My Thoughts
The Jane Austen Society is like a gentle salute to the author and to her books, done with charm and warmth; it reminds us of why we still enjoy reading Jane Austen even today. While it took me a while to get into it due to a slow start, I did finish it. The parts that I loved, charmed and delighted me; while the parts that I didn’t, well, they kind of bored me. But overall, enjoyable; and for those who understand the Austen references, even more so!

What I loved about it
THE CHARACTERS
The motley crew of unique characters, each one with their own struggles, and each one using their love of Austen to get through life and to connect with each other! While I loved some characters more than the others, and did not care for a few at all, overall it was endearing to see how they all came together to preserve something they believed in.

AUSTENESQUE
All the references to quotes and scenes from Austen’s books, and the books themselves! And the fact that I could draw parallels between the characters in this book with Austen’s characters was a delight!

I also loved how the characters revere and discuss Austen and her books; for them, the books are anchors and life-lines, while the characters from their beloved author’s books are as real to them as each other. Reading their conversations felt like I was having a wonderful bookish discussion with friends!

STORYLINE
While the book has its own story line, Jenner charmingly uses Austen and her books throughout to connect the characters and move the story forward. The plot is like a multi-patterned quilt of family and friendships, of loss and starting again, of love and heartbreak, all sewed together with Austenesque threads.

THE SETTING
Of course the setting of a quaint village never fails to ensnare me into a book! And all the places mentioned in the book are real; which meant I learned a lot without realizing it, and I do love when that happens.

OTHER
Reading this made me want to read Austen all over again; and to visit the places mentioned in the book. And of course, the cover is charming too!

What could have been better
It started off really slow, and you might wonder if there is really a society at all in the book, but patience serves the reader in this book. It also dragged in other places and I initially skipped those parts. But when I found myself turning back pages because I realized I must have missed something, I decided to stick with it through the rest of the book (and am glad I did)

Trigger warnings: References to the Hollywood casting couch (one in more detail than needed for this book maybe?), as well as a slightly graphic scene of childbirth loss. Also, considering this was set right after WW II, many of the characters also have suffered some loss due to the war.

Side Notes
There is really a Jane Austen Society in Chawton and they have a virtual event this weekend!!

Quotes
-- "Do you ever stop and think how lucky we are, the way we get to live here every day, like Jane Austen did?"
-- "… inside the pages of each and every book was a whole other world."
-- "To him the church was the perfect size: small enough to always feel intimate, but just big enough to always seems full."
-- "Of being both one step ahead of the characters and one step behind Austen on every single reading."
-- "If a village could be asleep, Chawton was it."

In Summary
Recommend for those who are Jane Austen or historical fiction fans (but also for those who enjoy reading books about books and authors; or books set in sleepy quaint villages)!

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book. Sure, it was a fine story steadily teetering on the boarder of melodramatic mini-series acclaim. Sure, it had romance, drama, and trauma (so much trauma). And sure, it took place post WWII. But that is the only accreditation for its “historical fiction” tag and the multiple historical fiction awards the title won upon publication. As the capstone of my yearlong study of Jane Austen’s work and life, this was a HUGE disappoint. You would think with a title like The Jane Austen Society that readers would at least get a passing glimpse of the actual Society’s founding, work, and legacy. But nope, not one bit. The author even admits that this text is 100% fiction in her interviews. What a disappointment! The complete lack of facts and under-examination of Austen artifacts made me wonder if I had been conned by the simple allure that Jane Austen’s name holds. In addition, it was somewhat disheartening that the strong feminist wit and strength of Austen and her key characters was so sorely overshadowed by a very dominant male character presence in this novel, as well as a male audiobook narrator. A true lesson in do not judge a book by the cover. Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you love Jane Austen you have to read this book! It was like bringing Jane Austen into today’s world. I would love to see her house and this book made me feel like I was right there in her house surrounded by books she may have read.
A group of people come together to form the Jane Austen Society that have nothing in common except for the love of Jane Austen and wanting to preserve her memory. I loved the characters and wanted to shout at them sometimes. It is a cute story well worth reading.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“𝑨𝒏𝒅, 𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚, 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅.”

I picked this up because it had ‘Jane Austen’ in the title, without knowing much else about the book & I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

This historical fiction novel takes place in the 1940’s with a cast of eight characters. The first few chapters are spent introducing you to many of them and felt a bit slow, but once you get acquainted it starts to pick up. As time goes on you realize they’re all connected by their immense love of Austen & her work.

This is definitely a character-driven story that had more depth than I at first thought it would. Themes of loss, grief, regret, community, love and friendship are all present. I truly felt transported to the time and place of this book and was invested in these characters. So much so that I often found myself smiling while reading this!

If you’re a fan of Jane Austen, historical fiction, or character-driven stories, I’d highly recommend this book!!

Easy read with Austen flare. If you like Austen, this book is a nice complement. Multiple characters who are interwoven into a single story with a charming small British town as a backdrop. I liked it but it is geared toward a specific reader.

I truly enjoyed this book since I am a huge Jane Austen fan. I really thought that only people who have read Austen's works would benefit from the whole storyline and characters. I really loved the group coming together and trying to save her collected works and antiques.
The characters were full bodied and enjoyable to travel with as the story progressed.
Well done, Natalie Jenner and thank you for an ARC galley of this fantastic novel.

Absolutely delightful!

I just adored Ms Jenner's debut novel--I listened to Richard Armitage's narration in about a day and a half (good grief, that man could narrate cereal boxes to me--fortunately, this novel was light years above grocery store fare!) and loved every minute of it. The vibe of it is very similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society , but at its heart it's really a love letter to Austen and her fans. It's possible to read and enjoy the book if you're not a fan of the famous author, but there are definitely times when you might feel a teensy bit of sympathy for the friends and family of society members, who often just don't "get" their obsession with the author. (That's okay, we love them anyway. Except for that one--he knows who he is and what he did.

The characters here are wonderful, and at least two of the interwoven storylines closely resemble Austen novels themselves--Emma and Persuasion. I loved reading about all of the various reasons why each character loved Austen and which novel and heroine was their favorite (honestly, other than Adam shaking his head a lot at Darcy and a few discussions of Mr. Knightly and references to Henry Crawford there wasn't nearly as much focus on the heroes, which was fine). It was delightful to see so many different people finding solace in a single author's work; as an Austen fan, it made loving Jenner's characters that much easier.

As someone who also rediscovered Jane Austen's novels during a time of personal struggle and found solace in them (except Mansfield Park . I keep trying, and I just can't) the author's premise here really resonated.

If you're listening to the audio version as I did, the conversation at the end between Ms Jenner and Kathleen A. Flynn is well worth the listen; a little background into the book and its conception is discussed, as well as whole lot of Austen. (And Northanger Abbey wasn't dissed, even once. These two are my new favorite Janites! And yes, I see the hypocrisy here after my MP comment, but this is a hill I will die on.)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This book is great entertainment for die hard Austen fans as well as for those unfamiliar with the author's work. The characters are well drawn and diverse in age and temperament, and there is a fun balance between England and Hollywood, with a seemingly unlikely ingenue who turns out to be a big admirer and advocate of Jane's work. In true Austen fashion, (spoiler alert) there are a couple of surprise romances blooming, including one that Jane herself may not have seen coming or even considered in her day. The details may surprise you but you can expect a tidy, happy ending to this delight.

My Thoughts
I love Jane Austen so this book title definitely caught my eye. Here are my pros and cons for The Jane Austen Society:

Pros
1. I loved that all the characters in the book (save one cranky old man) had a deep love for Jane Austen.
2. Throughout the story various characters had discussions about Jane Austen and her books. The discussions were quite detailed at times, to the point it almost felt like taking a master class in literature. I enjoyed these dialogues very much and even learned a thing or two.
3. Even considering Pro #2, you don’t have to be a Jane Austen scholar to understand the book.
4. I like reading historical novels that are about historical periods themselves. This book takes place in the 1940s and discussion Jane Austen history, which are both historical periods I love.
5. I liked the juxtaposition of historical novels with 1940s filmmaking. One character in the book is a “movie star” in the 1940s and it was interesting to compare and contrast her fame to Jane Austen’s fame when she was publishing her novels.
6. The story is easy to read and generally enjoyable.

Cons
1. I don’t know if there were simply too many characters in the story and my interest was spread too thin, or if I just wasn’t invested personally, but I never really connected to any of the characters.
2. I felt like the story was a little unfocused. It was almost as if the history and study of Jane Austen part of the story was fighting for attention with the story about the people living in Chawton in the 1940s, and neither part had enough substance by itself. I wanted more of both, and what we did get didn’t knit together well. Ultimately the story felt a bit thin to me.
3. The book ends with a “happily ever after”, but the path it took to get there was convenient and a little unbelievable.

Summary
Although I have some criticisms in my review, I liked this book. To me, a 3-star book is a quick, enjoyable read at the moment, but it didn’t have enough of an impact to be memorable long-term. I do recognize that I appear to be in the minority regarding my thoughts on this book (many people loved it) and I am very glad others enjoyed it even more than I did.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Jane Austen, the 1940s (and particularly 1940s Hollywood), and those who love happy endings.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ebook copy, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I didn’t pick this book in any of the usual ways. A friend and I were having a discussion about the importance of the right voice for the right character in video games (yes, we both have cases of ‘voice kink’) and transferred the discussion to audiobooks and somehow ended up talking about Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit.

I decided to test her theory about being willing to listen to him read the phone book, and ended up with the audiobook of The Jane Austen Society because he’s the reader for the unabridged audiobook.

While I’m not so sure about the phone book reading, he did turn out to be a terrific reader for the story – and the story turned out to be pretty terrific too. To the point where I got impatient at the halfway point and switched from the audio to the ebook, which I just so happened to have on hand.

So I may have gotten here for the audiobook reader, but I stayed for the story. And what a lovely story it turned out to be.

First, I have to confess that I am not a big Jane Austen fan the way that most of the characters – and nearly all of the sympathetic ones – are in this book. I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility when I listened to them, but I never got bitten by the Jane Austen bug like so many readers do.

In other words, if this story was just all about the Austen I probably wouldn’t like it nearly as much.

Instead, it reminds me of The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. That story extends the Austen classic past the end of the original by focusing on one of the secondary characters. The Jane Austen Society extends the Austen oeuvre by telling an Austen-like story that is focused, not on Jane herself as so many such stories are, but rather on the place she left behind and the people who have chosen to carry on her legacy.

Escape Rating A-: Thinking about this one after finishing, I realized that this reads very much like the type of story that Austen herself would have told. Ostensibly, it’s about the attempt to create a place for the study of Austen in her final home, but instead, just like so much of Austen’s own work, it’s a story about a group of disparate people and the complex relationships they have woven between them.

At the outset, they are all quite separate individuals, loosely linked by one small village. A village that just happens to be Chawton, the place where Austen spent her final decade.

But as the story wends its way, the group weaves itself into a whole, into, in fact, the Jane Austen Society. It’s definitely a whole greater than the sum of its parts, but its parts feel like familiar updates to Austen’s own characters.

The village doctor, the village lawyer, the farmer, the widowed teacher, the maid at the “great house”, the daughter of that same great house and the villain of the piece, the dying patriarch of the great house. Then we add the people that would not have been part of Austen’s world, the auctioneer from Sotheby’s, the American actress, and the secondary villain, the actress’ fiancé.

But what makes up this story are the relationships that develop, like the one between the doctor and the teacher, a relationship that brims with just the kind of unacknowledged romantic and sexual tension that drives so many of Austen’s own stories. As well as the textbook example of how a cad woos a woman who is much too good for him, as exemplified in so many of Austen’s stories, particularly Mansfield Park, and in the relationship between the actress and the Hollywood producer she almost but not quite marries.

The Jane Austen Society is a kind of a quiet little story, as it begins slowly – perhaps just a touch too slowly – to set up the village and the relationships there before introducing those outside influences. The story speeds up as those outsiders become part of it, just as the outside world moves a bit faster – perhaps more than a bit – than tiny little Chawton.

And it all ends on a lovely high note, with happy ever afters all around – even the ones that the reader as well as the characters – never anticipated at the beginning.

One final note. While there is something like the Jane Austen Society, and it did develop a center for the study of Austen in Chawton, the way that it came about bears no resemblance to the events in this story.

However, life does still imitate art. Just as, during the setting of this story, there was no established center for the study of Jane Austen’s works and none of the places where she lived had been preserved for that purpose, as of this writing the same can be said for another English writer, J.R.R. Tolkien (and circling back to The Hobbit). An effort is underway, established by many of the actors who have portrayed characters in the movies based on his work, to purchase Tolkien’s house in Oxford and create a cultural center for the study of his work.

Like many whose lives have been enriched by reading this author’s work, I wish them well in their endeavor.

As a huge Jane Austen fan, I highly admired this wonderful story about the community of Chawton in their attempt to restore her final home and legacy. This story was warm, delightful, and funny, and is perfect for both long-time Janeites and readers unfamiliar with her work.

I ended up listening to an audiobook version narrated by Richard Armitage. I absolutely LOVED this story, and will likely reread it in the near future. Such a lovely novel with light adaptations of Austen's most famous story lines.

When I first heard about this book, it was being compared to the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and while it was no Guernsey, I really enjoyed it all the same. Granted, I have never been a Jane Austen reader, but that did not hinder my enjoyment of the story. I wish there was more romance but loved the characterization and friendships.

I loved this book so much I read it twice. Very nice story and characters. I highly recommend. Cannot to read more by this author.

What a fun read. As a Jane Austen lover myself, I could relate to the fascination and respect of each of the members of “the Society.” While there was some predictability to the plot, I still enjoyed the characters in this lighthearted novel. I would recommend it for an enjoyable weekend or vacation choice.

Absolutely delightful!

I just adored Ms Jenner's debut novel--I listened to Richard Armitage's narration in about a day and a half (good grief, that man could narrate cereal boxes to me--fortunately, this novel was light years above grocery store fare!) and loved every minute of it. The vibe of it is very similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society , but at its heart it's really a love letter to Austen and her fans. It's possible to read and enjoy the book if you're not a fan of the famous author, but there are definitely times when you might feel a teensy bit of sympathy for the friends and family of society members, who often just don't "get" their obsession with the author. (That's okay, we love them anyway. Except for that one--he knows who he is and what he did.

The characters here are wonderful, and at least two of the interwoven storylines closely resemble Austen novels themselves--Emma and Persuasion. I loved reading about all of the various reasons why each character loved Austen and which novel and heroine was their favorite (honestly, other than Adam shaking his head a lot at Darcy and a few discussions of Mr. Knightly and references to Henry Crawford there wasn't nearly as much focus on the heroes, which was fine). It was delightful to see so many different people finding solace in a single author's work; as an Austen fan, it made loving Jenner's characters that much easier.

As someone who also rediscovered Jane Austen's novels during a time of personal struggle and found solace in them (except Mansfield Park . I keep trying, and I just can't) the author's premise here really resonated.

If you're listening to the audio version as I did, the conversation at the end between Ms Jenner and Kathleen A. Flynn is well worth the listen; a little background into the book and its conception is discussed, as well as whole lot of Austen. (And Northanger Abbey wasn't dissed, even once. These two are my new favorite Janites! And yes, I see the hypocrisy here after my MP comment, but this is a hill I will die on.)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I wasn't sure, after the first few chapters, whether I was actually enjoying The Jane Austen Society. But it's a slow burn of a book and by the end I was utterly delighted by it and sad that it was, indeed, coming to a conclusion. The characters are wonderful, each of them distinct and distinctly flawed in their own way. It's the perfect book to curl up with in a patch of sunlight on a fall day.

I give this title 3 stars because the writing is beautiful. The story left me cold. I was barely interested in what became of the characters. There is a mild twist, that feels rushed and last minute. It's a fine, quiet, well written book. That's all, jut fine.

I have never read a book by Jane Austen, but have seen several movies and adaptations of some of her more popular books. After reading this book, I may actually pick up a couple to read. This story is set in the village of Chawton where Jane Austen lived out her final years. The owner of the cottage where she lived is not pleased with the tourists that make the pilgrimage to his property. He is also a curmudgeon who has ruined his daughter's life by turning away all suitors, but then being angry that she has not produced an heir. She is a recluse, but has a few people that she sees and talks to. There is a small group of people that want to preserve Austen's home and books and work behind the scenes to do that. We get to know these individuals, their dreams, their lives and the reasons for their love of Austen. I came to like each and every one of them and was rooting for their success. This is definitely a character driven novel. There is some sadness and happiness in this story. It is a story that made me think about books, authors and the people who love them. It also provided an enjoyable story about those people and their lives. You do not have to be a Jane Austen fan to enjoy this book, I wasn't, but I may become one. A lovely story that I recommend.

As a Jane Austen fan, I really enjoyed this book! There are many references and quotes of Austen's work that fans will particularly connect with. That said, this book has a appeal for a general audience and, particularly book lovers. I loved the idea of people coming together because of love for reading and an author and her works, A great read for a book club!