Six Weeks by the Sea

‘A summer romance… Byrne imagines the twentysomething Jane Austen, on holiday in Sidmouth, falling for the lawyer Samuel Rose – a perfect foil, being a cross between Mr Darcy and Mr Knightley’

Spectator

‘This slender, bittersweet novel is fan fiction, but of a superior kind, a Regency-set novel open to contemporary sensibilities … It is a delicious set-up and one that Byrne brings deft expertise to’

The Times

‘No one is better qualified than Byrne to imagine and expand upon Austen’s true romance. Her treasure chest of Austen knowledge and her ability to spiritually inhabit historical figures are displayed to fine advantage in Six Weeks by the Sea. With Austen’s 250th birthday coming up in December, Byrne’s charming novel is a fine way to start the party’

Washington Post

‘There are treats aplenty for Austen fans’ Financial Times

‘A glorious romantic retelling’ The Sun

‘A tantalising tale’ Daily Mail

‘I felt like I was reading a Jane Austen’ Woman’s Hour, Kylie Pentelow

‘A cleverly imagined love story woven over a scaffolding of fact. Austen’s family did indeed visit the seaside town of Sidmouth for six weeks in the summer of 1801, and her adored brother Frank did join them on shore leave from the British Navy. His friend Captain Peter Parker, however, is Byrne’s invention, while the lawyer Samuel Rose, another candidate for Jane’s attentions, is inspired by a real person who never crossed paths with Austen. The Jane Austen beach book fans have been waiting for’

Kirkus Reviews

‘Offering deeper insights into relationships, including Jane’s much-speculated-on romantic connections, amid quiet moments of domestic life, Six Weeks by the Sea is an appropriately Austenesque novel of manners. Addressing serious social issues as seen through period-appropriate perspectives may provide modern readers new understanding of Jane Austen and her world’

Booklist (starred)

Paula Byrne was born in Birkenhead and has a PhD from the University of Liverpool, where she is a Research Fellow in English Literature. Her first book, Jane Austen and the Theatre, was shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize. Her second book, Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson, the tale of the scandalous star of the 18th-century stage, literature and high-society, was a Richard and Judy bookclub pick. Her most recent book is Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. The story of Evelyn Waugh’s friendship with the extraordinary aristocratic family who inspired Brideshead Revisited, it was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. A regular contributor to the ‘Times Literary Supplement’, she lives in Warwickshire with her two young children and her husband, the critic and biographer Jonathan Bate.