This series is a supposed look into Jane Austen’s diaries, theoretically finding inspirations for various characters and locations in her books. This book finds Jane, her mother and her sister in the Peak District, near Chatsworth House. If you’ve seen the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, Chatsworth was used as Pemberley, and it is considered to have been an influence to Jane Austen for that house.
Back in college, when I worked at the library, I often picked up interesting books from the reshelving carts, and I read a book about the Cavendish family, who becomes the Dukes of Devonshire, who own Chatsworth. In Austen’s time, a distant great aunt of Princess Diana had married into that family – she was also played by Keira Knightly in the movie The Dutchess. This book picks up just after her death.
It’s an interesting mystery – definitely anachronistic, but engaging. It allows some interesting examinations of what’s going on at Chatsworth, which does work with the real events that would have been happening after Duchess Georgiana’s death. These are fun books – not for anyone that’s a historical purist, but good if you can set that aside and enjoy a good story.