I received an ARC of this in exchange for honest review, and I couldn't be more excited. I loved The Jane Austen Society and was thrilled to get the sequel. It didn't disappoint, in fact I enjoyed it more then the first book. Even if you didn't read the first, the character development and introduction of new characters makes it a fresh read. I loved the focus on the empowerment of women in a time period where women often were not empowered, and the way the author developed complex and beautiful characters. You need to read this!

Bloomsbury Girls is that particular kind of novel which I love to savor, lots of characters, a little intrigue, a romance that won't quit despite so many obstacles, and a setting which lures me in and urges me to linger over tea, biscuits, and perhaps even take a nap on a nice cushioned sofa.

I found myself falling in love with this book, thinking about it after I should have been asleep, and even imagining it as a movie (can we get Lily James on the phone?)

The time period, the characters' hopes and fears, and the corners of London are all intimately painted. If you love historical fiction and inter/post-war London stories, this should be a must-read for you.

This was a delightful book about the power of female friendship.
Not long after the Second World War, working women didn’t have it too good. Men were mostly stuck in their ways and refused to see women as equals in the workplace. Step forth Evelyn, Grace and Vivien. Three booksellers in a shop where the bosses were all men who couldn’t see or allow the natural business talents of the women to shine. Fortunate,y, these three ladies made some very valuable female friends in some icons of history and together they aimed to take over and create something exceptional for women readers and authors alike.
A great, easy read that left me wanting to reach out to my friends and change the world over a cup of tea!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

What an amazing sequel!!! It was such an anticipated novel on my TBR shelf and I am so happy that I was approved for this copy. Thank you NetGalley!

"She had long known the value of being under-estimated."
A bookstore, too many rules and three defiant women. What could go wrong? In an historical view of women coming to be viewed as equal to men, these women show the determination and smarts necessary to survive in a world that is slow in recognizing their worth.
An absolutely delightful book from Canadian author #NatalieJenner that weaves the story of Evie, Grace and Vivien and what they accomplish in their personal and working lives. A wonderful smattering of literary characters spice up the pages (Samuel Beckett, Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday and others that you will recognize).
The quietly unfolding male characters added some hopeful depth (not all men were blind to the strength of these women) and included some inevitable sweet moments.
I became a fan of Jenner's with her first novel #TheJaneAustinSociety and am already anticipating her next work. Bravo #NatalieJenner, keep writing these books about books!
Thank you to #NetGalley #StMartinsPress for this advance copy which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I, unfortunately, didn’t like this. Honestly, I thought it was very boring. None of the characters were charming or stood out enough to care about. The only thing I liked was the bookshop, the talk of books, and the authors. Otherwise, this book will be very forgettable.

She had long known the value in being underestimated.

Evie Stone, from Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
Diminutive, quiet, studious and precise, Evie Stone was often overlooked. Vivien stood out with her cats-eye makeup and trendy black sweater and pencil skirt, and she had a sharp tongue and mind. Her upper crust fiancé was killed in the war. Grace was classy and composed, the perfect help-mate at home or at work, her deeper passions hidden under layers of obligation. The men at Bloomsbury Books underestimated these shop girls, learning too late that their male privilege and power had its limits. The women, they discover, and their larger community of female friends from power and wealth, were not to be kept down.

Writing had always been the one safe place where Vivien could think and say whatever she wanted.

Vivian Lowry, from Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
Natalie Jenner’s debut novel The Jane Austen Society was a favorite 2020 read, a balm during an anxious time. The story of diverse people coming together over a love of Austen, forming a community that achieves the remarkable, was comforting and inspiring.

In Bloomsbury Girls, Jenner continues Evie Stone’s story to London. The one-time servant girl in the Chawton Great House, her research skills honed in the Chawton library, she worked her way to being in the first Cambridge class with women allowed to earn a degree. She needed a stipend to continue her work, but her hope is dashed when she loses a fellowship to a man, forcing her to seek employment.

Evie is hired by the bookstore on the basis of a letter of recommendation and her ability to stay calm under duress–which is tested during her interview. Evie has a secret mission: she has discovered that the bookstore has purchased a rare book that she intends to find, an early sci-fi written in 1827 by a woman. If only she can find it and publish it, her career would be started.

Grace’s ideas for improving the shop seemed to do nothing so much as put him on edge.

Grace Perkins, from Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
The women have ideas to improve sales, but the men won’t listen. The women want to promote female writers. But the men don’t agree. It’s a battle of the sexes, but most of all, a battle between the way things have always been done and changing with the times.

The bookstore owner, Lord Baskin, has a soft spot for the store, and for Grace, but has been asked to sell the business to the manager Mr. Dutton and acquisitions manager Frank Allen. Even Alec, head of fiction, has his eye on owning the store. What the men don’t know is that the women have plans of their own.

She had always resented how an adherence to rules and hierarchy served mostly to protect and promote the men of the shop.

from Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
I loved all the characters in the store. There is fussy Mr. Dutton with his list of rules, one of which starts each chapter. There are the women with their dreams and romantic problems. Ash, from India, coping with racism in Britain, unable to find suitable work as a scientist and is sequestered in the bookshop with his entomology slides. We meet all kinds of historical figures, from Daphne du Maurier to Peggy Guggenheim and the Mrs. George Orwell (or, the ‘girl in the fiction department’ in Nineteen Eighty-Four, she notes). Samuel Becket upsets reporters at a reading. The men reminisce, “Remember when Stephen Spender….”

Britain in 1950 is brought to life, the tension between men endeavoring to resurrect the past while the women strive for greater freedom, the sexes in a struggle over the balance of power.

It’s a delightful read, written with humor and love.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

When I picked up Bloomsbury Girls from NetGalley I didn’t realize it was by the author of The Jane Austin Society. Nor did I understand some of the characters from the book would be featured in this one. What a delightful surprise! Thank you net Galley in Saint martins press for my DRC.

London 1950 in a changing bookstore world is an intriguing place to get wrapped up in and wrapped up in this world I did. Grace, Vivian, and Evie are an intriguing group of women whose individual and collective stories bring this tale to life. I was rooting for each one to have her breakthrough moment and was delighted by how they came together to accomplish their goal.

Another aspect that elevated this story are the famous women of that time who joined forces with the trio. It is always refreshing to see women supporting other women and this book has it in spades.

A sharp story filled with women breaking the mold and setting the tone for a new decade - Blooomsbury Girls is a must read.

Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this book will delight historical fiction and literary fans everywhere. Jenner is at her finest!

A great page turner in the covid era... a great escape for an afternoon, a day at the beach, a vacation or plane read to divert ones thoughts from everyday life.

Set in the 1950s, Bloomsbury Girls focuses on the bold women about to help change history by standing up to the men that own and run a bookstore, this was in a time when women were expected to be house wives and stay in the kitchen. After years of being run by a stale and hard man with his 51 outdated rules, the bookstore becomes a stale and bland shop that starts to go under. When the women come in and take over, adding a fresh take on things, the shop quickly becomes a much more appealing and inviting place for new customers.
I love how this book mentions so many of my favorite "classic" authors and books. If you enjoyed the previous book by this author The Jane Austen Society, I promise you will really like this book alot!

If you enjoyed The Jane Austen Society, you'll appreciate this book just as much. It's got the same cozily steady plot development, wonderful characters, celebration of women as multi-faceted, interesting, and fully human, and thoroughly satisfying conclusion. I loved Bloomsbury Girls and I think that Jenner has now earned a spot on my list of authors whose work I consider a must-read.

My interest was peaked just as I started to wonder where this story was going and from there the story continued to build at the perfect pace. My favorite character was the narrator as she is quick and witty. The setting provides a wonderful view of London post WWII. The characters are unique, humorous, a bit mysterious and it was enjoyable to be part of their lives during their years at the book store. I noticed in the acknowledgments that some of the author's inspiration came from 84 Charing Cross Road which I smiled at when I read that, as I thought of that book while reading this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Three women work in a man-owned and man-run bookstore. The store rules dictate their behavior and hinder sales. As the story unfolds, the women each decide to take back their lives and change the rules. The end result benefits the women, men and store.
I enjoyed reading this book. It's engaging and fun but also includes enough drama to keep my attention. And the female empowerment and psychological details encourage and inspire me. There is some backstory from the author's previous book that's woven seamlessly into this book. I would definitely read more books by this author.

Even though the book makes you believe that the book is about three women, in fact the book involves everyone in the bookstore and how they interact with each other and how each of them effect one another. At first, I didn't know quite where the story was going but if you stick with it you will find a very evolving story. The book starts with the obvious stereotypes for the 1950's but as you read you will find very interesting relationships forming and a changing of the guards, in a good way. But, there is a lot of tension when change comes calling and a lot of assumptions before the truth is revealed. I enjoyed the Vivan's women companions a lot and the role they play in the auction and I also like how Lord Baskin helps in the change.
I like that some get their comeuppance and others obtain what they deserve because they work hard to achieve it.
There is an auction that I was very happy with it's results and it is very satisfy ending.

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this open minded book

Though it was a little longer than it needed to be due to over-explanations and longer descriptions, this story was a good one. I enjoyed the time period, the relationships between the characters, the creativity of the characters to obtain what they needed even in the face of adversity. This was a time where women struggled to get anything not given to them or allowed by men in their homes and their workplaces. These women showed their strength of character and creativity.

What a story of overcoming what others think based on what they see of you! There is much more to all of the women and some of the men in the story, each one rising above their circumstances by using their unique skills and talents and working together. I was cheering all the women on to outwit the men who had no idea what the women were capable of. Great story, characters that revealed themselves slowly, and fun surprises. Love this book!

First, thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I have been fortunate enough to also receive an advance copy of the Jane Austen society here and was delighted to be given the opportunity to read this follow up title as well. I loved the characters in the Jane Austen society and was totally drawn into the little English village with them. I felt Bloomsbury girls was a little slower to connect with, but I am really glad I kept on reading. The further into the book, the more I enjoyed it and felt reconnected with past characters and the new characters we meet at the Bloomsbury bookstore. I love a good book set in a bookstore and this did not disappoint. Really enjoyable read so don't give up if the beginning also seems slow to you. Well worth reading the Jane Austen society first, but not necessary to enjoy this second title as they give you enough recap to understand the previous story

"Bloomsbury Girls" is the most enjoyable book I have read recently. As a bibliophile and book collector, a story set in a bookstore and involving old and rare books is appealing. Though the story is about a lot more than just the bookstore and its books. Bloomsbury Books & Maps is a London bookshop approaching its hundredth anniversary. The store is just barely breaking even, and that is unlikely to change under the leadership of Herbert Dutton, General Manager, with his 51 Rules and his traditional views on how a business should operate and gender roles (which is some ironic, as there is a very "unconventional" aspect to his own life). However, in 1950, a medical emergency, a new employee (Evelyn (Evie) Stone), and chance encounters that develop into friendships between Vivien Lowry (shop employee) and influential socialites and female authors (Ellen Doubleday, Peggy Guggenheim, Sonia Blair (George Orwell's widow), and Lady Browning (Daphne du Maurier)) will irrevocably change the lives of the staff of Bloomsbury Books & Maps, as well as the future of the store itself.

The book has many subplots, but the one I enjoyed the most was Evie's efforts to find the only known copy of a book "The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century", that was first published in 1827 and may be one of the first science fiction novels ever written, and the author was a seventeen-year-old girl, whose later career was subsumed by her husband's work. She had access to the book in the past, but neither she nor anyone else recognized the significance of the book, and it was purchased at auction by Frank Allen, Head of Rare Books at Bloomsbury, and then misplaced in the chaos of the rare books section of the store. As part of her research while at Cambridge (one of the first female graduates), she ran across references to the book, and she became determined to find it, with hopes of having the book republished with its author recognized. Evie's dream is to discover and republish the works of forgotten women authors.

There are so many good things about this book -- the eclectic mix of characters, the various subplots, the ambitions and dreams of the various characters, the various societal issues that the story addresses, etc. -- but I will leave those things for other readers to discover. "Bloomsbury Girls" is a book I highly recommend. (And now I need to read "The Jane Austen Society", Natalie Jenner's first book, which features some of the characters in "Bloomsbury Girls.")

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

As a former librarian who naturally loves bookstores, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was a fun read with a happy ending and lots of interesting characters throughout. Definitely worth reading.