Chris Hewitt, The Minnesota Star Tribune

Does this amuse you? “She gave an unnatural little laugh — one she had taken to using with her stepchildren as a signal that humour had been committed, and any consequent mirth would not be discouraged. In the silence that followed, Fanny laughed long and alone."

I get a bang out of that pressed-and-starched description, from Gill Hornby’s “The Elopement.” But I recognize that it’s a fairly specific brand of dry humour — sorry, humor — and that the writing, which is a clever pastiche of the style of Jane Austen, won’t be to all tastes. But if you’re amused by that drollery, and if you’re a fan of Austen or the recent PBS series “Miss Austen” — which was based on a Hornby novel — I bet you’ll cotton to “The Elopement.”

Subtitled “A Novel of the Au

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