I loved Natalie Jenner’s debut novel and this one was pretty great too! I really connected to these characters and loved following their journey. Jenner is a special author and I love her writing style. Can’t wait for the next one!

“Bloomsbury Girls” is for readers who love the smell of pages, who spend hours searching for treasures in old bookshops, and who are predisposed to the empowerment of women. In short, it is a book lover’s dream.

Natalie Jenner’s debut novel, “The Jane Austen Society”, is a much-loved international bestseller. In her second novel, “Bloomsbury Girls”, she returns to the world of books. Jenner used to own an independent bookshop so it was easy for her to come up with a setting for her second book.

The novel was inspired during the pandemic when the housebound author rewatched “84 Charing Cross Road”, a favourite movie (and book).

“Bloomsbury Girls” begins in England, on 19 December 1949, with Evie Stone, who has recently graduated with honors from Cambridge University. What follows is the story of Vivien, Grace and Evie, three very dissatisfied female employees of a quintessential old fashioned London book shop in 1950. They are engaged with a battle of the sexes with their male department heads and they band together, plan to perform a coup and try to take over the book shop.

“Bloomsbury Girls” is a tribute to the power of the written word, and a captivating read.

Another brilliant novel by Natalie Jenner. Her love of Austen and books makes me a fan. Set in a bookstore and I was hooked.

I was happy to return to the world of the Jane Austen Society and see where Evie Stone ended up. This volume follows her from university to a job in London in Bloomsbury Books. There she meets a new cast of characters (and we see some old ones) while she pursues her goal. I loved the strong female characters and the setting!

Oh my goodness I loved this just as much as I loved The Jane Austen Society. I love that there was some character overlap from The Jane Austen Society. Bloomsbury Girls is set in a small bookstore and the three main women each have a story of their own. I enjoyed the way each chapter starts off with one of the bookstores rules. The characters are well developed and lovable. It was fun to read and recognize some historic names. Overall a very charming enjoyable book. I would recommend reading it!

The Bloomsbury Girls work at the Bloomsbury Book Store. Vivien's aristocratic fiance died in the war. She is very sophisticated and aspires to be a writer. Grace Lowery is the secretary to the manager, Herbert Dutton. She is in a difficult marriage with two young boys and needs her job to support her family. Evie Stone is a recent graduate of Cambridge but has been looked over for a research position for a fellow scholar with much less ability.

The book was slow but pleasant enough. The women didn't seem to have a really strong connection and I didn't feel the characters themselves were well developed.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

A bit of a slow start but follows the same pattern that had me enjoying the first book in this series. Though stand alone (with mild spoilers) Bloomsbury Girls takes the reader to post war London, and a book shop hidden with secrets. But will these three women have what it takes to push past society’s expectations and find the lives they deserve?

Bloomsbury girls was a great look at the struggles women has to overcome to gain independence. The characters were strong and well developed and the setting was comforting (hey, I love book stores). Jenner has a way with developing characters and relationships that leaves you feeling a kinship with the whole group.

Bloomsbury Girls introduces us into the world of a London bookstore, five years after the end of World War Two. The novel mainly focuses on three women, all employees of Bloomsbury Books: Vivien Lowry, Grace Perkins, and Evelyn (Evie) Stone. They come from different walks of life, but become friends, and in the end they are tied by a common goal they'll see to fruition.

Readers who've enjoyed The Jane Austen Society, the author's first book, will enjoy this one, too. Characters from the first book make appearances in Bloomsbury Girls. One aspect I really liked is how the author managed to make the novel sound as if you're reading something written in the mid-20th century. I sometimes had the feeling I'm reading a classic. Yes, some choice of words did sound precious, but I loved this aspect. No bland writing here!

Another thing I enjoyed tremendously was using real life people as characters. Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, Sonia Mary Brownell Orwell, Daphne du Maurier - all these become people of great impact in the novel. Besides there, there are a lot of characters in this book. The list at the beginning of the novel comes in handy, but for those reading an e-book version, keep a list, it'll be helpful. However, they all tie in well together, and no one is an unnecessary character. Each character, no matter how disliking they might seem in the beginning, is given enough background to help the reader understand them as a human. Looking back, I can't say there's a character I ended up not being interested in.

This is a historical novel, but we are not told a lot about the political, social, or economic state London is in 1950. The focus is more on the library's history and on its employees' personal histories. This is clearly what we call an inclusive novel, also one with lots of feminist tendencies. The desire to push the limits and go beyond the pre-prescribed norms of the past is reflected even in how each chapter begins: with one of the 51 rules of the store's general manager, Mr. Dutton. The chapters then go to show how they are, subtly or less subtly, broken. I thought that was a nice touch.

I also liked the observations sprinkled throughout the novel, via the characters' thoughts. The observations are mainly on a person's purpose and ambitions, the norms and regulations society imposes that constrain and never liberate. It's something that reminded me of her first novel, where the author would go into "a lecture" on various things. It's not something bothersome, especially since you get to understand the characters more. I must confess that at some point I was rather not in the right spirit to read, but upon further reflection, I realised this is not the kind of book to rush through. Nothing major happens, although the action takes place over a few months. It's more of what people would call a character driven book. I am glad I read it, though. I am sure I'll read anything else Natalie Jenner writers: she has a way of making a time period come alive and transport you in that setting.

This is the story of three women working in a bookstore after WWII. It made you realize the hardships after the war especially of women. A treasure read!
Thank you to Netgalley and publisher St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

I had never read the author's previous book, but was able to enjoy this one without having read it. There was some references to the Jane Austen Society but this book was able to be read stand alone without having read.

I really loved this book. I loved the setting, the time period, the characters, and all their quirks. While the ending did wrap up neatly, (and I usually don't like that) it just felt right with this story. The book was not overly happy but just the right amount.

I LOVED The Jane Austen Society so I was really excited for this sequel. Unfortunately, I think my expectations were a little too high. Overall, I like the premise of the book, the characters and the plot but I found myself not too engaged. I did love how it took place at a bookstore and in 1950. The story also included a fun array of secondary characters that I really enjoyed.

This book as I mentioned takes place at a bookstore in 1950. It is just after World War 2 and life is trying to get back to normal. The book focuses on the various employees of the shop, specifically the 3 women employees. The bookshop has a rigid set of rules that are highlighted at the beginning of each chapter.

I hate that I didn't love this more since I loved the first book. This did have a good plot and good characters but I just didn't connect too well with them. Still, I did read it in just a couple of days so it was holding my attention!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Great unique characters, I was immersed in the world and really think this is a great historical fiction read.

This is my first book by the author and it is an enjoyable one. I loved that it centered around three strong women working in a bookstore. Wanting to bring women’s fiction in to be more important in the store and the resistance they met. A little bit of romance and a lot working towards one's dreams. I enjoyed the characters and the journey. I must go look up the Jane Austen Society.

After reading and loving The Jane Austen Society, I was delighted to recommend this in our live Summer Reading Guide Unboxing for the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club.

An entertaining historical novel set soon after WWII in London about a somewhat stodgy bookstore and the three women who work there in defiance of male norms. Their story - and determination not to be ignored - provide the framework of the novel. The pace is somewhat slow but made more interesting by the appearance of some secondary characters such as Daphne du Maurier and Ellen Doubleday.

1950: Bloomsbury Books has been in business for 100 years, run by men, following the general manager’s 51 unbreakable rules. The women who work in the store have plans, though. There is Viven Lowry, whose aristocratic fiancé died in World War II and who butts heads constantly with Alec McDonough, head of fiction; Grace Perkins, who supports her family since her husband’s breakdown after the war; and Evie Stone, one of the first females to graduate with a degree from Cambridge, looking to remake her future at Bloomsbury after being denied a career in academia.

This book is a sequel to <i>The Jane Austen Society</i> but can easily be read as a standalone. With the influx of World War II novels over the past decade, it was refreshing to read one set a few years post-war. The story started a bit slow for me but soon picked up as I became invested in the store and everyone’s lives. The three women all had their own distinct personalities but were strong in their own ways. A solid 3.5 star read

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Thanks so much to the author and St. Martin's Press for the gifted advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts! And thanks as well to Netgalley for the gifted e-copy. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW: misogyny, racial prejudice

I was so in love with The Jane Austen Society when I listened to it in 2020, so when one of my favorite characters from that book was going to be a part of a new story, I knew I had to read it. And I was so excited and grateful to have gotten an early copy and get to read it early! It certainly lived up to everything I was hoping from it.

This book is a good, old-fashioned battle of the sexes, but set in a bookshop in 1950. Because of the setting it had a little bit of the upstairs-downstairs feel that you'd get from something like Downton Abbey, but also the storyline of something more like a workplace contemporary. I really found myself wrapped up in this story, in a way that I had to keep reading because I wanted to know what was happening next, but I also kept putting it down because I didn't want it to end. Although in the end I did end up staying up far past my bedtime to finish it. (And on vacation too! So you know that means a lot.)

The three women at the center of this novel are such firecracker characters! The types of characters that I always have issues figuring out if I want to be them or if I want to be friends with them, and honestly the answer is usually somewhere in the middle of the two.
Obviously after falling in love with her in Society, I was THRILLED to get more of Evie! And I feel like she really comes into her own in this book. All of the brains and qualities that we saw and loved in the last book feel like they really pay off and come full circle in this one.
Grace has the kind of life that I always wanted to have (with one exception being her current relationship with her husband) - married with kiddos and working in a bookshop. Kind of the dream, right? And I really love seeing a character who might not realize how lonely they are, but then they find their core group and they really bloom. And boy does she bloom! She is so wise and so caring and supportive, and just overall a really wonderful character. I want to be in any friend group with Grace, because she would definitely be the best version of the "mom" in the friend group - gives great advice, stands up for you, makes the best coffee. The best.
And Vivien is so glamourous! Her life obviously isn't perfect, and she has been through so much, but she has come out of it all and is not only strong but also not afraid to have fun! It would be so easy to write a character with a difficult past that is closed off to connections and experiences, but Vivien is still so full of life and just overall a really enjoyable character.
I would read so many more hours of stories with these women at their centers.

Overall, this book was a warm hug. I loved it so much, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a fairly slow-paced read. I think that the perfect way to read it would be on a slow Sunday morning with a cup of tea or coffee.

Bloomsbury Girls follows the lives of the three female staff of Bloomsbury Books, in post war 1950s London. Evie, Grace and Vivian are all very different characters but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them all.

Although Evie is a character from the author’s previous book, The Jane Austen Society, (I hadn’t actually realised going in that it was going to be a follow up) it can still definitely be read as a stand-alone.

I really appreciated that the romance aspect of the book, while charming, wasn’t centre stage, and that instead the book felt more like it focused on the female characters in their own right.

This is a slower paced historical fiction novel than others I’ve read recently but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Just as lovely and as bookish as The Jane Austen Society. I ended up listening to this on audio (from the library) while following along with the digital copy and highly enjoyed it that way.

Jenner once again captured a group of women determined to make a change and stick it to the man - I love it.

I thought I would love this one. I was so anticipating it. I loved the premise. Three ladies in the 1950's who work in a charming old bookshop in London. It just fell a little flat for me.

Evie, Grace and Vivian work in a big old bookshop in London together. They are surrounded by men who basically have all the control even though the ladies truly run the shop. The book features many powerful themes within. Themes of inequality in the workplace, discrimination of gender, race and sexual orientation. There were also several real life historical figures that make appearances. I think if you enjoy classical literature you will appreciate that.