Aunt Celia [Large Print] [Paperback]

Jane Gillespie (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Prequels, sequels, and spinoffs rarely are as successful as their antecedents. When attempted by someone other than the original author, beware. Gillespie has chosen to weave her tale around Frank Churchill, a fairly minor character from Jane Austen's Emma . The title character is Frank's 18-year-old half-sister, some 25 years his junior. The Churchills come to spend the summer near Celia and her father. Gillespie's besetting sin is trying to write with Austen's voice. What is dry, delightful, and witty in Emma is drab, ponderous, and stuffy here. When Gillespie sheds her Austen alter-ego, the pace picks up and the plot (if it can be called that) enfolds the reader. Gillespie is a talented enough writer to succeed on her own. If you have her other novels ( Ladys mead , Teverton Hall ) in your library, your readers will probably want this one. Otherwise this is not an essential purchase in the genre. A more successful Austen spinoff is Joan Aiken's Jane Fairfax, reviewed in this issue, p. 123.--Ed.
- Paula M. Zieselman, Li brary Consultant, New York
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 259 pages
• Publisher: G K Hall & Co (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816155917
• ISBN-13: 978-0816155910
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,240,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sequel to Jane Austen's "EMMA", July 26, 2007

By 

Meredith "Austenesque Reviews" (Wilmington , NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Aunt Celia (Hardcover)

Ever wonder what became of Mr. Weston, yes he married poor Miss Taylor. But did they have any children? Yes! and her name is Celia.

This is a sequel to Jane Austen's book "Emma," and takes place about 18 years later. This book does not mention all the characters from Emma, including Emma herself. This book is about the Westons and Churchills.

Celia is 18 and now motherless, during summer she comes across new acquaitences and is reintroduced to her half brothers family (Frank Churchill). In this books some characters are spiteful, some deceitful, and others just secretive. It was not an uneventful summer! I recommend this book for people who adored the characters from Emma and want to take a trip back into Highbury.

The only thing I found displeasing in this book is that sometimes the writing was not making sense. I feel that a better editing job was needed. But it did not take away from the pleasure of reading this book.