The Jane Austen Society

What's lovely about this book is that you don't need to be a Jane Austen fanatic to understand the literary references. But fair warning - there's a lot of them! Every other page mentions Elizabeth and Darcy and the book "Sense and Sensibility" is mentioned quite often. If you're a classic book lover, this book reads like you're having a conversation with your best friend. This is also a perfect book club pick. It's the perfect length, the chapters are easy to sum up, the characters are fun to talk about and the plot isn't difficult to follow.

What makes this book different from other Austen explorations is that, instead of taking place during modern day like "Lost in Austen" or "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries," this book is set during the 1940s. This gives the story a unique historical setting. It was interesting to have Austen referenced during this time period, especially since Austen movie adaptations were new back then. It was so exciting when Jack was talking about producing a new "Sense and Sensibility" movie!

I love how consistent the plot was too. For example, the story began with one of our main characters, Adam, and it ended with him too. This circular plot was easy to follow and enjoy. This is a fun vacation read or beach read because it's a standalone novel. It's a truly beautiful story and perfect for fans of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!"

What an enjoyable surprise this was.
It was like being in a larger than life Jane Austen bookclub, and yet each of the participants in this book club like read had their own personalities, lives, struggles, and wonderful human connections.
Bravo!

A wonderful lovely read.A small town a group of characters that come alive.a wonderful story of love for Jane Austen a delightful read.#netgalley#St.martinsbooks

A joy to read! Austen fans will love it!

As always, thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. It's a winner!
#TheJaneAustenSociety #NetGalley

Charming from the first sentence to the last! A captivating portrait of a town and a little cluster of wonderfully evoked characters enjoined in a mission to preserve something precious. No fan of Guernsey Potato Peel Society--or of Jane Austen--should miss this read.

A delightful book. Austin fans and anyone looking for a delicious read will adore Jenner's story. Other than the modern language, Austin could have written this herself.

*4.5 stars

If you adore Jane Austen, and quiet novels about life than this is perfect for you. This take place during WWII and shortly after, in one of the last places that Jane Austen lived, Chawton, England. You have a motley crew of characters: an American actress, a doctor, a lawyer, a teenage girl, a teacher, a shy field worker, and even a descendant of Jane's. They are all of different ages, wealth, some grieve, some are too shy, and some have big ideas, but they all have one thing in common: they love Jane Austen. They all want to keep her memory and works alive so they come together to forge The Jane Austen Society. You get conversations about Jane's stories, about the different ways of dealing with grief, about everyday conversations that happen in a small town, and maybe even some romance. I really enjoyed this story and the characters. All it does is feed into my love of Austen and desperately wanting to go England.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Exquisitely written historical fiction novel. The Jane Austen Society is a fictionalized account of the formation of the society by the same name and the preservation of the legacy of Jane Austen in Chawton. The novel follows a series of deep and troubled characters through several decades in the early to mid 20th century as they navigate the trials and tribulations of their lives while living in collective awe of their town's most famous former resident, Jane Austen. The lives of these seemingly disparate characters are intertwined by a love of all things Austen and they come together as if drawn, like moths to a flame, to preserve her legacy. The novel has a satisfying ending and will delight Jane Austen fans with the many references to her work. I could see this novel being incorporated into courses on historical fiction and/or Jane Austen.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read the book in exchange for my honest review.

What a totally enjoyable read! Captivating characters, likable characters, beautiful setting that you can envision while reading. The Jane Austin Society has motivated me to now reread Jane Austin’s books. The references, throughout the novel, are so interestingly and intricately woven, into the lives of the characters. A pleasure to read such a well written and absorbing novel. I just loved it! Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Imagine 8 very different folks coming together in a small town all because of a shared love for an author. A town doctor, a lawyer, a widowed teacher, a quiet farmer, a servant girl, an actress, an auction expert, and a local recluse begin The Jane Austen Society in the town where Jane spent many of her final years. They seek to preserve her literary legacy and uncover many of her secrets along the way. Their own lives become entangled with each other and with Jane Austen in many surprising, endearing, and entertaining ways.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a lovely story and so clever. The author manages to write a Jane Austen type story that centers around Jane Austen herself. The characters in this book are wonderful versions of some of Austen’s famous heroines and heroes. The author weaves in personal trauma to the characters’ stories which made these people feel so real and relatable. I looked forward to reading this every chance I could and I highly recommend for all Jane Austen enthusiasts and anyone who likes a good story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This was a very enjoyable book.

The book centers on a small town in England with big ties to Jane Austen. Centering on an American movie star, a doctor, a farmer, a housekeeper, and a teacher, the book weaves together the characters with a love of the author and a desire to better understand her.

The book is historical fiction, set right after World War II, and that makes this an interesting take on what is kind of becoming a literary trope: works inspired by a love of Austen.

The dialogue was entertaining and the plot was interesting. A fun book.

Thanks to NetGalley,com, the publisher and author for my ARC.

The words that come to mind after finishing this book were heartwarming and gentle. In the small village of Chawton a group of people get together and form the Jane Austen Society to preserve Jane's memory and try to keep her memorabilia in the village and open a museum. The characters were wonderful, Dr. Gray who was still grieving his wife, Adeline who lost her husband in the war and then the child she was pregnant with when he was deployed. Adam Berwick was a farmer who wasn't able to go to college because he lost two brothers in the war and was required to work the farm. Evie is a servant girl working in the great house and secretly catalogs the library. Frances is a descendant of Jane's and isn't much interested in life. Throw in the mix a movie star who loves Jane Austen. As they navigate the law trying to save the estate they all face their pasts and try to figure out what the future would be. I took a break in the book to read Emma and once I did I understood more of the conversations and why they loved Jane so much. It was a joy to watch the characters grow into the people they were supposed to be. I would highly recommend this book.

A fun read with some quirky characters. Doesn't matter if you're an Austen fan, you will enjoy the village and the story. Their passion for their community will appeal to many readers.

“Do you ever stop and think how lucky we are, the way we get to live here every day, like Jane Austen did?”

I am not the biggest fan of historical fiction, but I was so incredibly pleased! I am also not the most passionate Jane Austen aficionado (I much rather simpatize with the character of Frances Knight in preferring the Brontës) but I didn’t drown in intertextuality and references as I thought I would – though though there are some cleverly subtle relations between Jenner’s characters and Austen’s.

As superficially as I know Jane Austen’s works, I do feel like this is the perfect homage to her storytelling and style. There was just something in the writing that will captivate Austen’s fans instantly – as well as the common reader.

“I should tell you I am reading Emma again. Every time I find a new clue, something I missed before. It’s like she’s still writing these stories, still giving them life.”

Natalie Jenner’s work is absolutely beautiful. The characters are livid and I found myself missing them when I was not reading (I love them so much I can hardly bring myself to pick favorites, but let’s go with a top 3 with Adeline, Evie and Adam).

This is a wonderful tale about how literature can bring people together, how powerful certain stories can be and how they can resonate with us.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A lovely novel of relationships and the healing power of community. Fans of Austen will relish in the references and quotations from this band of Austen devotees. However, even those not intimately familiar with Austen's body of work can still enjoy the story of people carrying on after hardships. I especially enjoyed the author's note at the end that explained that while the places are historical, the characters are completely fictional. I thoroughly enjoyed this blend of history and fiction based on one of my favorite authors! I received a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #TheJaneAustenSociety

A lovely story of full of compassion and kindness, and revealing how fate can lead us in strange and wonderful directions. I love how books and reading bring the characters, all of whom have suffered loss, together. There is the lovely village of Chawton, plenty of discussion about Jane Austen's novels and life, and a look at what life was like in England post World War Two. It's an absolutely delightful read!

"The Jane Austen Society" is a unique book, mixing the passion of books, of authors of the caliber of Jane Austen wit a full understanding of emotions of friendly characters.
This is the kind of reading that makes you happy and sad at the same time. Sad, because every page you turn makes you closer to the end of the story. You'll know you'll have to say goodbye to the world and characters created by Nathalie Jenner, yet you cannot help it, you have to read. It is difficult to describe the story, because the book is a whole universe in itself, and every component is relevant. This is definitely a true pleasure to follow the story unfold, and to "be" there, in a charming English village, and to be shocked or charmed by the plot.
I will offer this book as a gift, and can't wait to do so, I know it will be cherished, as a favorite book in the library thus re read from time to time.
All opinions are mine, I received a copy from Net-Galley in exchange for a fair review.

This is the ideal novel for lovers of Jane Austen's novels, as I am. This is the fictitious story of a group of residents of Chawton and a couple of outsiders who form the Jane Austen Society in the late '40s to keep her books and memories safe. The relationships between the various members of the society are fun to read, and the book ends well. Now I need to re-read my JA, especially Emma.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this wonderful book.

An amazing twist on a classic author. I loved how the book was centered around Jane Austen but focused on the main characters in the 1940s. It added such a wonderful bit of newness and life to stories I've read before. I was super excited to read this book because Jane Austen is one of my favorite 19th-century authors, and I love reading books on different perspectives and connections with my favorite things. The characters were adorable and the story was easy to follow even as they switched between them all!

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner is a stunning historical fiction that mainly in placed in the tinny village of Chawton, England. It spans from 1932-1947 and encompasses many points of view from several different delightful characters that live in the area as well as a few others that are all drawn together by more then just fate by one person alone: Miss Jane Austen.

I have to say I am a huge Austen fan ( my personal favorite is Sense and Sensibility) and that fact paired with the unbelievably wonderful story that we have been gifted, makes this truly the best book that I have read this year.

This book has everything going for it:

Multi-layered and complex characters that are relatable, likable (excluding Jack, Monte, and Colin) intelligent, imperfect, and unforgettable.
I absolutely loved the stories of Adeline, Evie, Frances, Mimi, Andrew, Dr Gray, Yardley, and Adam. I loved their trials, their fortitude, and their compassion. I loved everything about them!

I loved how the author slowly weaved together this band of “misfits” into each other’s lives (sometimes for the second time) and how it was paced appropriately so that one could savor the complexity of the plot and root for them along the way.

I also loved that each one of the characters brought to the table something different in regards to troubles in the past and present-day and also strengths that complimented each other well.

I loved all of the facts and information concerning one of my favorite writers (ever!!!!) and all of the quotes and discussions in reference to her books and characters. Beyond ingenious!

Lastly, I loved, LOVED the ending. It was heartwarming, stunning, and perfect in every way. No other ending could possibly do justice to this breathtaking novel. It was just as it should be.

Beyond enthusiastically recommend. I have just pre-ordered a physical copy before writing this review (I rarely, rarely ever do this).

5/5 stars!!!!!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

Thank you again!