Jane Austen’s Summer of Love - Hatchards, Piccadilly

We are very excited to welcome biographer and author Paula Byrne here to Hatchards to discuss her brilliant new novel:

Six Weeks by the Sea

Summer 1801. Sidmouth, England.

The Austen Family descends upon a fashionable Georgian seaside resort in Devonshire for a six-week holiday. Jane's brother, Frank, is on leave from the Royal Navy, and dearly wishes to unite his sister with his friend Captain Peter Parker. But another holidaymaker, a handsome stranger, catches sight of Jane and is determined to make her acquaintance. This rival to Captain Parker is Samuel Rose: a lawyer, literary man and abolitionist. As the weeks pass, Jane's relationship with both men brings about unexpected surprises. By the end of the summer, the course of her life will have changed forever.

Set against the backdrop of the tensions of war against France and the naval and colonial politics of the day, this is the story of how the great romance writer fell in love for the first time.

We hope you will be able to join us if you can for what promises to be a fascinating evening of discussion!