects of Jane's life, her literary status and continuing impact today. Including the way Jane's personality and idiosyncrasies played into the ongoing plot. I am quite enamored by this quirky Austenesque flavored novel.
Amazing! What would Jane say?
Many thanks to Overlord Publishing and the author for an ARC of this work.
In 1816 Jane is confronted by an Anglican clergyman, Reverend James Stanier Clarke, a crony of the Prince Regent (say no more!) at Carlton House with a view to wedding her. He refuses to take NO for an answer. Im busy referencing either Osborne Whitworth, the disgusting clergyman from Poldark, or a more worldly, degenerate version of Obadiah Slope from Barchester Chronicles.
Clarke is determined to have Jane either in this world or the next.
Clarke is both selfish and sinister. He takes a tome of old incantations, a grimoire, of the "Dark Pagan Arts", and basically places a curse on Jane. Jane does die early, plagued by sickness for a few months (my thoughts turned to Clarke and his vengefulness) and is buried ... in Winchester Cathedral!
Fast forward to 2019. Cassandra Austin, always unlucky in love has fled to her irrepressible renegade Great-Aunt Butters (Lady Butters), hiding out from the judgemental parentals, especially her father. Naturally an Austen aficionados . (To my mind Cassandra is somewhat of a Bridget Jones type character).
But back to the storyline thus far. This is when things become Interesting! Something twitchy is going on in Winchester Cathedral. It turns out there are ghosts hovering around, angry and upset. They are stuck in the Phantral Realm and cannot enter the Celestial Realm.
And yes! It all goes back to the despicable Voldemort-like actions of the abhorrent Clarke. The curse is well and truly in play. Clarke's aim was to join with Jane as a partner, forever in eternity. Yuk! If he couldn't have her in this life he'd ensure having her in the afterlife.
Our intrepid group: amongst them Auntie B, Bishop Stiles (the Bishop of Winchester) Cassie and the rather dishy Oliver Carling (down from Oxford), must build on the past and somehow lift the curse so that all those trapped spirits can pass through, without (as a previous Bishop asserts) letting Clarke enter "the Ghostly Plane [so that] Miss Austen will be freed from an eternity bound to one who is not fit to lick her boots."
An aside! Useful information I did learn--the name for a group of ghosts and how to battle them using a shroud, ‘A fright of ghosts?’ As Aunt B explained, ‘The correct plural term. And it worked because it is not a sheet. It’s a shroud.' ‘Ghosts hate to be reminded that they’re dead. A shroud is an unpleasant memory-jogger.’
I loved Jennifer Kloester's use of language, particularly when looking at the correspondence interspersed throughout the story with Clarke and his friend Vicesimus Knox who is trying to stop Clarke from "executing [his] Malignant Plot." (my capitalization because that's how I found myself reading it. Mind you a lot of the wonderful comments throughout seem to me to demand capital letters.)
Oh and I almost swooned at the thought of Aunt B's car, "a 1929 black four-door [Lagonda] saloon". Ok, I double swooned!
Meanwhile, back in 1817 Vicesimus Knox is doing all he can so that "Miss Austen may be freed from a dreadful bondage and find peace in her eternal rest." Of course these things rebound and forces are unleashed that make Halloween look saintly. And my Voldemort fantasies just became more dire! There were times when I did look for Dumbledore's help. But Cassie and the gang must make do.
I loved Knox's assertion that Jane Austen is a mere female author whose works will not endure. And even this can have consequences, as we in the present discover. Mmm!
But the present is where the fight takes place, and we are lead through secret scared Cathedral business, with guardians, Ancient Lore decrees, and the Phalantral Gate.
The struggle seems doomed at every turn. Frankly I was just so cross with some of the high handed individuals Cassie must deal with. There were other moments of questioning along with Cassie who can be trusted, and then occasions when a few tears were discreetly shed.
Kloester 's research is impressive. It is the fine feast spreading out as a background and giving depth to the novel.
This was a fun read with a hearty nod to Jane Austen, that plays with fantastical 'what ifs.' I was awed by the way Kloester uses aspects of Jane's life, her literary status and continuing impact today. Including the way Jane's personality and idiosyncrasies played into the ongoing plot. I am quite enamored by this quirky Austenesque flavored novel.
Amazing! What would Jane say?
Many thanks to Overlord Publishing and the author for an ARC of this work.
*****
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