Somehow I missed reading her first book, The Jane Austen Society. After reading Bloomsbury Girls I will be reading The Jane Austen Society. Her writing style flows smoothly as she tells the story of Vivien, Grace and Evie and Bloomsbury Books. It's 1950 London and nothing has changed in the bookstore in one hundred years. There are no Sale signs allowed, women authors are almost nonexistent on the shelves and the staff must adhere to The 51 Rules of the store. Vivien, Grace and Evie are ready to make changes.
I won't go into great detail beyond saying that by the end of the book I was very happy I hadn't passed on this one. It has been added to my 2022 list of favorite reads and it will make gift giving for friends easy throughout the years to come.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy.

Bloomsbury Books has been around for a century, run by men, strictly adhering to their set of rules and resistant to change. But with an unexpected change in management, Vivien Lowry sees her chance to put some of her ideas in place. Determined to sell more women authors, she pushes nemesis and temporary new manager, Alec to accept her ideas, in the process bringing in more business.
Evie Stone is part of the first class of women allowed to graduate from Cambridge, but she's passed over for a coveted position by her less talented male classmate. She takes a position at Bloomsbury cataloging the rare books section, but she also has her own agenda in a quest for a lost and priceless book.
Grace Perkins is a married mother of two boys. While she loves her boys, she longs for a divorce from her controlling husband. Working at Bloomsbury is the only thing she has for herself. With the help of the other two women, she may find the courage to go after what she wants in life.
I like how this book describes London in post war times, where women are fighting against the male domination of the times. I think fiery and determined Vivien was my favorite character. The book got a little slow at times, but overall I enjoyed the book and the author's writing style.

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for both my physical, and e-arc copies of BLOOMSBURY GIRLS by Natalie Jenner! This book publishes this Tuesday, May 17!

Books about books are one of my favourite types of books to read about!

This was my first book from this author- I actually have a copy of her first book, The Jane Austen Society and I’m even more excited to pick it up now! Her first book was mentioned in this one, but this is NOT part of a series, meaning you can read either one first and not be confused!

I did find this book slower paced than I am used to when reading. It’s historical fiction, set after WW2, which I don’t read very often, but do enjoy!

I love LOVED that it took place in a bookstore, and that women worked there! Women working during this time was not very common, but the three main character women were determined to fight for their rights to work there and prove to the men “running” the place, that they were valuable, and worthy of having more of a leadership role in the bookstore.

I also was looking for more “action” in this book. Yes, there was a conflict- but it didn’t happen till past the halfway mark, and most of it actually happened on the last hunk of the book.

While I did enjoy reading it, it took me longer to read as it didn’t “hook” me right from the beginning. But this is probably just a me thing. I think this is just the author’s writing style and because of the genre. Now that I am familiar with the author’s writing style, I know what to expect when I read more of her books!

If you enjoy reading books about books, and a historical fiction novel NOT SET during WW2, I recommend this one!

Bloomsbury Girls
by: Natalie Jenner
St. Martin's Press
Pub date: May 17, 2022
General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Lovers of literature will delight in the setting of Jenner's new book, Bloomsbury Books in 1950s London. Although the hundred-year-old bookstore is run by men, Vivien , Grace, and Evie are the female employees who are eager for transformation and change. Jenner takes us through their roles both in the shop, their personal lives, and in an evolving society.

These three women are expected to follow the precise fifty-one rules established by the male general manager. They know that change does not come easy, and each brings a back story to the narrative. The stylish and bright Vivien lost her fiancé in World War II. Grace is devoted to her family, but clings to her own aspirations as well. Evie had the distinct honor of being one of the first women graduates of Cambridge.

Jenner's follow up to The Jane Austen Society is an incredibly rich story of women's rights in the workplace and the changing roles of women authors. Readers are treated to the inner activities in the store, as well as in the literary world during this time period. Issues of gender, race, domestic abuse and discrimination are addressed.

Eager to find out if the shop's fifty-one rules were broken, followed or changed, I appreciated being on these women's journeys. Some famous literary figures made appearances along the way, adding to the appeal!

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#NetGalley
#TheBloomsburyGirls

It is amazing the changes made into thinking compared to a few years ago. At least to me the 40's and 50's are not that far back. After WWII in England, 3 women go to work in a bookstore run by men. Over the years they form a tight bond and eventually want to buy the store and update it. Vivian, Grace and Evie are three of the smartest and adventurous women I've encountered in books over the years. You root and cheer for them and are happy they persevere despite all the obstacles placed in their way. I've come to be a fan of post war books set in London. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*3.5 stars rounded up.

It's 1950 and London is still struggling to recover from the war. Three young women, Grace, Vivien and Evie, have each come to work at Bloomsbury Books, the venerable old London bookshop, in the belief that 'London would always reward the risk-takers and rule-breakers.' But it doesn't seem that way for the women in this shop which is run by Herbert Dutton, the longtime general manager, a man so buttoned up, he has created an iron-clad set of rules for all employees. And the biggest rule seems to be that nothing shall change.

But then Dutton falls ill and Vivien is promoted to floor manager of fiction. She has lots of innovative ideas, including promoting little-known women authors. The three female employees concoct a plan to invite Daphne Du Maurier to speak at a midday literary event and things at Bloomsbury will never be the same.

I would call this a relaxing and charming read though there is some tension and personal drama dealing with sexist and racial issues. But all-in-all, it's an enjoyable story about books, writing, and authors. Lots of historic name dropping!

I haven't read the first book in this series, The Jane Austen Society, but didn't find that to be a problem as any details needed were part of this plot.

I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

Evie Stone is one of the first young women to graduate from Cambridge University. Unable to gain employment at Cambridge as a research assistant, she finds a job at Bloomsbury Books. It's 1950 and the historic bookstore is run by Herbert Dutton, whose health is failing. He manages the store with a long list of rules that are restrictive and ridiculous. Especially to young and smart Evie and the two other women who work in the shop. Vivien Lowry, an aspiring writer, had lost her fiancé in WWII. Grace Perkins, a working mother, is stifled by a difficult husband she has drifted apart from. The rest of the staff is comprised of a group of men who are dealing with their own issues. Lord Baskin, the store’s owner and landlord, is grappling with the fact that while he lives high on the social ladder, he is in desperate need of cash. Selling the bookstore could solve some of his problems but he is hesitant to walk away from it.

Readers of author Natalie Jenner’s enjoyable debut, The Jane Austen Society, will remember the character of Evie. While Bloomsbury Girls is not a sequel, Evie continues to grow and impress those around her, as she did in the first book. Members of the Society makes welcome appearances and provide the young woman with support and guidance. Together, the three women in the bookstore show ingenuity and their efforts start to yield positive results including a successful in-store event with Daphne du Maurier. This lovely book captures the post-war era well. It shows the people of London, during the early 50s, recovering from the scars of the war and women starting to play a larger role outside the home. The book weaves in appearances of real-life figures such as du Maurier, Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim and others, which enhances the story. There is a major part of the plot that involves the 1827 novel The Mummy by Jane Webb, which I found especially fascinating. You’ll be rooting for Evie, Vivien and Grace in this enjoyable book.

Rated 4.25 stars.

Natalie Jenner’s Bloomsbury Girls can best be described as a companion novel to her 2020 debut novel The Jane Austen Society. While the story itself is completely different, with an essentially new cast of characters, there are a few overlapping characters from the original story who also make appearances this time around. First and foremost, of course, is Evelyn (Evie) Stone, the servant girl from the Chawton Great House who was a side character in that story, but is one of the main characters this time around. Evie, along with Vivien Lowry and Grace Perkins, are the only female employees at Bloomsbury Books in London, a centuries-old bookstore helmed by general manager Herbert Dutton and his unbreakable fifty-one rules. Though the Second World War is over and the city has pretty much returned to normal, struggles in society still exist, especially for the women who find themselves back in a world run once again by men who feel that the workplace where business is conducted is “no place for a woman.” It is against this backdrop that Evie, who despite her scholarly achievements (a degree from Cambridge as part of the first female graduating class), impeccable work ethic, and several years of meticulous research work, is passed up for a research assistant position in favor of a male colleague who did less work, but managed to ingratiate himself with the powers-that-be at the school. Through her connection to fellow Jane Austen Society member Yardley Sinclair (the director of museum services at Sotheby’s), Evie is able to secure a position at Bloomsbury, where she is tasked with cataloging the bookstore’s collection of rare books on the third floor. There, she meets the stylish and vivacious Vivien Lowry, an aspiring writer whose job it is to man the front desk in the fiction department on the first floor, as well as Grace Perkins, a wife and mother who works to support her family (a rarity at that time) as the secretary for the general manager. Together, these three women navigate an environment where they are expected to conform to certain roles, are largely taken for granted, and most frustratingly, must deal with the daily biases of the well-intentioned but misguided male staff who run the store. As Evie, Vivien, and Grace seek to pursue their dreams and try to build a future for themselves outside of the conventions allowed by society, they are assisted along the way by some of the most famous names from the literary and publishing world of the time, such as Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, etc.

Going into this book, I wasn’t sure at first whether I would enjoy this as much as I did Jenner’s first book, since this time around, I knew the story would have nothing to do with Jane Austen (as I wrote in my review of that book, I’m a huge Austen fan). Even though I recognized Evie’s name as one of the characters from The Jane Austen Society, I honestly didn’t put two and two together until about halfway through the Prologue, when Mimi’s name came up, then Yardley’s, then recollections of Chawton and the Great House and the auction — that was when the details of that story started coming back to me. The realization that this was a “sequel” of sorts to that book definitely changed the reading experience for me, especially as I anticipated, perhaps, there would be the chance to reunite with some of the other endearing characters from that story. While I was delighted that this happened to be the case (though only two of those characters had cameos, but that’s fine, lol), I also ended up liking the characters in this story as well. As an avid reader, I also loved the literary bent to this story, with the bookstore setting and the literary references, plus all the famous literary figures who interact with the various characters. This made for a fun and interesting read — in fact, Jenner did such a good job incorporating the literary figures into the story that I actually felt transported to that time period (to the point that I found myself fangirling over Daphne Du Maurier at the moment Vivien meets her and realizes who she is, lol).

The “fun” part aside though, Jenner didn’t skimp on addressing some of the societal issues that were prevalent during that time, such as gender bias and the role of women as well as discrimination towards those of a different race (through the character of Ashwin). With this story, I felt the balance between serious and lighthearted was quite well done.

While it’s not necessary to have read The Jane Austen Society in order to read this one, I’m actually glad I did, as having the familiarity with Evie’s backstory definitely enhanced this story for me. I look forward to reading what Jenner has in store for us next!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Five or six years ago, I was all over historical fiction. It probably made up a third of my reading, but slowly those numbers have dropped and I’ve become 𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘠 picky about what I’ll even try. 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 by Natalie Jenner piqued my interest for three reasons. First, the era after WWII, in the years of rebuilding, appealed to me. (WWII novels themselves, I seem to run from these days!) Second, the synopsis promised appearances by powerful women of that era including Daphne Du Maurier and Ellen Doubleday, among others. Finally, it’s set in a bookstore!⁣
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This is Jenner’s second book and it references events in her debut, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, but this book stands on its own. At the heart of the story are three women coming to realize that men are not going to yield power to them, even when it’s well earned. It’s a story about how they find their own power, and use it to finally get a seat at the table. Along the way there were thwarted romance, and miscommunication tropes which I thought were too expected and took my enjoyment down a notch. Never-the-less, this was a fun, old-fashioned feminist romp that for me was a nice departure from what I usually read; sort of a palate cleanser. If, like me, you tend to avoid historical fiction, if you’re a fan of bookstores, or just want to read something a little different, you might want to give 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 (releasing on 5/17) a try. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 ⁣
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Thanks to @stmartinspress for an electronic copy of #BloomsburyGirls.

Bloomsbury Girls is about post-war London and three women navigating a changing world through each of their personal lives and their shared employment at the Bloomsbury Bookstore. This is a good historical fiction and focus on London after World War II with guest appearances by famous authors such as Daphne du Maurier. While the story was beautifully written, the plot just never pulled me in. I enjoyed learning about our three main characters, but never felt tugged by the narrative. The slow pace made this novel drag and the result is that is was just not for me. I’ve heard rave reviews and feel like I’m in the minority on this one, so definitely check it out if you have the chance. |Brit|

Thank you St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It's 1950 and Cambridge has finally allowed women to graduate. Due to the good ole boy network, Evie is thwarted from getting the research job that she earned. Evie ends up as a clerk at Bloomsburg Books categorizing books in the rare book section but she has her own reasons for working there. Even though they are more competent than the men working in the store, the women are unable to advance and have to obey the general manager's 51 rules. Vivien is angry that she does most of the work but can't make the changes needed to make the department better. Vivien is still grieving the loss of her aristocratic fiancé and expresses herself in her writings. Grace is the mother of two young sons and feels trapped by a complaining unemployed husband and the restrictions of her job. Due to changing circumstances, they might have a chance to escape some of their restrictions. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. Evie was one of the characters from the author's 'The Jane Austen Society', but you don't have to read that book to enjoy this one. I love how famous authors of the time are seen in this story. What I love most is the well developed and sympathetic characters and a rich story that I savored.. This is one of the best books that I have read this year.

This book is downright adorable. Taking place in the post WW2 era, it is a story of perseverance and triumph by 3 women in a world dominated by men. One of the reasons this book is so delightful to me, as an avid reader, is that it takes place in a London bookshop. The author does a great job describing the shop and I could fully picture all of the details of the store in my mind. Each of the three main female characters develops a love interest which adds another sweet element to the story.

I did feel as though there were a lot of pages devoted to "setting the stage" and most of the action occurred in the last quarter or so of the book, but that being said it was still an enjoyable read.

Read this one if you like:
- Women as main characters
- A light fun read
- Books about books

Three Women Revitalize a 1950s Bookstore

Bloomsbury’s has been a bookstore for a hundred years. Unfortunately, many of it’s policies date from that era, but this is after the war. Women are working, people have money to spend, and the women who work at Bloomsbury’s worry that the store is not taking full advantage of the times.

The women set to change the staid bookstore are Vivien, Grace, and Evie. Vivien, the cashier, is single, her fiance having died in the war. She has a long list of grievances about the management of Bloomsbury’s and is itching to try her ideas. Grace, secretary to the manager, is married to a man suffering a breakdown after the war, so she is the main breadwinner in the family. While she loves her job she often feels overwhelmed by the stress of an ill husband, demanding children, and the men at work. Evie is a recent graduate of Cambridge, one of the first female students permitted to earn a degree.

Evie is the catalyst for change at Bloomsbury’s. Although she is brilliant, she was passed over for an academic job. With an excellent reference from Me. Yardley who holds a prominent position at Southby’s she gets a job at the bookstore. She hopes to work in the rare books section, but she has an ulterior motive that will change the lives of all three women and remake the bookstore.

I loved the book. Evie was also the main character in The Jane Austen Society. I was delighted to see her back. You can read this book as a standalone, but if you’ve never read the previous book, you may want to check it out.

Vivien and Grace are characters you can’t helping liking and hoping they’ll make a success of their ideas. The men are also well fleshed out. I didn’t care for Mr. Dutton, but he was emblematic of a type of manager who was being replaced by younger more forward thinking men and women. I loved the owner of the bookstore, Lord Baskin. He was gentle and interested in making changes for the new era.

I highly recommend this book. The characters are wonderful and the plot will keep you reading.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I had high hopes going into read it because I liked the author's other book so much. And it lived up to my expectations.

I loved The Jane Austen Society, so when I saw that this book was to be a continuation of sorts, I jumped at the chance to get it.

Evie has continued her quest to quietly catalogue books. When she is cheated out of a position at Cambridge, she gets a position at Bloomsbury Books. What no one knows, is that the quiet girl is on a quest to find a certain book that she believes to be hidden at Bloomsbury Books.
I loved the characters of Vivian and Grace, and I loved to see some familiar faces from The Jane Austen Society.
The entire book was enjoyable and this book will be in my top 10 for 2022.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a kindle copy of this book to read and review.

What seems to be an unpopular opinion, but this book fell very short of my expectations. The story had too much going on, too many characters with their own stories and not enough oomph from any of them. I found it to be a slow read (and listen… switched between audio and ebook) and struggled to continue reading. I finished the book, but at times it was a challenge to find the interest.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader (and audio) copies!

This story is a post World War II picture of a bookshop and the state of the world as it involves women. The Bloomsbury Girls are outstanding women that have strength and are in a world still dominated by men, even within their domains This is not an unfair rendering, but a reflection of the time. The idea that these women have is to push the works and find old works of women within the shop. The men who do the ordering and organizing of events prefer the male authors, but when a health crisis sends the manager on leave, the women take the opportunity to show how much improvement can happen in the shop.

There were several points of view in this including some of the men and some of the women. The men aren't classified as villains and have their own things that they are working through. I like that realistic tone. While it is called, Bloomsbury Girls, it didn't leave anyone out. There is strength in numbers and these ladies find this together and with allies outside the shop in the world of publishing.

The characters are real and raw in their emotions. They are strong and weak. They are flawed. In short, they read as very human. They exist together in this little bookshop which is forced to examine change as the world changes around them..

These are delightful characters in a richly described environment. I could smell the smells and see the sights, The writing invited me in.

I received an early copy from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read an advanced copy of Bloomsbury girls by Natalie Jenner. I LOVED IT!!! I will admit I did not realize it was somewhat of a sequel to her previous book The Jane Austen Society and once I did, I did hesitate for a few minutes trying to decide whether to read that first, but after reading the first few chapters I realized you didn't need to and so I quickly settled in to read about Vivien, Grace, and Evie who work at Bloomsbury Books which is a old-fashioned new and rare book store, dominated by men (who honestly wouldn't be able to run it without these women) and guided by the general manager's UNBREAKABLE fifty-one rules. As these women try to find there way through this world they meet and interact with various literary figures of the 1950's but can they find a future for themselves in a world dominated by men?
I highly recommend this book and can be read as a stand alone, but I definitely will go and read The Jane Austen Society as soon as I can (the character Evie Stone is featured in it)

Evie may have lost her chance to continue at Cambridge thanks to an ambitious man but don't count her out because she's got information that no one else does. Set in 1949 Bloomsbury, this is a story of three determined women (not girls) who work together at Bloomsbury Books, an old school shop dominated by men until....Grace is the sole supporter of her family and while she's not a reader, she knows the business. Natalie has great plans which the men keep thwarting and then she gets her chance. And Evie, who we met in The Jane Austen Society (don't worry- this is fine as a standalone), she knows her stuff and she's looking for the first ever sci-fi novel (written by a 17 year old woman) which she missed when she catalogued books at Chatworth. I loved these three women, their efforts, and their plan, but just as cool was how writers and famous women of the period are woven into the tale. Peggy Guggenheim, Ellen Doubleday, "Daphne DuMaurier," Samuel Beckett, and so on are actually key to the plot, not just cameo players. I found myself pulling up additional information on all of them (and others). This is not only a look at how women were viewed in the post War period bit also at class and race (Ash, an entomologist, is from India). Know that there are a few twists which take this up a level. I found myself really rooting for these women. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Terrific read.

While this book isn’t actually noted as being part of a series, there’s no doubt that this book is a type of sequel to Jenner’s debut novel, “The Jane Austen Society,” which I enjoyed a great deal. Obviously, that was why I asked for the ARC of this book, although I didn’t know the connection at the time. All I knew was that I liked Jenner’s writing, and her first book made me smile, so all I wanted was another book that I knew would be well written and would make me smile. (These days, you take your small joys wherever you can find them!) And that’s precisely what I got here.

To be specific, not only did we get to catch up with Evie from the previous novel, we find her after finishing her degree in Cambridge, being one of the first females allowed to graduate. When she doesn’t get the research assistant’s job at the university, she has to find another way to make a living. That’s what brings her to Bloomsbury Books in London, where one of the Jane Austen Society members is the general manager. We also get others from the Society included here in cameo roles, but each one gets a very significant part to play. As the summary notes, Jenner also brings in some real historical figures to round everything out, and while I can’t vouch for how accurate these meetings and events might be, none of them felt forced or out of place. Nor did I feel that Jenner was just name dropping, since she gives them all something important to do in the plot.

Now, I should mention that one of the things I didn’t really notice in the previous book, but which cropped up here quite a few times, that is one of my pet peeves. I’m talking about foreshadowing – the mechanic that says something like “little did X know at the time that…”. I’m sorry, but I really dislike foreshadowing because I want to be in the story as it is unfolding, and don’t like to be warned that something that’s just happened will change something in the future. I find that foreshadowing statements disrupt the flow of the text. While they might be somewhat useful when making sure the reader understands the importance of a particular scene or piece of dialogue, it also feels a bit… well… patronizing, to be honest. I mean, if I don’t get it now, surely, the author should assume I’m smart enough to remember it later when the significance comes to light, no?

With that out of the way, I should mention that I truly enjoyed how very different Jenner portrayed these three, very different women. We get the shy, but brilliant Evie to start things off. Then we get the very proud, and creative Vivian. Both of these two women struggle between wanting one thing, and society pushing back on them, because of the times in which they lived. Had either of these two been our contemporaries, I’m sure that Evie would have gone on to be a full-tenured professor, and Vivian would be running a successful, mid-sized publishing house. Grace is our semi-outlier here – the downtrodden woman, trapped by circumstance and financial strife, who would probably still have a troubled marriage if she lived today. In fact, the bravery she shows here was ahead of her time, and even today, many women wouldn’t be able to muster that type of courage. Frankly, she was my favorite of the three, but I have warm, soft spots for all of them.

When it comes down to the bottom line, I have to reiterate from my opening here, and say that I was looking for a book that would make me smile, and that’s exactly what I got! Okay, so I didn’t cry (but I did get a tiny lump in my throat with the last line of the book), and I didn’t laugh out loud, but not every book can evoke either, or both of those truly strong emotions. This is why I’ll warmly recommend this book to readers who are looking for a good story about strong women in an historical setting. I’m certain this will be as popular as Jenner’s debut novel, and I’ll give it a hearty four and a half stars out of five.