Chawton, England was the final home of the great Jane Austen. It's little more than a bump in the road, but tourists come from all over the world in hopes of finding something of Jane there. 

What is left is the great house, the grounds and the cottage where Jane wrote. In the great house, Frances Knight lives with her ailing and horribly mean father. The house and her father are falling apart and Frances seems unable to anything but wait. With the cook, Josephine and 16-year-old Evie Stone, she makes do.

Evie is scary smart. And for the past two years, she has been staying up all night to catalog the over two thousand books in the library, where she has found quite a few serious treasures and secrets!


In a series of events we end up with an odd group of people, brought together by their love of Jane Austen. An American movie star, a young widow, the village doctor, and a local laborer. There are wonderful supporting characters here as well. While this group at first has only one thing in common, their passion to preserve the legacy of Jane Austen. Ah, literature, the great equalizer of humanity!

Each of them has suffered horrible losses and unimaginable hardships and as they get to know each other in their pursuit of a common goal, they find they aren't so different after all. And I did not see that ending coming! Well Done!

I absolutely adored this mix of fact and fiction! I can't believe this is the author's first published work. The characters were perfection and I will definitely read this one again!

NetGalley/ May 26th, 2020 by St. Martin's Press

The Jane Austen Society is a sweet, heartwarming story about when community members in Chawton, where Jane Austen spent part of her life, join up with a movie star and a solicitor at Sotheby's in their shared love of Jane Austen and a desire to preserve a part of her history in the community. Reading Jane Austen's books isn't necessary to following along with the story, although it does provide additional insight. And in many ways, the book has a characters and storylines that feel plenty Austen-esque, with many of the characters having a personal obstacle to overcome that involves someone they care about. And just like Jane Austen stories there are at least one or two cads that you hope get what's coming to them! I loved all the eight members of the Society, and even though there were moments where several made decisions that drove me crazy, I could ultimately see that it allowed them to have the life they wanted. A wonderful, quick and happy read!

As much as I love Jane Austen and her novels, this book just didn't grab me. The book got off to a good start, but the "Jane Austen Society" they form doesn't come together until well into the book. When it does, the proceedings are rather legalistic.

Overall, this book was good but not great. I really wanted to love it, but it just didn't grab me.

Being a fairly avid Jane Austen fan, I fairly salivated when seeing this title. Assuming the story would mirror the wit and craft of the book's namesake, I eagerly tucked into the book as one would a long anticipated banquet.

Things started out quite beautifully in the village in which Austen had lived. An American tourist searching out the novelist's home and being assisted by a friendly local. One wondered where that thread might lead. As each character is introduced, readers get a hint of a parallel Austin character and will wonder which of the novelist's storylines is playing out in a contemporary setting.

One thing I have appreciated about Austin is that even the nasty characters have a certain amount of decorum and one can read the books without being assaulted with vulgar language or graphic detail of exploits. Upon encountering a cohabitating couple, I was sorely tempted to chuck the book. The obligation to complete a review was the only reason I carried on until the end. And by the time I'd finished, my disappointment had turned to sadness as the book closed on a very un-Austin like note.

I had some nigglings as the book went along with the characterization of a couple characters and their lifestyles. But given their minor role in the story, I plodded on only to be completely blindsided when the book concluded with the final "pairings." I felt as though I'd witnessed the vandalization of a work of art. Sorry, this is one book I will not be recommending.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Jane Austen Society from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed are my own.

From a young age, I have always been fascinated with Jane Austen and her stories. Not knowing the full history of the period in which she lived in at the time, I was at first, drawn to the characters relationships with their families, friends and town  people. Then as I got older, I became more aware of the romantic interests, social aspect and the education and roles of women of that time. That is when I realized how important stories like Austen’s are to society.

Like Austen, my Father was a minister, He’s retired now but the connection on that score and her satirical writing reminds me so much of my own experiences in witnessing all sorts of interesting people growing up in churches and our local communities.

I’ve read all her published stories multiple times and read many re-telling’s of her books, and have seen all sorts of different types of film adaptations. Not one of those has captured my attention like The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. The author touches on an interesting area about Austen’s life and in such a way, I felt as if the author had read my mind on a few things I thought about growing up. Especially about Austen’s relationship with her sister Cassandra and why maybe she burned many of Jane’s letters…

Jenner’s story brings together people who are different in occupation, and life circumstances but they share a common love of Jane Austen herself and her work. Their passion and goal are to preserve both Jane Austen’s final home and her legacy. What they find in their search touches on a little what I mentioned above- though that is all I will say about that. 

Much like you will find in Austen’s stories, The Jane Austen Society explores human conditions of the heart, love interests, community and enduring friendships.  I felt such an intense connection with the many of the characters in the story, as if they were close friends and family. This story is heartfelt and deeply enduring so much so that I came away with not wanting the story to end and a longing to sit around a fire and have a long conversation with these noble people and the author who told their story. 

When you finish reading The Jane Austen Society, be sure to read the Author notes at the end! 

I’ve rated this book five stars!

Stephanie Hopkins

Layered Pages

A group of people, some of the same local village and others from far, come together over their love of Jane Austen and how her books have uplifted them out of difficult times in their lives. The characters are often poignant yet show great strength. I grew to care greatly for them and felt invested in their struggles and triumphs.

I am a big fan of Jane Austen just like many other people. If I find out the book has anything to do with her, I will read it. Since there are so many books out there related to Jane Austen they can be hit or miss. I think The Jane Austen Society fell somewhere in the middle for me. I liked the story about wanting to turn the house into a museum and that part of the book definitely makes me want to visit the real museum even more than I already did. I did find the story line about the society to be very slow. It as almost half way through the book before it came together. I know some of that was because there were a lot of characters to introduce so I stuck with it. I found the characters interesting but it took me a while to read because I would find myself drifting off due to the slow rolling pace of the book. Despite the slow start, I enjoyed the book and it made me excited all over again about Jane Austen's life work and her hometown. I think most Austen fans would enjoy the book.

Jane Austen fans and others will certainly enjoy Natalie Jenner‘s The Jane Austen Society. Set just after WWII in Chawton, a small, charming English village. We are introduced to a rather unlikely group of characters who turn out to be avid Jane Austen fans. Austen and her family actually were connected to the village and she spent her final years there. This based-in-fact Austen connection gives the work an extra sense of typical Austen irony. The characters include a widowed doctor, the widow of a WWII soldier, a quiet and withdrawn farmer, a successful and newly engaged American actress, an Austen-related spinster, a bachelor lawyer, a young woman working for the spinster, and an expert for an auction house. They are drawn together by their mutual love of Jane Austen’s books and their joy in discussing the familiar novels and characters. They work to preserve Austen legacy and her connection to the village. What’s so much fun is that they become Austen-like characters and we see them evolve as they interact with each other and the world Jenner creates. And we cheer them on and wants things to turn out just like they do in Austen novels. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

The story takes place in the small town of Chawton, Hampshire, where Jane Austen spent her final years. The backdrop is the Great House where the Knight family lived and where Jane’s family members are buried.
It is 1945 when England was just recovering from World War II. A small group of locals who are ardent fans of Austen’s books, decide to form a society to preserve her legacy. The original group includes a doctor who lost his wife to an early death, a young war widow who also lost her child, and a bright farm hand whose dreams of attending university were dashed when his 2 brothers died in World War I. These three troubled people try to find solace in Austen’s books.

The society soon expands to include an American actress whose love of Austen’s works leads her to act in a Hollywood film based on one of Austen’s books, a bright young girl who was forced into service at the Great House when her father became disabled, the Knight family solicitor, an auctioneer from Sotheby’s whose specialty is Austen memorabilia and finally the woman who is the only direct Austen heir besides her dying father.

The members of the group combine their efforts to create a living legacy to Austen despite struggles of their own.

This is a lovely book and a great debut novel. It is not really historical fiction as many of the characters were created by the author and the Great House in the book remained in the Knight family much later than it did in the book.

The author has created characters who are memorable for their struggles as well as their tenacity. The descriptions of Hampshire country and Chawton, are inspiring. I have read very little by Jane Austen but may be reading some of the works discussed in the book in the near future.

I received this ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What a sweet surprising story of a small band of distinct and utterly charming characters who come together over a shared love for Jane Austen.

This book was excellent! I am a huge Jane Austen fan. This book gave you a chance to read the lives of others that are also obsessed with the great writer Jane Austen. I would highly recommend this book.

3.5 Stars

Set primarily in Chawton, a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England where Jane Austen spent the last eight years of her life, Chawton has been the home of the Jane Austen’s House Museum since 1946. This debut novel covers the 1930’s through the mid 1940’s, and imagines how this came to be. Still, you don’t need to be a fan of Jane Austen’s books to read this, but if you’re not a fan before you read this, it may entice you to read more of her books.

I loved the setting of this story, and the era, which offers an aura of the time as women were just beginning to refuse to return to a life that offered them more than just life as a housewife following the war. Still, this is a 1940’s view of the beginning of change, as it should be.

I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would, it offered a nice change of pace from the books I read more often. And, for a change, I agree with the “for fans of” recommendation of this to those who enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, as it has that kind of charm, plus some wonderful characters, including an American movie star who is a fan of Austen, her fiancée who is also involved in making movies, a doctor, as well as a descendant of Jane Austen, and a village full of characters who come together to form the Jane Austen Society, in order to preserve her legacy.



Pub Date: 26 May 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press

I absolutely loved this novel. I adore books that are set in England, so check. I enjoy historical novels, so check. I love Jane Austen, so check. I really really enjoy book clubs so check.

This book has an interesting set of characters: they are all different ages, some grieving, and all are in different stations in life, but they all have one thing in common, they love Jane Austen. They all want to keep her works alive and they come together to create the Jane Austen Society. You get background about Jane's stories, about the different ways of dealing with everyday happenings in a small town, with some romantic interplay thrown in. I really loved this book and the richly detailed characters. It really made me want to visit England. I highly recommend this novel!

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Three stars on Goodreads means "I liked it". I'm going to have to go with the Amazon rating where three stars says "it was okay". I'm not able to say I "liked" the entire book. So let me back up. I love the Jane Austen written word; I love the cadence of her words; I love her vocabulary; I love the way her dialogue lets me know what her character means to convey to someone else; the building of intimacy using nothing but words.

What I did like about The Jane Austen Society was reading the conversations various characters had when discussing the novels. The opinions expressed sometimes took me down paths I had not explored and I liked that. Where the book fell flat for me was when the characters were interacting with each other in their world of 1945 or 1946. Never struck a chord, never raised my interest at all because I just wasn't interested in the characters. None of them. So basically the portions of this novel I liked were the ones which didn't deal with what was happening to the modern characters. That's a pretty big problem.

This is a novel with a large cast of characters and I kept having to hold up my reading to try to remember who this particular person was and why they were appearing on the page. See, they just were not sticking in my mind. Not a book I would want to read again.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-Galley of this novel.

What a treat it was to read this book! I loved the main characters and the way they learned to overcome their own challenges. I love that the story not only celebrates the work of Jane Austen, but also the power books have to bring people together.

The history of the Jane Austen Society (real places, no real people) is set in the post-WWII English village of Chawtonwhere Austen had lived for several years. Besides a descendant of Austen there are several other people from the village, a doctor, a teacher, a young serving girl with ambitions or a farmer with whom the story starts and ends. They and some others, amongst them a Hollywood actress, get together to preserve Austen´s work and keep her memory.

Each one of them has his/her own story, feelings, experiences of loss and sadness, but they stay together, help each other and are united by their love for Austen. A satisfying ending is a new start for all of them and the Society.

Very well written, the stories of the founders developed and entangled with each other and with Austen, whose characters they´re regularely discussing.

This is the only point I didn´t find so good, that the discussion was superficial - mostly dealing with "Lizzy or Emma?", perhaps due to an adaptation to the readers who don´t know Austen that well. This part should either have been extended or left anyway.

On the whole very enjoyable, also for non-lovers of Austen.

Thanks for NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a charming, heartwarming story set in an English village featuring several characters regarding their love of Jane Austen and forming the Jane Austen Society to preserve a large collection of books found in the former estate of Jane Austen and making part of the estate a museum to preserve the memory of all things Jane Austen. It's also about love, betrayal, loss, and hope. I was enamored by their devotion of Jane Austen books. This is an enjoyable read set just after the second world war. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

For some reason, 3 stars seems like I'm low-balling this book, but, according to the Goodreads star sytem, 3 stars is "liked it" so this would be accurate for how I felt about this book. I wouldn't say that I really liked it or that I loved it, but I also didn't hate it. Primarily for me, it felt slow to get going. I had to start reading this book several times before I could really get in to it. Honestly, I thought about giving it up at one point, but it wasn't so bad once I finally got in to it. I guess the plot and the characters just didn't hook me. As the reader, you watch the unfolding of some of the tragic backstories to each of the founding members of the Jane Austen Society so I did feel like, for me, there was at least some connection with the characters.

I was originally drawn to this book because the cover felt inviting, I adore Jane Austen novels, and it was recommended for people who liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society as well as Jane Austen. I did really like the references to Jane Austen and her novels. I also enjoyed how the characters were trying to persevere the legacy she left for their little English town where she wrote some of her books. Overall, it wasn't terrible, but I do feel like it's a very niche type of book and it wasn't exactly my type of book. However, that's not to say it couldn't be someone else's type of book.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Really enjoyable! I love anything set in England & Jane Austen. A moving story about a group of people who come together to preserve Austen's legacy & home. And how they come together.

The Jane Austen Society
A Novel
by Natalie Jenner

St. Martin's Press

General Fiction (Adult) ,
Historical Fiction
Pub Date 26 May 2020


I am reviewing a copy of The Jane Austen Society through St. Martin's Press and Netgalley:




Immediately following the Second World War, a Unique but like minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable in the small English Village of Chawton.




A century and a half prior Clawton had been the final home of Jane Austen, and was now the home of a few of Jane Austen's distance relatives, and there diminishing estates.  With the threatening of the last of Jane Austen's legacies threatened, this group of disparate individuals come together to save the house, and what is left with legacies.  This group of people include a laborer,  a young widower, a doctor, and a movie star amongst others.   The group of people couldn't be more different, but they are United in there works, and words of Austen. 


Each member of the group endures there own quiet struggle with loss and trauma.  Some of this loss and trauma deal with the most recent world war, and others are from the past.


The Jane Austen Society is a powerfully moving novel  that deals with the big and small tragedies and triumphs in life, as well as exploring the humanity that is found in us.



I give The Jane Austen Society five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!