'Six Weeks by the Sea' review: Jane Austen gets her Darcy

The central subjects of Jane Austen’s work are romance and marriage, yet at the time of her death, at 41, she had never married. As Austen scholar Paula Byrne notes in the afterword to her new novel, “Six Weeks by the Sea,” the author had a flirtation with a lawyer named Tom Lefroy when she was 19 that ended in disappointment.

This is one of many factual elements Byrne weaves into her fictional narrative, set in the year 1801, when Austen was 25. That summer, Austen’s family spent six weeks in Bath. Based on the wisp of a story Jane’s sister, Cassandra, told after her death, this may have been the one time Austen did fall in love.

Certainly no one is better qualified than Lady Bate, as Byrne is also known, by virtue of her marriage to Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate, to imagine and expand upon Austen’s true romance. She is the author of two acclaimed volumes on Austen; has published biographies of Thomas Hardy, Evelyn Waugh and Barbara Pym; and her novel “Blonde Venus” fictionalizes the life of Marlene Dietrich. 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.”

The novel is written in the style of Austen and the idiom of her time. For example, after a brief prologue in which Jane faints upon hearing the family is leaving their home in Steventon, the tale opens in Bath with a scene between Jane and her beloved brother Frank, who is on leave from the navy. “The affection on his side was as warm as her own. She was the first object of his love, wounded by no opposition of interest, or cooled by no separate attachment. She was the one to whom he opened his heart, told all his hopes and fears, plans and solicitudes.” One of Frank’s plans is to introduce her to his friend Capt. Peter Parker; he has hopes that something will blossom between the two.

Another romantic possibility is also in the works. One evening, at a cotillion, Jane “could not fail to notice that she was being eyed by a genteel, good-looking man. On inquiry, she was informed that he was a Mr. Samuel Rose, a lawyer. That circumstance alone determined her to avoid him at all costs.” This is because of that Lefroy fellow. Jane is “still rankled by the humiliation of the gentleman lawyer who had shown such strong preferment before running back to Ireland without a word,” and has apparently turned against his entire profession.

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” Jane comments to her sister after running into Rose at the beach, dripping wet from her morning dip in the ocean.

“But why have you taken such an instant dislike to the poor creature?” Cassie asks.

“Saves time,” retorts witty Jane.

But the handsome Mr. Rose will not be put off so easily. You don’t have to know much about Austen to predict that this bad start probably means good things. The more she hates him now, the sweeter the turn will probably be. On the other hand, we already know it didn’t work out, so some sort of tragedy is surely in the offing.

Although many of the period elements of the book are classic — bathing machines, formal dances, pompous clergymen — there are a few unexpected factors in the early 19th century world Byrne creates: homophobia (to put it mildly; at the time, homosexuality was illegal and punishable by death) and racism. Both Byrne's closeted gay character and her biracial one have historical roots that are explained in the afterword, and both thicken the plot in interesting ways.

Austen fans are never at a loss for supplemental reading, and with her 250th birthday coming up in December, more options are surely in the works. Byrne’s charming novel is a fine way to start the party.