The Elopement by Gill Hornby

Format: ARC from NetGalley

Publication Date: 22 May 2025

💭 My thoughts...

4/5 stars

This was a slow starter for me, with the build up to the actual elopement in the title taking over half the book - I think it actually left the ending feeling a little rushed. I felt bought in to the romance, so I would have liked more time to explore it, rather than focusing on the relationship between daughter and step-mother.

That being said, I did rattle through this book at a quicker pace than I anticipated, and very much enjoyed the exploration of the wider extended family dynamics. I particularly liked that all of the characters were flawed in some way - there was no black and white thinking in who was "right" and who was "wrong". Each character had something that made them likeable and something that made them hard to root for at times.

The ending caught me off guard a little and left me feeling a little bereft at the end of what was ultimately a beautifully written story.

📖 Synopsis...

Mary Dorothea Knatchbull has been raised by her widower father and finds herself quite discombobulated when he brings home a new stepmother, Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park. Over time, the two women struggle to find common ground, while the relationships between their two extended families blossom. So much so, in fact, that Mary finds herself wanting to build a future with one of Fanny's brothers.

Despite the seeming sensibility of the match between two families with an already-established connection, Mary faces opposition and finds herself forced to choose between the two sides of the family that she has been at the centre of for so long.