About the book: Author Gill Hornby, whose most recent success was the BBC's Miss Austen, turns her hand to a new novel with The Elopement, in the style of Austen herself. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull, raised with strict values by her conservative father, finds herself plunged into a world of balls and beauty when he remarries. Enjoying the new set she moves with, she soon falls in love with Mr. Knight, and feels that there can be no objection, as he is from a good family. How wrong she is... A loving homage to Jane Austen on the 250th anniversary of her birth, this novel is sure to be a hit with all fans of either author.

About the author: Gill Hornby is the author of the novels Miss Austen, The Hive, All Together Now and Godmersham Park, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury, England, with her husband and their four children.