What is it about Jane Austen that is so alluring and charming? Whether it’s her actually books or people bonding over her books, it’s like you have a guarantee that it’s going to be good. The Jane Austen Society is about a group of people coming together in Chawton (the final home of Jane) to try and save her last home. Though each character has their own sad backstory, they’re all still incredibly charming and create a ragtag team that you can’t stop cheering on. I can’t wait to go back and read it so I can see these characters again.

A special thank you to Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for an audiobook listening copy, and NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Chawton, a village in England, is famous for being the final home of Jane Austen. A hundred and fifty years later, it is still home to a few of her distant relatives. When the last pieces of Austen's legacy are threatened, an unlikely group forms in the efforts to preserve Austen's home and legacy. These people—a labourer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Jane Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they band together to create the Jane Austen Society.

This powerful and moving debut is a fictional account of one of England's most celebrated authors. Natalie Jenner's appreciation and enjoyment of Jane Austen is apparent—she shares the same joy of Austen's writing with her characters. The inclusion of Jane Austen quotes further highlights the affinity and connection that Jenner's characters have with Austen's characters.

Jenner takes the utmost care in developing her large cast of characters. She fully fleshes out their backstories, as well as their connections to one another. This is some of her strongest writing—these relationships rival those in an Austen work.

The Jane Austen Society is an exploration of the resilience and strength of the human spirit in times of great tragedy and loss. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this book will delight historical fiction and Austen fans everywhere.

I was excited to to win an ARC of The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner, courtesy of Goodreads and St. Martin's Press. This debut novel is a cleverly constructed and warmly presented tale of a community intertwined by their love of Jane Austen. Their desire to preserve her legacy leads to their evolving awareness of their relationships and recognition of their strengths, played out against the literature of Jane Austen.

A story much like a cup of tea: warm, cozy and comforting. There are plenty of happy endings and you don't need to be a die hard fan of Jane Austen to appreciate the story or the characters, though knowing the characters from her novels does help. The characters are charming but I wish the book had been a bit longer in order to develop them all; I felt I knew Dr. Gray the best but wish other characters, especially Adam, had been more developed.

Jane Austen is one of my all-time favorite authors so I was incredibly excited to read this book. I was intrigued when the story began in the village where Jane Austen lived her life. The first few characters that were introduced were very endearing, especially Dr. Gray and Adeline. I didn’t particularly care for the parts with Mimi, the Hollywood actress. I didn’t feel connected to her at all. The story is definitely a slow burn, there were times that I got bored with the story and wondered where it was even going.

The thing that I loved about this book though was when they were all sharing their experiences with Jane Austen’s novels and their thoughts on them all. It always fascinates me to see how people read things differently and have different insights.

Overall this book was good but didn’t quite grab my attention like I had hoped it would.

3 Stars

I enjoyed the book and it was a nice read for lovers of Jane Austen, but some plot lines including a jarring scene of assault seemed unnecessary to the overall outcome of the book. I thought the characters were well written and I enjoyed the ending too :)

*Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review*

This book follows an unlikely group of people as they band together after WW2 to create a preservation society for Jane Austen in hopes of saving the home she once lived in and opening a museum in her honour. This book took me a while to get in to, but I really started to get invested after the first quarter. This was a delight to read!

First of all, the characters really stole my heart. Each one had been through something traumatic and found solace in books, which I think a lot of people can relate to. Even though there was a large cast of characters, every one felt so real with their struggles and emotions. I was rooting for everybody to have a happy ending.

The plot itself had a simple premise but it had so many layers all coming together to create the story being told. The book starts off showing you all these different perspectives and it was interesting to see how they all came together.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book even though it took a while to pull me in. This is a great character driven story and I recommend it to anyone who loves books, especially the work of Jane Austen.

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner is a delightful English yarn, an antidote to today’s troubled times. Chawton is a quaint village where Jane Austen lived with her family one hundred and fifty years ago. There are few family members left and the property is in danger of being sold to a golf course consortium. A small group of citizens, an odd bunch at that, take on the difficult task of maintaining the estate, along with the memory of the renowned author. Thus is formed the Jane Austen Society. The group consists of a teacher, a bachelor lawyer, a widowed country doctor, a quiet farmer, an actress, a servant and the last living relative of the Austen family. Everyone is devoted to the Austen legacy and will use their skills and their love of the novels to ensure the continuity of the heritage. This will not be an easy endeavour. The novel is beautifully written. If you are looking for a little escape, spend a few hours in Chawton with Jane Austen and her protectors. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a fan of Jane Austen, so I was excited to read this one. I ended up giving up at about 30%. There were too many perspectives. I was so bored with the plot. I didn't really care to see where the story-line was going to end up.

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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In a small town of Chawton is where Jane Austen spent the last years of her life and her estate now risks being left to the last of her family members. An eclectic group of people from around town who all share a love for Austen’s novels find themselves forming the Jane Austen Society to attempt to preserve her memory before it’s too late. ⁣
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This is such a charming book. It’s English charm was definitely what I needed in this time. The characters are so pure and loveable but also with a lot of depth and loss in their lives which makes the story deeper. At first I got a little confused trying to remember who each character was but by the end I loved how many main characters there were. The author even works some of her own Jane Austen storylines in there (wink, wink). Overall this was a quick read for me but it was so cozy and charming and made me want to go pick up more Jane Austen novels. ⁣

Based on the description, I thought I would love this book. I was surprised when I thought it was just OK. I just didn't really connect with any of the characters, and the story felt a bit flat to me.

This was such a fun, heartwarming read! I'm a big Jane Austen fan, so the premise of this was intriguing to me. I very much enjoyed the plot, and all the issues that the group faced in putting together their idea. I also liked the variety of people involved in the society, from the America movie star to all the villagers from different walks of life. I particularly appreciated the ending, and that the author chose to go with a more realistic and human ending as opposed to the "easy way out" that she could have done.

I think any fan of Austen will enjoy this! It had me looking up artifacts and elements of her life that I had forgotten. It also really makes me want to do a Jane Austen tour of England, something I've wanted to do for many years. Highly Recommended!

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

Oops, my bad! I volunteered to review the ARC of this book because Pride and Prejudice was one of my first and favourite English classics. I was hoping to rekindle that magical discovery of clever words, charming characters, and the fanciful feel of romance.

Sadly, I started and stopped, started and stopped, many times during my reading of this book over the course of three quarters of this year. Even being locked up during a pandemic couldn’t stimulate some passion for getting to know Mimi, Adeline, Evie, Adam, Andrew, Frances, Yardley, and Dr. Gray: a varied group of Jane Austenites from both sides of the Atlantic, who come together to form a Jane Austen book club and preservation society. They hail from very disparate backgrounds but share one thing in common: they love rereading Austen over and over again, sometimes covering her entire collected works over one single season.

Some of the pitfalls that inhibited my interest included a slow start to the plot, an incoherent skipping around of time and place during the initial establishment of the cast, and alas, frequent references to the cleverness of Jane Austen’s portrayal of her romantic characters that I was too “intolerably stupid” to understand.

These references would presumably strike a chord with readers who are familiar with the full body of Austen’s work. But, while one doesn’t need to know the history of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in order to read War and Peace, one would definitely benefit from being as well versed in the Austenian repertoire as the fictional characters of The Jane Austen Society.

I found the main characters very dull, although some of them are meant to pay homage to Austen’s original characters. The progress was plodding. I needed to forcefully compel myself to complete this book because it just doesn’t seem right to review a DNF. (What if the ending was salvageable?) By a third of the way through, I knew I was in deep trouble. The basic premise was now established but the length seemed interminable and the end so far, far out of reach. I’m elevating this review to 2 stars because of its conveyed good intentions in honouring the Austen legacy, both in writing style and in content and conclusion.

A group of very different individuals—fans of Jane Austen, come together to keep the memory of the famous author alive. Together, they form the Jane Austen Society.

Interlaced with Austen quotes throughout, this charming book weaves a delightful story about standing up for what you believe in, truly living life and yes, even maybe a bit about love.

As a Janeite, I thoroughly adored this lovely pearl of a novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the read of Natalie Jenner’s, The Jane Austen Society.

Opinions expressed are my own.

I had high hopes for this book that were not realized. I love the idea but the execution fell flat for me. I struggled to connect with any of the characters and those that I did connect with I didn’t really care about the end result. I think the writing was easy to read and it could have been a great book if I had connected to the characters and plot. I found that I never spent enough time with each character to care about them. I know the book was about the society but I didn’t care about the society as individuals. I know this book has worked for many others but it did not work for me.


I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"The Jane Austen Society" is a charming yet bittersweet story about a group of people who come together to preserve Jane Austen’s legacy.

This group of unlikely people are all suffering through their own personal tragedies and loneliness. Coming together, they form wonderful bonds of friendship and romance. Secrets are revealed, and hearts are healed.

Some of my favorite parts of the story are when the characters would discuss Austen’s work. They would also spend time thinking about, say Darcy or Elizabeth, and comparing themselves to those amazing characters. There is always something to learn from Jane’s work. And I loved all the quotes throughout the book!

There was so much to like about the characters in "The Jane Austen Society". I always pictured Spencer Tracy as Dr. Gray. I loved Adam. He was a quiet man and a deep thinker. When he spoke, they realized there was much more to Adam than they knew. Evie was also a favorite of mine! And there were many times I wanted to shake Frances Knight. Lol. I’ve only named a few, but really, they are all dear characters.

I have to admit I had a hard time getting into the story. Maybe it was because I have been in a major reading slump. There was also a lot of sadness at the beginning of the story, and I just wasn’t in the mood for that. The second half was much better as they all came together to save as much of Jane’s legacy as possible.

I think "The Jane Austen Society" would make a fabulous movie as well!

FTC Disclaimer: I received an ARC of the story from the publisher for my honest review.

I thought this was a fun and well-written book, and it inspired me to go re-read all of Jane Austen's books. I can see this book being geared towards those who truly appreciate Austen and the classics. Sweet storyline and well-developed characters

I ended up not being able to finish this book. I did however check out the audiobook version from my library and am currently loving the story.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This book has many similarities to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society so if you enjoyed that book I think you would enjoy this book also. The story takes place in England after WWII and involves a group of neighbors who bond over their love of Jane Austen and their desire to maintain a legacy for her in their village. This book does have some language but it is not pervasive. Also, there is some sexual content but nothing graphic except for one scene that I wish had been edited out. This book hit all the right notes for me because it is historical fiction, takes place in England, the characters are readers, and there is some romance. Be prepared to want to re-read Jane Austen's books after you finish this one!

For Jane Austen fans everywhere! It always helps to be familiar with the classics referred to in books like this. The author did a good job of weaving in varying time periods.