If Jane Austen was still alive today, she would love this book.

A group of people who have seemingly nothing in common, come together over one single longing, the written words of Jane Austen. I've always loved Austen and her way to bring a strong woman to life during a time when the world was against women with a voice. This book really tells the tale of people who need something from her words and how we all need each other to get us through the hard times.

The review will be live on the Book Confessions blog on 5-27-20

“If only people would be brave enough to go after what they really wanted.”

The Jane Austen Society is a historical fiction novel that takes place at the end of World War Two in Chawton, England--the last town Jane Austen lived in before she died--and it follows the story of a ragtag group of individuals who unite under a shared love of Jane Austen to preserve her books and cottage by forming the aptly-named Jane Austen Society.

What I Loved:
1. All the Jane Austen references!: This story is filled with quotes from all the Jane Austen novels, and we also get conversations between the characters about their opinions on Austen’s stories and characters. Through reading this story, I felt like I was revisting my beloved Jane Austen stories again.
That being said, if you have never read Jane Austen, much of this book will be lost on you.

2. It’s written like a Jane Austen novel:
A. Style: Jenner’s writing style is similar to that of Austen’s in her elevated language, wit, and sometimes meandering sentences. There’s a richness and elegance to the prose.
B. Content: This is very much a social commentary story in its focus on the nuances of relationships. The reader has to figure out much of what is going on with everyone’s love lifes through subtle social cues--akin to a Jane Austen novel.

3. Twists: In a similar fashion to Jane Austen, if you’re not paying close attention to the story, you will miss something important. Jenner drops shocking twists in single sentences.

What I Didn’t Love:
1. The ending was absolutely ridiculous: It was one of those ending where everything wraps up in ten pages in a completely different way than how the story had been leading up to, and very little of what caused these changes in the course of events is explained. I was happy with the ending, but felt cheated out of it due to the brevity in which it was given.

You can find my more detailed thoughts about this book on my YouTube channel, Perks of a Bookflower.
Here is the video where I discuss it: https://youtu.be/kgL7T_FsQHI
And I begin discussing it at (0:55).
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for early access to this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Jane Austen Society is about a group of people each dealing with their own traumas, who band together because of their love for the famous author. The book is set mostly in Chawton, England where tourists flock to see the house Jane Austen wrote in.

This was a nice, relaxing read. I enjoyed learning about each of the characters. The characters have a lot of discussions centered around each of Austen's works, comparing and contrasting Austen's beloved characters.
I think this book will make a wonderful addition to the bookshelves of Jane Austen fans.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Natalie Jenner for the advanced copy of The Jane Austen Society in exchange for my honest review.

What a delightful, heartwarming work of fiction. Jenner's book introduces readers to a delightful, sorrowful, cast of characters in the small village of Chawton, England. Each of the characters is dealing with pain and loneliness in their own way as they come together to save the legacy of Jane Austen in their home village. Through this action, the characters find themselves addressing the past and facing their futures in a way that wonderfully, and at times surprisingly, unfolds through to the final pages. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to enjoy a great work of fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a DARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. i enjoyed the later half of the book once the society got started but the book did take a while to get there. I enjoyed reading how the characters enjoyed Jane Austen and how her novels helped them in their every day lives. Which made me think about rereading a few once i was done with this book. If you're a fan of Austin I think you'd enjoy this book.

Liked this one so much I ordered a physical ARC from a friend for another friend! A very great book for those who enjoy Jane Austen, reading clubs, or light historical fiction.

This book is every bit as cozy and charming as the quaint English countryside town in which it’s set. The author’s love for Austen shines through brightly, and the passages in which her protagonists engage in lively literary debates about their favorite characters or the meaning behind certain plot lines were hands down the highlights of the novel for me.

I will say, though, there isn’t a ton that actually happens in this book. I usually wouldn’t mind that, but I found myself looking down and realizing I was 70% done and still waiting for it to feel like it had truly gotten started.

This is definitely one I think you have to be a serious Austen fan to enjoy, since both the dialogue and characterizations rely so heavily on references to her material…but if that’s you, I would recommend it as a fun and comforting novel that will almost certainly make you want to go reread your favorite(s)!

I received an advance reader's edition of "The Jane Austen Society" from the publisher. I hate to admit that I have never read a book by Jane Austen but I do know who she is. This debut novel by Natalie Jenner was a wonderful introduction to Jane Austen and the impact her books have on our literary history. It is about a group of villagers who took their love and passion for Austen's books and turned it into friendships and love and healing. Each of the characters had their own painful pasts but their mutual interest in preserving a part of Austen's legacy bring them together on a mission to establish a society and keep their village's collection of Austen treasures local.

Loved the book. People who loved the novels written by Jane Austen came from all walks of life - a young war widow, the doctor, the farmer, the movie star, a young servant, among others.

I am still thinking about different quotes by different characters in the novel with insights into the novels and characters created by Jane Austen.

Fans of the Jane Austen Book Club and the Guernesy Literary Potato Pie Society will love this novel.

Fans of Jane Austen revel in Natalie Jenner's #TheJaneAustenSociety. Marrying historic Chawton with Austen's background, her novels come to life. Perfect for Janeites or historical fiction readers, Jenner creates a society rooted in Jane's beloved Chawton. Cleverly crafting Austen's text to influence Jenner's characters, Jane's protagonists provide them instruction to living life.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the early read in exchange for an honest review. As a former English major and admirer of the classics, I felt connected to the story. Most writers attempt a modern-day telling, historic encounter or depict the author's.work. Jenner's novel pens all three with humor, articulate prose and memorable characters.

I know what you’re probably thinking – another Jane Austen book? And normally I would agree. But The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner is not just another Jane Austen tribute book, I promise.

The story begins in the early 1930s as fans of Austen’s work come from far and near to visit Chawton, her final home before her death. The townspeople accept these visitors as just another part of their life, albeit an at-times annoying one. The narration then jumps to 1945, after the war has ended. When the future of Chawton becomes threatened, a small group of locals, plus a Hollywood actress and an auctioneer, come together to save the estate and preserve Austen’s legacy.

The Jane Austen Society was not quite what I expected when I saw this book on NetGalley, but it was very charming, with the quaint English village as much a character as the ragtag group who spend hours discussing Austen’s books, comparing Emma to Lizzy and debating plot points of the books. I especially enjoyed the parts where they argue about Darcy. The language of the book is very reminiscent of Austen’s herself.

There is of course some romance but it’s not the focus of the book, and I would consider this a clean book with no sex scenes. Each of the characters is also dealing with their own issues – the farmer battling demons from the war, the widower country doctor who believes he will never love again, the young teacher whose life has not turned out the way she’d always dreamed. There’s also a plucky teenager who saves the day in an unexpected manner.

If you’re wondering if you need to have read all of Austen’s work to enjoy The Jane Austen Society, I would say the answer to that is not really. I have read Pride & Prejudice many times, and also really enjoyed Emma. I read Sense & Sensibility long enough ago that I remember very little of it, and I DNF’d Persuasion. There were some references I didn’t get, but it didn’t take away my enjoyment of this charming novel.

The Jane Austen Society is based on the true story of the townspeople who created the Jane Austen Society and the Jane Austen House Museum, which still stands today, though the characters are not based on anyone who really lived at that time, with a few exceptions noted in the Historical Note at the back of the book.

A wonderful read! This book definitely makes me want to travel to the village of Chawton.
A bit slow in the beginning but the pace definitely picked up. Written in typical Austen style, it felt familiar and easy to read.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this story.

I rate books on how they make me feel and how much do I think about the story when I'm not reading and long after I have finished the book.

I have kept thinking about the people of Chawton, their lives and even though I know they are all fictitious what happened to them after the book ended. Reading this book made me want to go to Chawton, to walk the lanes, look around the village, go to the church. I felt for these characters, I caught myself talking to them, while I was reading. To me that is the mark of a really good book!

I look forward to reading more books from this author, if she can draw me in again, to another village, to other lives, then she is a good writer!

Just after the Second World War, the residents of the sleepy village of Chawton seem to be languishing. When Adam suggests forming a society to preserve the final home of Jane Austen, he doesn't realize how a mutual love of Jane Austen will change the lives of the townspeople. While the initial chapters felt disconnected, once you get into the narrative, Jenner pulls you into a delightfully predictable story with a tidy happily-ever-after. I will admit, that even though I'm an Austen fan, I found the characters' endless discussion of her works to be rather tedious.

4.5 stars. What a wonderful read! Set just after World War II in the small town of Chawton, England (the final home of Jane Austen), a diverse group of characters — including a browbeat spinster, a widower physician, an American movie actress, a teacher and a farmhand — have one thing in common: a love for Jane Austen and the aspiration to save her home and legacy. To that end, they eventually band together to form The Jane Austen Society and work to save the remaining books and antiquities from the house where Austen last lived and to create a museum in her honor. Each of these characters, however, deals with his/her own private struggles, traumas, and misfortunes along the way.

Written in somewhat Austen’s own style (which I found to be extremely engaging and beautifully done), this novel is replete with many themes that stand out in Austen’s novels, particularly unrequited love. And, as in most of Austen’s works, the “ending” for each of the main characters is wholly satisfying, albeit fairly predictable. While it is not necessary that a reader love Austen to appreciate this novel, any Austen fan (or even one who is only somewhat familiar with her writings), should find this novel delightful. I found it completely charming and was utterly absorbed in every aspect of it!

I liked the cover and thought the summary sounded interesting. However, I'm not sure it met my expectations. The pace was slow, and I found myself skimming some parts of the book. Things picked up a bit as the story went on, but it was still hard to really engage and take an interest in the characters. In comparison to parts of the book, the ending felt rushed.

It was a tale about second chance, and if you're a huge fan of Jane Austen, you may well enjoy it., though some parts were quite predictable.

So wonderful!

From a debut author (out 5/26), a fictional reimagining of how the Jane Austen Society came about, filled with the stories of its 8 founding members.

While it started a bit slow, I was eventually swept up into the joys, the heartbreak and the everyday lives of these men and women who shared a deep love and respect for the writer. Some of their stories even reflect elements of Austen’s books.

Beautifully written with some surprises and a very satisfying ending. A real comfort read. Highly recommend.

A big thank you to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.

Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner is “about a group of people traumatized to varying degrees, who come together over their shared love of books and of Jane Austen in particular.” I had a hard time putting this one down after the first half of the book which wasn’t holding my interest too strongly. I’m glad I read it to the end though. By the half way point I was invested in the characters and wanted to know what became of them. You don’t have to like Austen to like this book but it certainly helps.

This book was a lovely way to pass quarantine time! Author Natalie Jenner spins a purely fictional origin story for the Jane Austen Memorial Trust, set (mostly) during and immediately after WWII. She gathers a small cast of Chawton village characters, with their lives, loves, and broken pasts, and draws them together through their love of Austen.

I don't imagine anyone would be picking this book up in the first place without being a serious Austen-o-holic, so the frequent discussions and allusions and quotes shouldn't bother the intended audience. My only objection was that, unlike in a live book club, I couldn't violently argue with readings I didn't agree with and could only resort to making objections in my Kindle notes! But for every disagreement I might have, I also benefited from some new reading insights. Very fun.

Like any Austen book, this one gets tied up with marriages and bows, but who minds that, even though Jenner takes her characters down significantly darker roads at times? Wave that Austen-y wand and even drug addiction and bloody deaths can be overcome. Works for me.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me review this galley!

NetGalley Arc | If you are looking for a sweet and timely read about love, community, perseverance, and preserving one's legacy, you'll enjoy The Jane Austen Society. This new May 2020 book release is perfect for Jane Austen fans and if you devoured The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

You can find my complete review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/may-2020-book-releases/

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.