As a thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio, I write this review on Natalie Jenner’s audiobook production of her second novel “Bloomsbury Girls”. After having read Jenner’s debut novel “ The Jane Austen Society” I eagerly anticipated this novel. In the novel we follow three women whose literary experience leads them to “Bloomsbury Books”. They ask what being a 1950’s woman in publication means and raises this question to booksellers, and officials in publishing themselves. When learning that the audiobook would be narrated by Juliet Stevenson increased my excitement. Stevenson’s narration style was my introduction to audiobook listening ex. Mrs. Dalloway, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre,etc. Stevenson’s diction, delivery and cadence highlighted my experience of Jenner’s novel. Stevenson raises the listeners awareness to the individuality these characters possess and lend her camouflaging ability to become various literary figures of the time ex.Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim and more. I highly recommend this audiobook and give it a strong five stars out of five.

“Bloomsbury Girls” is the convincing tale of spirit, hope, and courage for several post-WWII characters in and around a London bookstore—but mostly, it’s about the mighty connection between women in this character-driven narrative. Strongly sketched principals Evie Stone (former maid, now one of Cambridge’s first women graduates—and alumna from Jenner’s first “The Jane Austen Society”), Vivien Lowry (an aspiring writer who lost her fiancé in the war), and Grace Perkins (wife, mother, and sole provider for her family) find success and disappointment in this setting where men seemingly have all the power.

Though this is a women-centric novel, there are notable male characters, too, who not only add friction to the dialog and plot but also color my romantic sensibilities for all to find their happily-ever-after beyond the business of the bookshop.
As they reviewed the shop’s dismal accounts together, they fell back into another familiar routine. They would suddenly and simultaneously stop what they were doing, take a sip of tea that Grace had since made them, and observe the rest of the staff through the large glass window to her office. At one point, they both watched in amusement as Alex sidled up to Vivien at the cash counter and inquired about something, only to have her respond by throwing down her pencil and storming off.
“Those two need to find neutral ground of some sort.” Lord Baskin laughingly shook his head. “Not all relationships, I would hope, need to end in war.”—Chapter 12
Each chapter opens with one of the store’s 51 Unbreakable Rules, cleverly tying the chapter back to the rule. For example, Rule No. 28: Relations between staff members must remain strictly professional at all times. No spoilers from me, but with a staff of intriguing women and men, you might imagine what kind of tension and histories Chapter Ten reveals. And...whilst Evie looks for a priceless first edition that would further her credibility as a researcher but also satisfy her academic curiosity and more...
Evie’s heart now quickened at the possibility that here on the second floor was where “The Mummy!” had been hiding all along. The main reason Evie had applied for the position at Bloomsbury Books might soon be within her grasp—she had no idea what she would do if it wasn’t.
Ironically, Evie wasn’t even sure what she would do if it was. She did not have enough money to meet its purchase price, which she presumably was no less than the twenty pounds that Mr. Allen had bid and paid for it nearly four years ago. Evie didn’t dare confide in anyone else the book’s potential value or solicit help to purchase it. To her mind, this was an implicit violation of rule number twenty-four: not using knowledge acquired in the course of employment for personal gain or benefit.—Chapter 21
Jenner pens snappy dialog and likable characters as she expertly blends historical details into her fiction, engaging me until the last nail-biting chapters and heartwarming final pages. I particularly relished the titillating interactions with real-life literary figures like Daphne du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair, Samuel Beckett, and Peggy Guggenheim.
“So you are one of two people in the world to have read it,” Miss du Maurier remarked with unusual humility. “Although I will admit, I circulated it far more widely than that. To no avail, I might add.”
“It’s a powerful story.”
“I always say, ‘Women want love to be a novel, men a short story.’” Du Maurier smiled brightly at the room as the women in the audience gamely laughed. Vivien looked over at Alec, who was watching from the other side of the makeshift stage. He did not look amused.—Chapter 19
With sentiment and wit, Jenner delves into the intricacies of female bonds and sometimes all-encompassing love—and the drive to be loved. “Bloomsbury Girls,” a poignant story of achievement above social and economic adversity, is a must-read for historical fiction lovers, booksellers, and readers alike. I hope no one revokes my Janeite card, but I enjoyed this more than “The Jane Austen Society.” 5 stars.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by acclaimed actress Juliet Stevenson. Stevenson immerses herself in this cast of many, and her performance is well-paced and distinct, pulling me in from the start. Still I wished for a little more variation for the Bloomsbury female employees and even the voice of Ash Ramaswamy. Overall, I appreciated the subtle rendering without making the voices caricatures. Stevenson shines as the star we expect!

I absolutely loved Natalie Jenner's debut The Jane Austen Society in 2020 and I was eager to read her new release as well! Bloomsbury Girls is a historical fiction novel set in post-WWII London in a sweet-sounding bookshop. The cast of characters we encounter in this story took me a second to keep track of, but I really ended up enjoying all of them! Grace, Vivien, and Evie (who was in The Jane Austen Society) all come from different backgrounds; the former two women have worked at Bloomsbury Books for years and Evie begins working in the rare books section as this novel begins. I loved reading (hearing - I listened to the audiobook mostly) about how these women's relationships evolved with each other and with other employees or those involved in the bookshop. Above all, it was fun to encounter characters us literary fans may know of: Daphne Du Maurier, Doubleday, Peggy Guggenheim, and Ellen Doubleday <-- of Doubleday Publishers.

The ending to the story was so satisfying, and I won't spoil it, but I *loved* the way these women came together and came out on top. It was fun and felt a bit like a heist got pulled off or something and I loved that.

Another gem from a Canadian author!! If you enjoy historical fiction that is NOT set in a war and follows a timeline of several different characters, I think you'd like this one as I did. The audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson was really just the icing on the cake. Thank you to @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for the gifted copy of the audiobook and ebook in exchange for an honest review. I recommend this one and The Jane Austen Society!!!

I loved The Jane Austen Society, so when I heard Natalie Jenner had another book-related novel, I said yes, please! Bloomsbury Girls takes Evie Stone from Jenner’s first novel, and places her, along with a strong cast of characters, in the book shop Bloomsbury Books. Jenner does an admirable job of transporting the reader back to post-WWII England as many strive to find new lives in the ever-changing aftermath of the war. Class distinctions and the place of women and minorities in a new world are explored amid the bookshelves of a grand, but struggling bookstore. And for the bibliophiles among us, there are plenty of interactions with publishing notables and favorite authors. (My favorite, Daphne DuMaurier, plays an integral role.) The struggles of a society are mirrored in the microcosm of the bookstore. Characterization is a strong point of this book. Main and supporting characters alike are fully developed. I listened to the audiobook version of the novel which was excellently read by Juliet Stevenson. If you are a fan of audiobooks, I suggest you download this one soon.

Bloomsbury Girls is an outstanding general market novel that I won’t hesitate to recommend. Filled with historical detail, societal issues that make one think, and characters to love, it is a recommended read.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

Bloomsbury Girls tells the story of three women in 1950 working in a London bookstore. The novel details the frustrations women faced in the workforce during the time of the setting. Some characters from Natalie Jenner's The Jane Austen Society, show up in Bloomsbury Girls, including young Evie Stone, who is one of the three main characters. The first half of the story seemed to move slowly, but my interest peaked in the second half.
I was given an ARC of this audiobook by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
#netgalley
#historicalfiction
#nataliejenner
#bloomsburygirls

This story did not draw me in as much as I thought it would. It seemed rather tame, I thought the characters would be a bit more Bohemian, since the store was named Bloomsbury Books.
I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator had a pleasant voice, which seemed a realistic choice for a narrative about 1950's women.
The setting was nice, I liked the idea of an old, somewhat archaic bookstore and the comradery of the women who worked there. However, I found the women vs men theme a little tiresome - perhaps I have read too many books with that in it recently.

Can I get a hooray for books about books?!

Bloomsbury Girls follows 3 women who work at an old-fashioned bookstore in London - Vivien, Grace, and Evie - and they are sick of making tea for the men who run the store and make all the rules. But times are changing and these ladies are about the bend some rules...

Told in multiple POV, there is something for everyone in this heartwarming, compelling, and delightful story!

Romance, girl power, and everything bookish you could ask for. But also important and relevant themes including racism, homophobia, and misogyny - it’s about standing up for yourself and finding courage.

There is even a bit of mystery surrounding an extremely rare book. And as you cross paths with some familiar literary women including Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, and Peggy Guggenheim - you cannot help but feel immersed in this realistic storyline.

Bloomsbury Girls is a passionate ode to cultivating relationships, following your dreams, taking a stand, and the comforting, yet powerful love of books. The most perfect read for historical fiction book lovers!

Natalie Jenner proves again that she’s a wonderful author that keeps her readers captivated in this classic “Jane Austen” story where women are strong, intelligent and surprising.

Set in a London bookstore in 1950, three women colleagues engage in a battle of the sexes with the men in charge.

Like her previous book; The Jane Austen Society, this is the kind of book that you would read again. In my opinion, it should also be made into a movie too!

The author brings back a few characters from her previous book which was delightful. I felt like I was involved in a story with people I knew.

The twists are unexpected and the story doesn’t leave any loose ends.

I’m happy to recommend Bloomsbury Girls and am already looking forward to Natalie Jenner’s next book.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for this Advance Audio Book. I also really enjoyed the voice of the Narrator Juliet Stevenson.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early read/listen. The characters were all likable. Narrator did a great job telling the story and giving each character their own voice. Will recommend.

Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society was a delightful read in June of 2020, and her follow-up novel, Bloomsbury Girls does not disappoint. Once again Jenner has brought to her readership a wide cast of amusing characters, excellent storytelling and unexpected literary touchstones. While there are characters and narrative details which are tied to The Jane Austen Society, this second work stands on its own well enough that newcomers could easily begin with this title. That said, understanding the background of some individuals would increase the reader’s enjoyment.

A predominant connective character is Miss Evie Stone, a meek and young lady who not only played a pivotal role in The Jane Austen Society, but in her own quiet way is a heroine in the lives of the other women in Bloomsbury Girls. In Miss Stone we find a recurring theme of the novel: the desire for more. Evie is a graduate of Cambridge, yet finds herself toiling away as a mere book cataloguer. She has dreams for the future, but it is unclear whether they can be realized. In the same vein, her co-workers within the Bloomsbury bookshop often exhibit variations of the same yearning. The women are often inhibited by the patriarchal mores of society and the rules-bound bookshop itself. Some of the men also long for more, but various forces keep them hemmed in behind desks or in particular employment roles. As these individuals are finding their way in post-WWII London in the beginning months of 1950, the wheels of change begin to turn, and the adjustments which occur do not always run smoothly.

Natalie Jenner’s writing in The Jane Austen Society was enjoyable, but her skill has increased in the last two years. Her ability to weave a story, execute a turn of phrase and surprise this reader was simply enchanting. As a book lover, I highly enjoyed the literary cameos, with one in particular surprising me so much, I audibly cheered with glee when they emerged. The concept of Bloomsbury Girls is a simple one, but I was riveted from one chapter to the next. Many passages have been highlighted, with memorable quotes saved for future reading.

From a content standpoint, conservative readers can be aware that the “adult” material is approximately the same as was seen in The Jane Austen Society. There are a couple of bedroom scenes between two unmarried persons, but details are spare. Two men are in a secret relationship, but this element is not at the forefront. There is another thread regarding a married person, but I hesitate to give more details because of the “spoiler factor.” It may be sufficient to say that Jenner could have been much more colorful in the descriptions of all her adult relationships and the language that they used, but the strength of her storytelling did not necessitate this, and I appreciate her discretion.

Once again as I read Jenner’s work, I endeavored to assign “Hollywood casting” to the characters in the story. In this case the individuals that were chosen did not necessarily match the book characters perfectly in age or appearance, but sometimes were chosen because of the nature of their personalities. Evie Stone was once again “played” by Downton Abbey’s Sophie McShera. Juno Temple of Ted Lasso inhabited Viven Lowry, as did her co-star Nick Mohammed in the character of Ash Ramaswamy. Rachael Stirling of The Bletchley Circle was Grace Perkins. Actor Paul Bettany was Lord Jeremy Baskin. Dan Stevens, also of Downton Abbey, was Alec McDonough. There are other “casting” assignments, but in an effort to preserve the surprise of their appearances in the story, I will not reveal them here.

In addition to reading the text, I also supplemented it by listening to the audiobook version. I must admit, when I learned that Richard Armitage would not be returning for this second title, there was disappointment. I enjoyed his performance in The Jane Austen Society very much. However, narrator Juliet Stevenson has done masterful work in Bloomsbury Girls. Having a feminine voice for such a female-dominated story was really the right choice. She did have to portray male characters and did a fine job with this, but having a woman represent the majority view of the book made sense. I applaud the change in actors.

As a lover of books, book stores, and libraries, I highly enjoyed Bloomsbury Girls. It is not only a story of female empowerment, but it is a love letter to the literary and academic world. One of my favorite quotes from the novel holds true: “All great writing comes from a desire to escape, but you have to know what you are escaping to. The audience will follow anything you do if they are confident you know where you are going.” In Bloomsbury Girls Natalie Jenner knows where she is going, and she is leading her readers into a delightful story of yearning and fulfillment.

I liked this, but didn’t love it. The premise sounds fabulous and fascinating, I just never really connected to the three women and the story was a bit slow. It was interesting enough to keep going, but I wasn’t as invested as I wanted to be. I did like the ending a lot though.
Anyway, not trying to be mean, I really enjoyed the Jane Austen society, and lots of other people enjoyed this one.

Narration: I really enjoy Juliet Stevenson, she did a great job. I did not like her voice for Vivien, it made me dislike the character – but maybe you’re meant to.

Bloomsbury Girls tells the story of three women who work at a bookstore after a period of war. The bookstore that they work at is called Bloomsbury Books and the story follows each of these women's lives as well as the reasons why they are working at the bookstore. One woman, Vivian is working so that she can someday publish her one book. Another woman, Evie is working to set her future on a different path. Lastly, Grace is working to support her family. The bookstore that these women work for is ran mostly by men so these women face obstacles in that setting. Each chapter is a different rule that one of the men had set for the bookstore, but within each chapter at least one of the women is breaking this rule. Personally, I had high hopes for this book. I thought that I would enjoy it more than I did. This may be because of the narration of the audiobook. I liked how the narrator had an accent that was appropriate to the setting of this book, but I often times found myself having to rewind pieces of the story to understand what she was saying. I also realized I could only listen to this audiobook if I was doing nothing else because this is one I had to really focus for. I do like how each chapter was titled with a different rule though and then how that correlated to the story of the chapter. I thought that was a really fun and unique way to tell the story, but most definitely appreciate for this story.

I received an audio copy of Bloomsbury Girls through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Bloomsbury bookstore is run by males. It’s a men’s world in 1950. The females who work there are in the lowest paying jobs. They don’t have any influence on book selections or special events y female authors. Each has a love interest who also works in the store. I don’t know why this was included. If the author really wanted to show changing gender rolls, she should’ve left that out or maybe limit it to one female with a male counterpart. The book was enjoyable and the narrator was great. 3 stars.

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner 🌺

This is a book about books, about writers and about strong, independent women fighting for what they deserve and empowering other women to do the same.

Vivien Lowry lost her fiancé during WWII and now she aspires to be a writer. Grace Perkins has 2 sons and is stuck in an unhappy marriage. Evie Stone graduated from Cambridge in the first class that permitted women to earn a degree. She has a personal project: to reprint works from female authors that had been lost and neglected in the past. They all work in Bloomsbury Books, a hundred year old bookstore in London. There they get to know each other and end up changing each other’s lives.

The bookshop’s strict manager has enforced a set of fifty-one rules that every employee must follow. Each chapter starts with one of these rules. I found this interesting because it was a way of showing how these women start bending these outdated rules and transforming the old bookstore into a much better place.

“As we Americans like to say, rules are made to be broken.” Mimi Harrison.

I loved how Natalie Jenner included characters from her previous novel, The Jane Austen Society. She also includes well-known authors as characters, which makes the story even more realistic.

This story is a perfect combination of strong-minded, intelligent and talented women and books!

The audio version is wonderfully narrated by Juliet Stevenson and is 12h 30min long. Thank you @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the advanced audio copy of Bloomsbury Girls.

You know that excited feeling you get when you feel like you've found a bookish kindred spirit? I'm talking about the kind person who really gets why you geek out on literary history and the smell of old books. That's the feeling I get after reading both of Natalie Jenner's novels. As with The Jane Austen Society, she shares little nuggets of literary history in her new book, showing just how deep her love of books and authors go.

When I started Bloomsbury Girls, I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the characters from The Jane Austen Society carry over to this novel. There is a rich cast of characters, but the novel primarily centers around the three women working at Bloomsbury Books; Vivien, Grace and Evie. They are outnumbered in a male dominated bookshop managed by tradition and an excess of rules. But the ladies have grand visions for moving the bookshop into the future, if the men would just let them. When a change of circumstances presents the opportunity for the ladies to show what they can do, they rise to the occasion. Appearances of literary stars of the day, like Daphne Du Maurier and Samuel Beckett add to the fun. I really loved this one.

Bloomsbury Books is a wonderful old book store in London. It has been under male management forever. With strict rules and designed places for every employee, Bloomsbury Books is a store stuck in a rut. These three women start out working a job but end up changing their whole lives and the future of Bloomsbury Books.

When I first started listening to this book…I had my doubts. It was a bit slow to start. But, I very soon was captivated with these young ladies! My favorite, of course, is Evie! She is smart, intelligent and a complete introvert!

I enjoyed so much about this book…the time period, the book references, the famous people and of course the work place politics and rules.

The narrator, Juliet Stevenson, is superb. She is soft spoken and nailed all the voices. Highly recommend listening to this book.

Need a good book with some major complexities…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

"She would not be going backwards; she would not be looking back."

Once again endearing historical fiction writer Natalie Jenner has given a gift to book lovers with her post WWII women empowerment novel The Bloomsbury Girls.

Three very different women work at the over 100 year book store Bloomsbury Books but they know they are united in being under appreciated and under valued.

Vivien, who lost her aristocratic fiance to the war, cannot hide her disdain for the beleaguered manager who dismisses her ideas or Alec, the Head of Fiction, who has too many double standards. She is done being "man" handled by those less equipped than herself.

Grace, tired mother of two, who runs the store more efficiently than her boss, keeps silent but waits her time as her emotionally abusive husband doesn't deal with his PTSD.

Then there is the ever resilient brilliant Evie, who we first met in the surprisingly clever author's debut novel, The Jane Austen Society. A graduate of the first female graduating class of Cambridge, Evie is working at the store looking for a rare book that may just solve these three women's discriminating treatment.

Narrator Juliet Stevenson brings a sense of British properness to the telling of this clever literary fiction that has a sense of witticism and an awesome gotcha moment.

With a few real historical literary figures like Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday and the formidable Peggy Guggenheim we are brought into a time when the world was on the cusp of cultural and civil rights change and these women have a most satisfying end game to play.

I received a free copy of this audiobook and novel for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Bloomsbury Girls is the second book by Natalie Jenner. It isn't billed as a sequel to her first novel The Jane Austen Society but a few characters from the first novel make an appearance in the second.

Before listening to Bloomsbury Girls I hadn't read The Jane Austen Society. I'm not a Jane Austen fan so when it came out in 2020 I didn't have an interest in reading it. However, I really enjoyed Bloomsbury Girls and Jenner's storytelling style I decided to put a hold on the audiobook at my digital library and it came in the same day I finished this book. So I will probably mention it some in my review, but if you haven't read The Jane Austen Society it is not necessary to read it first.

Bloomsbury Girls focuses on a new group of bibliophiles in 1950s London. The role and opportunities for women are changing, but not at Bloomsbury Bookstore where the rules of the shop ensure that nothing ever changes. Yet when the general manager suffers a health crisis, changes are inevitable. Vivian is finally getting her shot as she is named as acting head of fiction. She doesn't waste any time instituting changes in the department including a women's focus author visit during the afternoon - it doesn't hurt that she lands a very hot name in literary circles - Daphne du Maurier. As with most London businesses in the years following World War II, the book shop is struggling to return to its pre-war economic heyday. That is until now.

I found the introductory chapters to be a bit slow. I started to wonder why I picked up the book in the first place as I was not hooked and found it kind of boring. Now having listened to The Jane Austen Society, I realize that is part of Jenner's writing style - a slow build-up where you get to know the characters and the situation they find themselves in. I'm not exactly sure when it happened but at some point, I realized that I was totally sold on the story and the characters.

I loved Vivian, who I felt was the central character though there is an ensemble cast vibe too. The other characters are great too and you are really rooting for them all to be able to pursue and succeed at their goals in life. But what I was really impressed with Jenner's storytelling style is how she took an almost invisible character and made her the pivotal character.

Evie Stone first appeared in The Jane Austen Society. She was a girl of 16 working as a housemaid. She had few lines and is often described as sitting quietly in the corner of the room. You might not have noticed her. But without her interest in books and cataloging the great estate's enormous library (~3000 books), the plot would have gone nowhere. When she appears on the bookshop's doorstep, she has just left Cambridge where she has been studying. She's there to interview for a position in the rare book collection, but she also has an ulterior motive. While we do see a bit more of her in Bloomsbury Girls, she is still a largely invisible secondary character. It is even mentioned that another character had forgotten that Evie was still on the 3rd floor. Yet, as in the previous book, she is the lynchpin character. I think many readers will identify with Evie - I know I did. We often feel invisible, unimportant in our own story but we still can make a huge difference in the lives of our friends and family.

Juliet Stevenson does a wonderful job as the narrator. I had no trouble following the story or keeping track of the various characters.

I enjoyed Bloomsbury Girls a bit more than The Jane Austen Society. Mostly that has to do with not being an Austen fan and finding the characters' discussion of her works a bit tedious - though I did enjoy some of the other historical tidbits about the author's life. I also had trouble picturing the characters in the mid- to late 1940s. While I listened to the story, I kept picturing the characters in bonnets and top hats that would have been more appropriate for the 1800s. I think their speech and mannerisms might have also been mirroring Jane Austen's writing which would have also given that old-fashioned vibe. I was sucked into the story just as I was with Bloomsbury Girls. As I said in the beginning you don't have to read the first book to enjoy the second.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday, May 24 - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/05/bloomsbury-girls-by-natalie-jenner.html

This book was such a pleasant surprise! I had no idea it was written as a sequel to The Jane Austen Society, but that made it so much more enjoyable. I loved getting to see some of the characters from the first book, and getting to see what all Evie had accomplished. Vivian and Grace were equally delightful heroines, and overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

An early edition of this audiobook was provided with courtesy of NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, ,St. Martin's Press and the author Natalie Jenner for review purposes. Your generosity is appreciated. Thank you!

It is wonderfully narrated by Juliet Stevenson.

I requested to review this book because I liked the cover, and I like to read an occasional female-centered historical fictions. I would not say I am an avid reader of this genre in general though, and after receiving an advanced copy, I went back to listen to her earlier work, the Jane Austen Society published in 2020 and became an international best seller to familiarize myself with her work.
This book is a spin-off of the Jane Austen Society, featuring one of the characters of the last book, set 10 years or so later. I feel that this book is enjoyable on its own without reading her previous work if you are a fan of genre, especially if you are interested in women's positions at that time, and have a rebellious streak, or consider yourself feminist.

This book centers three main female characters, Vivien, Grace and Evie who all works at a century-old London bookstore, abiding to the general manager's unbreakable fifty-one books. Time is 1950, and Vivien had lost her fiance in the war, Grace is juggling her work with raising two children and her husband suffering from PTSD of the war, and Evie is dealing with denial of an academic position because he is a female.
Through the course of the novel, three females become friends, have love interests, and deal with signs of times. It also includes modern female literary characters which are interesting = Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others. Unfortunately though, I felt all the characters were only explored on the surface level and felt like cameos to me. I also felt the three main characters relationship superficial, similar to just a friendship with a colleague which would be abandoned once you change the job. Male characters were all uninteresting to me, which made romantic ties to the main characters lackluster to me. I felt this book was interesting and not a bad book ,but probably wouldn't be a book to read again and again. I also preferred the Jane Austen Society personally, so if you just want to read one of this author's book, I would recommend her first book personally.