03/23/2020
In Jenner’s delightful debut, a group of people are united by the goal of preserving an iconic literary figure. In post-WWII Chawton, England, farmer Adam Berwick embarks on a quest to honor the legacy of Jane Austen, seeking the help of his doctor, Benjamin Gray, to establish a museum in the cottage where Austen lived. The two men form the Jane Austen Society with former schoolteacher and young widow Adeline Grove. The society’s membership grows to include solicitor Andrew Forrester; Frances Knight, whose family owns the cottage and the Great House once belonging to Jane’s brother; and young maid Evie Stone, who has catalogued valuable books from the library at the Great House. When Frances’s father dies, his will leaves her without a claim to the cottage if a male heir is found, and the society bands together to try to purchase the cottage and preserve the valuable books that Evie has catalogued. Jenner’s immersive character development is juxtaposed against her study of Austen’s characters, providing clever insight into how the trials of Austen’s life were revealed through her books. The narrative, meanwhile, is rich with references to Austen’s literature and carried along by the strong bonds formed by the characters based on their shared appreciation for her work. Austen-ites are in for a treat. Agent: Curtis Brown, Curtis Brown. (May)
"Brilliantly crafted, weaving together the lives of eight people in the most intriguing of ways....There is something utterly calming about The Jane Austen Society." —Barbara Delinsky, New York Times bestselling author of A Week at the Shore
"A complex dance of love, social position, and gossip that would make Jane proud." —BookBub
"Anyone seeking an antidote to contemporary chaos will find a welcome respite among the members of a group whose outer lives may appear simple, but whose inner lives need the kind of balm Austen knew well." —The Washington Post
"In my opinion, Natalie Jenner’s first novel, The Jane Austen Society, could not have been published at a more appropriate time...it’s a wonderful, magical journey to the end of the book." —Fredricksburg Freelance-Star
"Just like a story written by Austen herself, Jenner's first novel is brimming with charming moments, endearing characters, and nuanced relationships...Readers won't need previous knowledge of Austen and her novels to enjoy this tale's slow revealing of secrets that build to a satisfying and dramatic ending." —Booklist (starred review)
"Readers who enjoy character-driven novels will want to read this book. Like Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, it’s a must-purchase for libraries of all sizes." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Delightful... Jenner’s immersive character development is juxtaposed against her study of Austen’s characters, providing clever insight into how the trials of Austen’s life were revealed through her books." —Publishers Weekly
"Few things draw disparate people together so quickly as discovering they love the same writers. Few writers cement such friendships as deeply as Austen does. I believe that the readers of Jenner's book will fall in love with the readers inside Jenner's book, all of us thinking and dreaming of Austen the whole while. What could be better? Nothing, that's what! A wonderful book, a wonderful read." —Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club
"I can’t remember the last time I was so utterly charmed by a novel as I am with The Jane Austen Society. Natalie Jenner creates a world populated with characters who come together to preserve Jane Austen’s home in the village of Chawton after WW II. And in so doing she explores love and grief and hope, all while plunging us headfirst into Austen’s words. A celebration of the human spirit and the power of stories, I just love this book!" —Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of Comfort and The Obituary Writer
"Natalie Jenner's lovely debut novel, The Jane Austen Society, is a charming, yet bittersweet tale about the power of literature — the beloved Jane Austen in particular — to heal and elevate the human spirit in the aftermath of World War II.” —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room
"Natalie Jenner's The Jane Austen Society is an extremely impressive debut novel populated with fully-developed, nuanced characters that resonate with the kind of humanity that made Ms. Austen's stories so universal and timeless." —Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky
"Fans of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will adore The Jane Austen Society, which tells the story of an eclectic group of people in a post-World War II English village who come together to save the beloved author's home and legacy. Author Natalie Jenner has penned a charming and memorable debut, which reminds us of the universal language of literature and the power of books to unite and heal." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
"The Jane Austen Society is a joyous novel. Written beautifully from the first sentence to the last, Natalie Jenner casts a spell that will have you falling in love with each of her lovingly-drawn characters, with the charming English village in which the story is set, and with Jane Austen herself. I read it straight through, relishing every word and regretting only that it eventually had to end. With tears still in my eyes from the perfect closing scene, I ran to pull a Jane Austen novel from my bookshelf, eager to remain in the magical world Natalie Jenner conjured. In a time where it is so easy to feel we are all at odds with one another, The Jane Austen Society is a beautiful reminder that connection and care are at the heart of the human experience." —Kim van Alkemade, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan #8 and Bachelor Girl
"Prepare to meet 'three or four families in a country village' who embrace their passion and form a literary society in honor of an author whose enduring appeal, after 200 years, reminds us of what should be paramount in our lives: compassion, love, and reading!! The Jane Austen Society is an uplifting tribute to its inspiration and the nobility of the human spirit. Natalie Jenner could be the next Helen Simonson.” —Laurel Ann Nattress, editor of Jane Austen Made Me Do It and Austenprose.com
Richard Armitage is an excellent choice of narrator for this celebration of the famed British author's work. His deep, resonant voice meanders through the stories of seven different people in the small English town of Chawton. These characters share various individual struggles in their own lives, along with a love of the work of Jane Austen. With his crisp delivery and agile pacing, Armitage makes this easy to listen to, but the number of characters can make following their stories confusing at times. There are moments, too, when his portrayals of female characters' voices sound awkward and forced. All in all, though, this appealing audiobook makes for a great casual listen, especially for those familiar with Austen's work. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
2020-03-02
In the insular post-World War Two gloom of an English village, seven damaged people soldier on, heartened only by their shared enthusiasm for Jane Austen.
Chawton, the village at the heart of this story, contains the small cottage Austen occupied before her death, and it's also a cauldron of repressed longing and regret worthy of a Victorian novel. James Knight, dying heir of the Knight estate, owns the cottage as well as a stately manor house. The embittered James has altered his will: Upon his death, his only child and caregiver, Frances, a reclusive spinster of 47, will be dispossessed and the estate entailed to the closest male relative. Frances and her father’s lawyer, Andrew, were once in love, but James forced them apart. Adeline, a former schoolteacher, is pregnant and widowed—her husband died in combat in the war’s closing days. Her physician, Dr. Gray, a widower who blames himself for his wife’s accidental death, is too guilt-ridden to act on his attraction to Adeline. After she loses the baby, her Pride and Prejudice–style bantering with Dr. Gray gives way to distrust, and each flirts with morphine addiction. “Sad, silent” Adam, who farms the estate, was introduced to Austen by a visiting American fan, Mimi, a Hollywood star, who, at 35, is about to be put out to pasture by a lecherous studio boss. Evie, compelled by circumstance to forego scholarly ambitions, is a housemaid for the Knights. She’s been secretly cataloging every book in the manor’s vast library and has discovered some potentially priceless Jane Austen artifacts. These lost souls, who have been misjudged by society and/or misjudge themselves, find healing through forming the titular society to preserve the cottage as a museum—as its real-life counterpart is today. More than a passing familiarity with Austen’s work may be a prerequisite to fully appreciating this book—Austen’s characters often seem more real to Jenner’s characters than their own relatives and neighbors. But, thanks to Jenner’s psychologically astute portrayals, the society founders themselves are very real and thoroughly sympathetic.
Readers will root for these characters, wishing them Austen-worthy happy endings.
