The Semi Attached Couple by Emily Eden. Where has this book been hiding all my life? It was written in around 1830, it was not published in England until 1860, and I did not read it until 2010. Something gravely wrong with that. It is delightful. A cross between Trollope and Jane Austen, slightly more fluff than either. A young married couple at odds with each other trying to work it out in the midst of all sorts of wonderfully drawn characters. Country houses, acid tongued mother-in-laws, social climbers, politics---nothing is missing. Very pleasant and light.
I immediately bought a copy off Ebay to keep for myself. It is apparently out of print? Criminal! Stop publishing all the new books with the name Jane Austen sprinkled throughout (Austenland, Jane Austen Ruined My Life, The Jane Austen Book Club, Jane Austen and Zombies etc., etc.)and publish an actual existing book that does resemble Jane Austen for godsake!
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