PBS Books Readers Club welcomes international best-selling author Gill Hornby to discuss her novel Miss Austen. The episode premieres on April 30th at 8PM ET on Facebook, YouTube, and the PBS app.
Opening in 1840s England, two decades after her beloved sister Jane’s death, elderly spinster Cassandra Austen returns to the vicarage of Kintbury on a mission to collect and destroy letters written by Jane. Cassandra must navigate time, strained relationships, and a meddling housemaid while on her mission to protect her late sister’s legacy. With each letter she reads, floods of vivid memories resurface, bringing both joy and sorrow.
Miss Austen weaves a story that blends the youthful promise and romance of early years with the hard-earned wisdom of experience.
In the interview, Hornby discusses her research and writing process, the joys and challenges of revisiting the world and writing style of Jane Austen, her recommended reads, and more.
“Cassandra didn’t just do Jane’s reputation a service by burning so many letters, she did me a great service as well because she created all these holes in Jane’s life story… and it was into there, into those pockets, that I could put my imagination.” – Gill Hornby
PBS Watch-Alike: Miss Austen, an adaptation of Hornby’s novel, comes to life on screen in a limited series on PBS Masterpiece. The four-part show will premiere Sunday, May 4th at 9pm EST.
About the Author
Gill is a journalist whose debut novel, The Hive, sold to Little, Brown UK in a heated auction. US rights were pre-empted by Reagan Arthur Books. It’s about a group of women who meet at the school gates each day and – under the guise of the school’s charity committee – scheme, support, compete and jostle for position in their unspoken but fiercely run hierarchy. The book was published in the UK in May 2013 and went straight into the top ten bestseller list. Gill’s second novel, All Together Now, was published in June 2015 (Little, Brown UK)— the Daily Telegraph described it as ‘a sparkling comedy of manners’.
In January 2020 her first foray in historical fiction, Miss Austen (Cornerstone), was published to critical acclaim and instant anticipation, appearing on many ‘Books to Watch in 2020’ lists and receiving glowing reviews in the national papers. Called ‘pitch perfect’ by Kirsty Wark and ‘deeply imagined and deeply moving’ by Karen Joy Fowler, it retells the life of England’s most famous female novelist from the perspective of her forgotten sister, Cassandra, and examines the real-life mystery of why she burned so many of Jane’s letters, a conundrum which has baffled literary historians for centuries. Miss Austen was a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller. It has been developed as a four-part television starring Keeley Hawes by the BBC.
Gill’s Hornby’s Godmersham Park returns to the life of the celebrated Regency novelist with the deeply moving tale of a young governess in the Austen family. It was published by Cornerstone in June 2022, and became a Sunday Times Bestseller shortly after. Waterstones selected the paperback of Godmersham Park as their Fiction Book of the Month for January 2023. It had recently been optioned by Federation Stories and Bonnie Productions for TV.
Gill is currently working on her third novel in the Austen series, to be published by Century.
About the Hosts
Heather-Marie Montilla
Heather-Marie Montilla, a dynamic integrative leader, is an educator and nonprofit manager. She has worked in the nonprofit sector and libraries for over two decades, making a positive impact in arts, cultural, educational, and community-building arenas.
Having joined the PBS Books team as their Library Bureau Chief in Fall 2018, Montilla is now the National Director of PBS Books and has interviewed more than 150 writers. In addition, she is a faculty member at Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University for their Arts and Cultural/Entertainment Management Programs. Having been an Executive Director for 8 years, Heather has a wide range of experience in management, finance, strategic planning, marketing, and fundraising. Heather holds a MPA From Columbia University, a MLIS from Wayne State University, and a bachelor’s from Duke University. She lives in Chicagoland, and is married with four children, a dog, and a bird.
Lauren Smith
Executive Producer and host of national PBS programming at Detroit Public TV, Lauren develops content for PBS and other distributors of public media for broadcast, streaming, and other digital channels and has executive-produced and/or produced over 60 national broadcast and programs. Her passion is to develop inspiring, entertaining, and educational content alongside the best national and international talent, and to engage important content with communities across the country. Lauren loves to read and has worked to develop and produce PBS Books content for nearly ten years!
Princess Weekes
Princess Weekes is an award winning writer and video essayist who works at breaking down the intersections between race, gender, and pop culture. Formally an Assistant Editor at The Mary Sue, co-host of Netflix’s The Geeked Podcast, and co-host and co-writer on the PBS Digital Series It’s Lit. On weekends works as a bookseller at a local bookstore. When not reading or writing she can be found playing TTRPGs of cuddling with her cat, Lola.
Fred Nahhat
Fred Nahhat is an Emmy Award-winning producer, host, and presenter for Detroit’s PBS station, where he serves as Sr. VP of Production.
A 30-year broadcast veteran, Fred has hosted and produced numerous programs for Public TV – including music specials from Il Volo, Celtic Gold and the New Divas – as well as other series and specials “New Year’s Eve with the DSO”, “The Detroit Dream Cruise,” “The PBS Books Readers Club” and “Get Up, Get Out,” among others.
He is a graduate of Wayne State University and a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Michigan Chapter, USA Hockey, and Leadership Detroit.
