I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to @authornataliejenner @stmartinspress and Laurel Ann Nattress for the generous #gifted book, and to @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2925 for the accompanying audiobook.

This remarkable novel had me utterly captivated from start to finish.

Set against the backdrop of 1865, it follows Charlotte and Henrietta, the daughters of a Chief Justice from Massachusetts, and the Pennsylvania-based book dealer brothers, Nicholas and Nelson, as they embark on a journey to England. Their eclectic group seeks to meet Sir Francis Austen and delve deeper into the life of his illustrious sister, Jane Austen. Along the way, the sisters experience the complexities of love, heartache, and enduring friendships they make aboard the steamship.

The writing is nothing short of exquisite. The intricate details woven throughout, regarding Jane Austen, Sir Francis Austen, and the legal systems of both America and England, are simply phenomenal. The storyline ensnares you, holding your attention as we accompany the sisters on their journey. I found the discussions in the book club formed by the justices, centered around Jane Austen's work, to be thought-provoking and insightful. The exploration of women's rights in both England and the evolving America is particularly enlightening, with a blend of historical context and a legal case enriching the sisters' story.

The narrator's performance is outstanding, truly bringing the characters to life. His portrayal of the women is particularly admirable, and his accent adds an additional layer of authenticity that enhances the overall experience.

If you’re on the lookout for a compelling historical adventure infused with the nuances of Jane Austen’s life, this book is an absolute must-read. Mark your calendars for its release on May 6, 2025, you won’t want to miss it!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review. I have such appreciation for any book that pays homage to Jane Austen! I enjoyed the justices’ debates about the different Austen books.

However, this book’s pacing was a bit slow for me, with a rushed ending and unanswered questions. There were LOTS of characters, so some of them felt unnecessary and some dynamics were pretty surface level and not fleshed out.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Natalie Jenner for a copy of this Arc. I will be giving my honest review.
While I enjoyed its focus on the capabilities of women during a time whilst inhabiting a world set to control and limit them…I do think the choice of a male narrator was a poor one.
I felt disinterested and disconnected from the story as a whole. In part from the overwhelming amount characters, strangely placed storylines (the dickens play) and amount of legal speak. I also didn’t think it’d be a problem for me but actually hated real historic characters being characters in the book.

3.5 stars
This is my first time reading a Natalie Jenner book, even though I do have her previous ones in my TBR. Austen at Sea releases next month and I was given both the Kindle edition and the audiobook for review.

Taking place in 1865 from a couple different view points. There are the sisters who are two women ahead of their time. They have a on going correspondence with Sir Frances Austen, who just happens to be the brother of Jane Austen. Another is from the Nelson brothers, bookstore owners who also just happen to have a correspondence with Sir Austen. These four meet on a ship bound for England, along with familiar faces in history.

I will confess that I have not read much Jane Austen, actually Pride and Prejudice is my only one, though I am intrigued after reading this book. Austen at Sea is an interesting read, and I much preferred the e-book versus the audio. I found the voices in the audio just a bit distracting.

Austen at Sea is a story of relationships, women ahead of their time, and well, Jane Austen and her legacy. It was atmospheric as it reflected the time. How women were treated and the tension between England and America. I am intrigued enough to head over to my TBR and boost Natalie Jenner‘s books up closer to the top.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillian Audio for advanced copies in exchange for a honest review

We’re only three weeks away from the release of Natalie Jenner‘s fourth novel, Austen at Sea. While this book continues her theme of Austeneque historical fiction, this one goes back farther in time, to 1865, and features people who knew Jane Austen in her lifetime. It follows two sisters who begin corresponding with Sir Francis Austen, brother of the famous author. With promises of a rare artifact, they leave Boston to visit him in England.

What struck me about Austen at Sea is how it’s so devoted to ideas. The myriad characters spend much of their time discussing literature (not just Jane Austen’s novels, but also works by Charles Dickens, the Brontës, and more), women’s place in society, and politics. What makes for a strong literary heroine? How is it fair that women give up their identity upon marrying? Why is it easier for men to seek divorce than women?

And while ideas make for lively discussions among the characters, they also become a major part of the plot. Elopement, ownership, citizenship, divorce… all of it arises throughout the course of this novel. Ultimately it is a book of forward-thinking people—early feminists—as they are united and inspired by literature to make changes in the real world.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and MacMillan Audio for the digital copy of this book and audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

According to the author, this book was inspired by two real-life stories. “… An 1848 correspondence between Admiral Sir Francis Austen and two Boston sisters, whose Harvard President father had been introduced to the works of Jane Austen by members of the United States Supreme Court; and the life and work of Abraham and Philip Rosenbach, Philadelphia book collectors and founders of the present-day Rosenbach Museum & Library. ” The book features Louisa May Alcott as a minor character, too. The overall theme is the Jane Austen legacy.

There are many characters and storylines to pay attention to, and some subplots work better than others. What I really liked about this historical fiction homage to Jan Austen was that everyone was a positive character; there were no antagonists or culprits to worry about. Such a breath of fresh air.

The audiobook was performed by Rupert Graves, who was Mr. Weston in 2020’s Emma. It was a bit confounding and confusing as to why a man was chosen to narrate largely young adult women. Graves performed all right but reminds me of how Danielle Steel’s books are almost exclusively narrated by men, even when women are the majority of the characters. Just… weird. He does a really good American accent but also comes across as a rather old man trying to represent young unmarried women.

Jane Austen fans will appreciate the unique take on her legacy with this book. Recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to give an honest review. I absolutely loved this book. I haven’t read the Jane Austen Society yet but I definitely will be reading it soon based on how much I enjoyed this one. I feel like there will be some people not super happy with the way things ended but I understood and appreciate that the author stayed true to the characters rather than give the readers everything they probably wanted in the end. My only critique was that early on I felt like having an English male narrator didn’t quite work. It was hard to listen to him voice the female American characters. It made me think of how Trevor Noah voiced himself as a child in the audiobook of his memoir. After awhile I got used to it and there actually ended up being a lot more male characters so I understood why he was chosen. After awhile it didn’t bother me. Other than that I thought it was great!

For context, I was assigned this audiobook to review for a journal. While I like historical fiction, I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own (the genre of "cover art featuring women in dresses looking away into the distance" is not my preference).

That said, this is a serviceable historical fiction centering on Jane Austen's legacy and featuring Louisa May Alcott as a minor character. Two Boston sisters sail to England to meet with Austen's surviving brother, who wants to share material with them so his sister's genius will be appreciated by future generations. A side plot involves the Massachusetts Supreme Court justices having a Jane Austen book club in their downtime, where they give some light literary criticism of the novels and the broader topic of women's rights. Events happen but I struggled to be very invested in the ups and downs because clearly, the wrongs would be righted and the injustices sorted out (although I think we're possibly also meant to reflect on the progression of women's rights and how some of them are under threat today).

Rupert Graves narrates, probably because he was Mr Weston in 2020's Emma, and while his reading is unobjectionable, I found him to be an odd choice. The main characters are women (while their father also has a storyline, he is not the focal point of either the beginning or the ending), but Graves's reading comes off so hard as Old Man that I didn't hear a lot of the younger female characters in his voice. He did make the effort to Americanize his accent for the American characters, which was a helpful distinction, but not quite enough to give Young Unmarried Woman.

All in all - it was fine. Not for me, but I'm sure there's an audience for it, and it's not actually bad.

3.5 stars rounded up
If you are a fan of Jane Austen and a few other great nineteenth-century writers (Alcott, Dickens), then you may enjoy this book as much as I did. This was a lovely read about two sisters and their love of Jane Austen, though there were a great deal of additional characters to keep track of, sometimes too many for me. And as the two main characters are women and much of the story deals with the lack of women’s rights in the 1860s, I question the use of a male narrator, though he narrated the book well enough. (I could not decipher most of the characters from the voices he bestowed upon them, but with so many characters, I wasn’t surprised.)

I also thought the book cover was beautifully done, with the two sisters staring out into the ocean while on board a ship, and torn pieces of letters (Austen’s, we presume) along the sides.

If you’re a fan of Jane Austen and historical fiction, give this a listen or a read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion of the work.

In 1865 Boston, sisters Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson defy societal expectations and set off for England after receiving an invitation—and an original letter—from Sir Francis Austen, brother of Jane Austen. Meanwhile, rare book dealers and Civil War veterans Nicholas and Haslett Nelson are drawn to England by the promise of a rare Austen artifact. Their shared voyage sparks a journey that will change all their lives through the enduring power of literature and love.

This one left me a little conflicted. Parts of the story, I really enjoyed. Sir Francis was a delight. I sympathised with the (fictional?) desire for him to make sure his sister was known and respected, despite the family’s wishes to keep Jane Austen’s life private. I really wanted more parts of the book about him.

However, the majority of the book bounces between the Stevenson sisters, the Nelson brothers, occasional scenes from Louisa May Alcott (and I’m not sure why she was even there), and a judge who is fighting his feels for one of the sisters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and they are all flawed people. I found it difficult to find one among them that I really liked. All of them made decisions that I found strange.

Narratively, there were times the author would jump ahead to reveal something dramatic, only to then go back to explain how it happened. The ending also felt abrupt. Other than that, it was well written and the narrator, while not an immediate favorite, had a pleasant voice.

Overall, it was fine. Not one I would pick up again, but readers who have enjoyed the author’s other works may enjoy it.

Title: Austen at Sea
Author: Natalie Jenner
Narrated by: Rupert Graves
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Length: Approximately 11 hours and 11 minutes
Source: Audiobook from NetGalley and physical book from St. Martin’s Press as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!

If you could meet any author alive or dead, who would you want to meet? I love the adventure of the Stevenson sisters in Austen at Sea to see the brother of a most beloved author. I would love to meet Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott and so many more.

Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson are the daughters of a Massachusetts State Supreme Court judge. They want more out of this world. They wish they could go to college or have a career, but in 1865, their formal education is complete. Their favorite author is Jane Austen. They write to her only surviving brother, Sir Francis Austen to express their love and to learn more about her. He invites the two sisters to visit England, as well as two brothers who are rare booksellers from Philadelphia. What rare artifact does he want them to see?

Thoughts on this novel:

• I loved the world, great characters, and unique story of this novel. I wish I could visit this world.
• The overarching question of this novel was what are the rights of women? Can a wife own her own property separate from her husband? Can she make her own decisions about her property?
• I loved the sections of the novel where the Massachusetts State Supreme Court judges read Jane Austen’s novels and discuss them. It was entertaining.
• Louisa May Alcott is on the ship with our main characters as they journey to England. She was a fantastic and fully sketched character. I love that she had the ship put on a play of A Tale of Two Cities for entertainment. I would love to see an entirely separate novel on just Louisa’s adventures.
• I loved Sir Francis Austen as a character. He had an interesting life himself and I would love to see him star in his own novel. At this point, he is at the end of his life, and he is thinking about his sister’s legacy. Should he leave her letters or burn them as his daughter wishes?
• About halfway through the novel, the book takes a turn and the story goes in another direction. I was confused at first and it took me a bit to get my bearings.
• I loved Rupert Graves as the narrator. He was an entertaining narrator and I loved his voice.
• I have enjoyed every Natalie Jenner novel I’ve read, but I would rate this one as my favorite with The Jane Austen Society.

Overall, Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner is a beautiful and extraordinary story with unforgettable characters. I loved the look into the lives of Austen fans in the 19th century when Austen’s family is still alive. I also liked the discussion of women’s rights.

This was a lovely, light historical fiction romance. I listened to the audiobook version and found the narrator to be excellent. There were many characters and plotlines in this story. All of the characters were interesting and likeable; no villains in this one! The author has clearly done a lot of research on the writings of Jane Austen which added additional value to the book, in my opinion. However, it was not as deep as other historical fiction that left a lasting impact on me.

If you are looking for a light historical romance, this is a great choice. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for the ARC of Austen at Sea!

I believe my four star review is largely influenced by the fact that I am a fan of Jane Austen, having recently visited her home in Alton and spending an afternoon in Chawton House.

I found this fictionalized story interwoven with enough truth that I was constantly stopping to search out the difference between the two! The story takes place in the mid to late 1800s, so the language and phrases used are quite old and proper. The descriptions of the England that Jane Austen knew were extremely accurate and even the smallest details (like the mahogany table in Chawton House where Jane used to eat meals) proved the authors expertise on her subject.

Due to the proper and old English used to tell the story, I often had to pay attention with some level of concentration, or I would find myself getting a little lost. That being said, the story is a delight for any fan of Jane Austen, English literature, and the development of womens’ rights in the USA soon after the Civil War.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio and SMP for the advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Having read The Jane Austen Society, I decided to pick this next book up. I was immersed in the story immediately--I liked the friendship and discussion of Jane Austen's works that the judges have, the sisters' support of each other and desire to break outside the boundaries of women in their era, and the idea of Jane Austen's brother being a character in the story. However, once the sisters were at sea, the story lost direction for me and slowed. A few of the time jumps late in the book were a little confusing (I thought I had just missed something but realized information was withheld to be disclosed later in a flashback). While I appreciated how events in the story mirrored events in each of Jane Austen's novels, the plot of this novel sometimes felt too much in service of the themes in Jane Austen's books.

Natalie Jenner is a great historical fiction author. I just finished listening to Austen at Sea and it was a five star book!

Having received this as a pre release to review I only express my opinions here. I don’t enjoyed all the authors and other characters in the story that were enthralled in learning more about the deceased author Jane Austen. The two sisters, Henrietta and Charlotte met Louisa Alcott on the boat with a similar goal to learn about Austen. While on the boat Lou wrote and had a play performed. It reminded me of her book Little Women where Jo wrote plays. Lou preferred women to be in all the roles, male and female., as Jo did in Little Women as she had only sisters. Ther were other incidents reflecting on the authors referenced in the book that I reflected on. This was a well written book and one I will hope others read thanks to my review and referrals.

Clean historical fiction with some romance, set in 1965 Boston and Hampshire, England. Some interesting data about the reserved Austen family, but readers should be familiar with Jane’s work in order to appreciate the many references to her books.

When listening to an audiobook, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of a large number of characters. Their relationships and interactions get a bit overwhelming, and I felt this while listening to “Austen at Sea.” Some of the characters were appealing, while others were just annoying.

Rupert Graves did well in his narration of the audiobook, although I didn’t care for some of his women’s voices. His pacing was excellent, as I would expect from such a good actor.

<i>This audiobook will be published on Mary 6, 2025 by Macmillan Audio. Many thanks to the publisher, the author, and to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

When Charlotte and Henrietta decided to board a ship from Boston to England without their father’s knowledge, they had no idea the adventure they were truly undertaking. Followed onto the ship by their father’s coworker on the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the sisters had a dual purpose to this trip – the first to meet the brother of their beloved literary hero Jane Austen, the second for one sister to elope. But the cast of characters who join them on board are famous in their own rights. Will they derail the sisters plans to learn more about their beloved author, or will they form friendships that will last lifetimes?

Austen on Board is the latest release from bestselling author Natalie Jenner. Known for her books The Jane Austen Society and The Bloomsbury Girls, this seems like a fitting addition to her resume of historical fiction featuring Jane Austen as a catalyst for the characters’ actions. Taking a focus on Austen’s lesser-known brother and life outside the spotlight, as well as the legacy she left behind in the form of personal correspondence, this novel feels like an intimate look at her life from those who knew her best. With so many other famous names included in this book from the legal and literary world, this book is a must for all historical fiction lovers!

I give Austen at Sea 4 out of 5 stars. I have loved all of Jenner’s Austen-based books. This book in particular became a favorite once the story reached Austen’s brother and the dialogue around his own struggles with his sister’s legacy as well as when the story reached the courts. Jenner’s legal expertise shines in the latter half of the book with discussions of the court battles in both England and America. I found this an easy read with shorter chapters and simple vocabulary. I did find it challenging to keep up with the number of female characters in this as an audiobook at first, but that may be easier in a print version of the book.

With a theme of emotional abuse and controlling behavior, this may not be the best read for all audiences. However, if you’re a fan of Jenner’s previous works like I am, you will love this book! I would also recommend this novel as a book club selection with so many literary figures mentioned and so many plot points to unpack! If you love authors like Marie Benedict or Patti Callahan Henry, you’ll love Natalie Jenner, too!

I was excited to see Austen at Sea available through NetGalley! I enjoyed Jenner’s other works so much and am happy to have the opportunity to read her latest book as well. Austen at Sea will release May 6th. You can pre-order your copy today on our Bookshop.org page!

I have really enjoyed Natalie Jenner’s past books. Austen at Sea was another gem. Jenner’s fans will especially enjoy the Supreme Court Justice’s Austen book club. The characters are well written and likable. Enjoyed the narration by Rupert Graves.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the early copy. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the alc.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I just found it boring and hard to relate to. I am upset because I usually enjoy historical fiction novels, and I am pretty sure that I have read books by Natalie Jenner that I have enjoyed in the past. Oh well.