Thanks to NetGalley and Natalie Jenner for an advanced audiobook copy of Bloomsbury Girls.

I really enjoyed this story. The audio was great. Easy to understand and follow along.

I liked this book, but didn't love it. This might be in part because I haven't read The Jane Austen Society, so I didn't have that preexisting attachment to any of the characters. Without that, though, I found it a little hard to get invested, and the pace was a little too slow-moving for me. That said, I love this time period, and I love books about bookshops, so there was certainly still plenty for me to enjoy! The exploration of women's lives and the challenges they navigated during this particular era were handled well and with nuance, and the inclusion of various real people from literary history as characters was charming. I thought the narrator did a great job for the audiobook as well. Overall, a perfectly pleasant reading experience, even if not one of my more memorable ones, and I think people who have ready the author's previous book will probably enjoy it more than I did.

Bloomsbury Girls is a celebration of women standing up for themselves, fighting for their freedom and what they believed in, and getting together to overthrow this man's world they were imprisoned in. I discovered Natalie Jenner last year with The Jane Austen Society. I fell head over heels with Jenner's writing and all her characters within the novel. What a lovely surprise to meet glamorous Mimi and cutie Evie again. But little Evie turned out to be a very smart young women, freshly graduated from Cambridge. She gets hired, reluctantly, at Bloomsbury Books, thanks to a strong letter of recommendation. You wouldn't believe what she, with the help of other badass ladies, was able to accomplish. The message of this book? "Love conquers all" and "Set your mind into something and do it"

I couldn't recommend this book enough to anyone loving historical fiction and stories including strong female characters.

Bravo Ms Jenner! -A faithful fan

I dropped one star for the audio version of the book because I did not connect with the narrator's voice. Too British and too wet.

Thank you Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for this e-ARC in exchange of my honest opinion

I love the communities Julie Anne Lindsey builds in her different series. This one in particular, we get to see how the other half lives, after learning that the people of Cromwell don't really mix with those of Bliss from her other series. The mystery was interesting but since this was the first book in the series, more time was spent in world building than investigating. A previous murder investigated by Louisa is mentioned several times (again, from the other series) and it got a little confusing for me because I couldn't really remember the details but it didn't take away from the story. I loved the addition of a living history museum and can't wait to see that used in another storyline.

I received a copy from the author for an honest review.

Such an enjoyable read. I am going to re-try The Jane Austin Society again.

There are a few spot that I felt like could have been omitted, but overall very interesting characters. The setting and story were well developed. I loved that each chapter had one of the rules and how it all comes together in the end was fantastic.

Bloomsbury Girls
Natalie Jenner

English actress Juliet Stevenson is a superb choice for the narration of this marvelous work of fiction, she gives life to every character from the most minor to the three female stars. Her voice is precise and understandable and while telling the story delivers the right emotion at the right time.

After the rave reviews and success of The Jane Austen Society the Divine Ms. Jenner has done it again! Bloomsbury Girls is smashing and this brilliant author deals with office romances, coworker conflicts while promoting girl power. The novel begins right at the beginning of 1950 a few years after The Jane Austen Society ends and stars one of the main characters from the book, Evie Stone, fans will remember the maid who catalogued the entire Chawton Library.

The backdrop is impeccably researched and gives the audience a genuine armchair experience of 1950s post war London still battle scarred but healing. Ms. Jenner has also outdone herself with the easily read, flawless flowing narrative that gives readers that fabulous fly on the wall view of the read where they know things that characters are scratching their heads about. But don’t think there aren’t any AH HA!, moments because there are plenty. There are also some really famous cameo appearances plus some memorable returning characters from the previous novel. Speaking of the characters, they are superb, some larger than life, some who just think they are and some that will pull at heartstrings but all imperative to the telling of this tale. And of-course it’s the Bloomsbury Girls, Evie, Grace and Vivien who are the real stand-outs and will steal the show along with reader’s hearts. Fans of WWII fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction and stories staring strong female leads with unsinkable attitudes will stay up all night to finish this amazing work of fiction.



Looking for somewhere to belong after losing her fiancé to the war, Vivien Lowry a secret aspiring writer, hoped Bloomsbury Books would be that place. But she soon learns that like everywhere else in post war England women who during the war were considered essential workers now five years later found themselves, like her, pushed once more into the background.

Married (unhappily) with two small sons Grace Perkins took the job as secretary to the GM at Bloomsbury Books to help make ends meet which now with her husband practically unemployable is a godsend. The job also gives her time away from her husband’s recent more volatile mood swings and for the female camaraderie in a male dominated workplace and world that she finds in her good friend Vivien’s company.
Little did the women know that the winds of change had just arrived in the form of unassuming Evie Stone from the small village of Chawton England, a recent and one of the first women graduates of Cambridge, one of the founding members of The Jane Austen Society, a girl who simply wants to conquer the world. With her impeccable research and a little help from her friends she just might know the way do it. Now all she has to do is jump all the hurdles that life and men have thrown at her.

I apologize but I am not able to finish this book. I am very bored and don’t care about the story at all. I haven’t been able to connect with the characters.

It’s probably a me problem. I am a big mood reader and maybe it’s just not the right time for this story.

Thank you for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I will not be sharing this on my pages.

I had high hopes for this book but it just fell short for me. The interweaving stories of three women and their journeys while working in the same bookstore were suppressed by society and living in a man’s world. The three stories just didn’t move at a pace that kept me interested nor did it provide the depth I was hoping for. I stopped and started the book 3 times. I just kept hoping for more.

Though I loved the voice of Juliet Stevenson I felt the pace was too slow for me. I increased the speed which solved the problem. However, she handled the many characters voices well.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.

Bloomsbury Girls is another warm and comfy read by Natalie Jenner. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every character in this well-told story. I was sorry to say goodbye to the sweet characters. I look forward to Jenner's next novel. Keep 'em coming, Natalie!!

NOTE: I listened to the very well produced and read audio version of this, so do not have the written word to remind me of names or spellings. Did my best. Enjoy this book with many a smile and some moments of reflection!

This is a lovely story capturing post-war London in 1950 and a new era of how women were finding their voices and wings in changing times. Bloomsbury Books is run by men but Jenner largely focuses on the three women who work there. Lord Baskin owns the store, as an ancestor won it in a card game a hundred years ago. It doesn't make much money, but he is aware that several of his employees rely on the income in these uncertain times. Still, he thinks about its future and what to do with this store, where he personally worked for a time.Reading Bloomsbury Girls like watching one of those television shows with a cast that is collaborative and you come to know and understand every character. It includes cameos of well known literary celebrities of the era, mostly women.

Evie Stone finished with a first at Cambridge but was cut out of a research position by a less worthy man. She intentionally seeks a job at Bloomsbury Books in London, to catalog and organize their disheveled rare books section. She has another motive that becomes huge as the book goes on. It is, to me a delicious concept and creates some intrigue and moral dilemmas along the way. Vivian and Alec work in fiction but he got the management job and she is stuck at the cash counter, bursting with ambition and resentment. We know that they both are aspiring writers.. Grace, the "secretary" to the manager is a mother of two in a difficult marriage. Her husband came back from WWII mentally ill and is emotionally abusive.

The manager of Bloomsbury Books has written and expects all to abide by a list of 51 rules. As you can imagine, for anyone to come up with 51 rules for a bookstore with a total of seven employees, many of them are absurd and they add humor as well as drama throughout. One rule opens each chapter as the plot develops, with various relationships that suggest romance is in the air, secrets that only the reader knows and pop up appearances by other characters from The Jane Austen Society (admission: I did not read this but will!). However this is a stand alone book so feel free to read it the two novels out of order.

Throughout, Jenner touches gently but clearly on bias against people from India in London; the danger of being homosexual in 1950s England; how women of means could "get away" with independent behavior that would be far too dangerous for lower class women; the abysmal economy of post-war Great Britain; the losses still painful and more. Some of the romance is improbable and so are several friendships but who cares? The best scene in the book is one we giggle and cheer through and requires major suspension of disbelief. Very enjoyable. Jenner writes so well she makes me smile at all the connections and relationships and she is a satisfying writer, tying up each loose end neatly with a sense of humor throughout but also a sense of justice.

I enjoyed this narrator. She did a magnificent job of bringing this book to life I definitely want to visit this bookstore now.

Following three women who work at a new and rare book store, Bloomsbury girl is a historical fiction that looks into the life of this book store in the 1950s. It is a depiction of post-war life through the eyes of Vivien, a single woman who lost her fiancé in the war and wants to be a writer; Grace, a married woman looking for freedom but bound by her widely duties; and Evie, a Cambridge graduate looking to find her path after being looked over for an academic position. The prose is beautiful and the characters are original and interesting, but I don’t feel like a lot happens and it took a little bit for me to get into it. And while this isn’t a sequel, there was a lot of mention of the author’s previous book that I wish I had read that first for the context. I did like the look into such unique characters. Their journeys are so individual, but it felt like it took a while for the storylines to really come together. Grace was my favorite character—she wants so much and I adored watching her come to her own. I liked the bits of romance throughout for these three women, and I liked their determination. This book took on the hardship of being a woman in a time where they were treated as less than a man. It was interesting reading about this post-war life and having this look at it through this bookstore. It is a smart read, and I loved how these women who were in such different positions of life came together. For the audiobook, I also loved the narrator. It is a beautifully written historical romance with characters that are easy to root for and a story that is satisfying and enjoyable.

The Bloomsbury Girls was such an enjoyable read. Natalie Jenner has us reading about three hardworking women of Bloomsbury Books who all have dreams they are working towards while their male co-workers run the store and squash any chance of their dreams coming to fruition.

The soothing voice of Juliet Stevenson made this book so pleasurable to listen to as she brought the moods and emotions of all characters to the table. Each character's thoughts and words were easily identified as Juliet 's narration flowed smoothly which must have been trying since there were quite a few characters. Well done!

Each chapter begins with the reading of one of the bookshop's 51 strict rules for employees while each chapter ends with one of the employees breaking that rule. It took me a few chapters to realize this and was quite fun to figure out which employee would falter.

The three women stick together as each one is treated as a second-class citizen compared to their male counterparts. Jenner nailed the unfair rituals that not only happened in the 1950's but also in the 70's when the credit for my work was given to my male supervisor since I was new to the department and was in my early 20's. So, this book hit close to home.

Very much enjoyed The Bloomsbury Girls and now need to read The Jane Austen Society!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and #NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Books, a book store that has been around for 100 years and is owned by a member of the aristocracy, although he doesn't have anything to do with the day-to-day operations of it. The man in charge has set-up 51 rules for the employees to follow in their jobs and the way that they deal with the customers. The women who work at Bloomsbury Books end up turning things upside down when they get the chance. This story is about more than books and literature. It's about female friendships, taking risks to go after what you want, and believing in yourself. I didn't realize that this was a sequel to The Jane Austen Society, but didn't feel that I missed anything by not having read that book first. Now I can't wait to go back and read that story so that I can get to know some of the characters better. The narrator of this audio book was fantastic and made the story come alive for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this audio book from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved this book set in a bookstore! Taking place just after WWII, the women of Bloomsbury Books are struggling to make their own way in the changing world.

We get to see alternating narrators, one of which was in Jenner’s first book, The Jane Austen Society. Each of the 3 females in the story are striving for their dreams and interacting with some of the most famous literary figures of their day!

I squealed with delight when Daphne Du Maurier appeared on the page, but you’ll see Peggy Guggenheim, Ellen Doubleday, and more scattered throughout this charming tale.

I was a huge fan of The Jane Austen Society, so I was excited to listen to this audiobook by Natalie Jenner. While I found the characters to be likable and three dimensional, I struggled with the slow pacing of this one. In my opinion, things did not pick up and become interesting until the last 20% of the story.
Overall, not a bad book but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d expected to.

My new favorite! A not too long ago historical fiction, about an era less rarely discussed. This book is a nice departure from the much more frequently written WWII era novels. A broad range of characters, and a solid mix of female personalities. In a book that could have easily turned to female competitions, the focus on strong female relationships and support was a welcome change of pace. I so enjoyed this one!

This book was lovely -it is such a genuine peek into the past. The services and roles expected of women of that time and the reactions of these women. The camaraderie between the working men and their exclusive rights. It was so fun to recognize a few names and to cheer the women on as they grew into a confident group of powerful women.

I loved Jane Austen Society, so I was so excited to hear about the author's next book. This book deals with the challenges women faced in the mid-1950s in finding well-paying jobs. Sexism is addressed as well, Sadly it is rampant in society. We meet three women - Evie Stone, one of the first female graduates from Cambridge, Grace Perkins, a wife, mother, and Vivian Lowery, who lost her fiancé during the war. They meet at Bloomsbury Books, a new bookstore. I very much enjoyed the narrator, Juliet Stevenson. I felt she was a good fit for all the women, and her pacing fit the story. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I'll definitely be reading "The Jane Austin Society" after finishing this book. I do not feel I missed anything by not reading it first. This novel could be classified as a stand-alone.
I loved the various POVs of the characters and the determination of the women. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful historical fiction.