Early Review: Austen at Sea

We’re only three weeks away from the release of Natalie Jenner‘s fourth novel, Austen at Sea. While this book continues her theme of Austeneque historical fiction, this one goes back farther in time, to 1865, and features people who knew Jane Austen in her lifetime. It follows two sisters who begin corresponding with Sir Francis Austen, brother of the famous author. With promises of a rare artifact, they leave Boston to visit him in England.

What struck me about Austen at Sea is how it’s so devoted to ideas. The myriad characters spend much of their time discussing literature (not just Jane Austen’s novels, but also works by Charles Dickens, the Brontës, and more), women’s place in society, and politics. What makes for a strong literary heroine? How is it fair that women give up their identity upon marrying? Why is it easier for men to seek divorce than women?

And while ideas make for lively discussions among the characters, they also become a major part of the plot. Elopement, ownership, citizenship, divorce… all of it arises throughout the course of this novel. Ultimately it is a book of forward-thinking people—early feminists—as they are united and inspired by literature to make changes in the real world.

My full review will be published on May 5, 2025, just before the book will be available for all to read. Please check back for my post then!

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Austenprose PR, and NetGalley for providing me with physical and ebook ARCs of this book!

Official Summary

Two pairs of siblings, devotees of Jane Austen, find their lives transformed by a visit to England and Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother and keeper of a long-suppressed, secret legacy.

In Boston, 1865, Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson, daughters of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, have accomplished as much as women are allowed in those days. Chafing against those restrictions and inspired by the works of Jane Austen, they start a secret correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother, now in his nineties. He sends them an original letter from his sister and invites them to come visit him in England.

In Philadelphia, Nicholas & Haslett Nelson—bachelor brothers, veterans of the recent Civil War, and rare book dealers—are also in correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, who lures them, too, to England, with the promise of a never-before-seen, rare Austen artifact to be evaluated.

The Stevenson sisters sneak away without a chaperone to sail to England. On their ship are the Nelson brothers, writer Louisa May Alcott, Sara-Beth Gleason—wealthy daughter of a Pennsylvania state senator with her eye on the Nelsons—and, a would-be last-minute chaperone to the Stevenson sisters, Justice Thomas Nash.

It’s a voyage and trip that will dramatically change each of their lives in ways that are unforeseen, with the transformative spirit of the love of literature and that of Jane Austen herself.

Get the Book

You can pre-order Austen at Sea here – it will be available on May 6, 2025 as hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Fiction
Setting	New York
Original Publication Date	May 6, 2025