Review: The Jane Austen Society (by Natalie Jenner)

My Rating: 4 stars

 

Ever since reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time back in junior high (many many moons ago), I became a Jane Austen fan and never looked back.  Over the ensuing decades, I’ve of course read all the rest of Austen’s work and, like many fans, admire her more and more with each read/re-read.  Unlike other fans though, I’m not fond of retellings of Austen’s works, so I try to stay away from those as much as possible.  With that said, if a book is ABOUT Jane Austen or her works and not a retelling, then I will gladly read it without hesitation, doesn’t matter whether fiction or non-fiction.

Given my long-time admiration for Austen, I went into Natalie Jenner’s debut novel The Jane Austen Society with a high level of excitement and anticipation.  The premise of a fictional group of fans living in the small English village of Chawton (Austen’s final home) after the Second World War who are determined to preserve the legacy of their favorite author — what a dream premise for Austen fans!   As a work of historical fiction, the elements of time and place were especially well done, with Chawton and the Great House feeling so realistic, as a reader, I definitely felt transported.  I also found the characters quite charming, but what I loved especially was the fact that each character came from vastly different walks of life and, given their respective backgrounds, probably would not have been brought together if not for their love of Austen. Each character endures personal struggle of some sort and as they unite to form the Jane Austen Society, the bond that develops between the members helps each one open their eyes and work through their issues.

While I did enjoy the story and characters quite a bit overall, my biggest complaint is that the pacing was way too slow — I actually struggled with getting into the story until around the halfway mark.  One of the things that kept me going however, were the discussions about Austen and her novels that the various characters engage in, discussions which I found interesting to read.  Indeed, Natalie Jenner was able to weave her admiration and respect for Austen (and her works) into the story in a way that, as an Austen fan myself, made me proud.  

I would definitely recommend this book for fans of Jane Austen and/or her novels, as I feel that is the audience this was written for and would probably appreciate this story the most.   But then again, I’m speaking from the perspective of an Austen fan...I’d be curious to see if non-fans or those who’ve never read Austen would have the same opinion.

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via Edelweiss.