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A Novel
by Natalie Jenner
Book Reviewed by:Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people―a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others―could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.
A powerful and moving novel that explores the tragedies and triumphs of life, both large and small, and the universal humanity in us all, Natalie Jenner's The Jane Austen Society is destined to resonate with readers for years to come.
The Jane Austen Society is a paean to the power of literature and the positive impact reading can have on us in uncertain times. In telling this fictionalized account of the founding of the real Jane Austen Society, Jenner turns a keen, almost Austenesque eye on her characters, their interpersonal relationships and English village life in the early 1940s. This is a fun, satisfying novel, full of heart and brimming with a love for all things Austen...continued
Full Review
(660 words)
(Reviewed by Kelly Hydrick).
According to literary scholar Claudia L. Johnson, "Janeism" is a "self-consciously idolatrous enthusiasm for 'Jane' Austen and every primary, secondary, tertiary (and so forth) detail relative to her." The devotees who share this enthusiasm, also known as "Janeites," are in the simplest sense fans of Jane Austen and her writings. Today, however, there is an underlying negative connotation to the term "Janeite" with roots in gender issues and the ways in which Austen's work has been conceptualized over the past 200 years.
Although Austen did not enjoy fame during her lifetime, it wasn't long after her death in 1817 that her popularity began to grow. As early as the 1850s, but especially after her nephew's A Memoir of Jane Austen was ...
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I can't remember the last time I was so utterly charmed by a novel as I am with The Jane Austen Society. Natalie Jenner creates a world populated with characters who come together to preserve Jane Austen's home in the village of Chawton after WW II. And in so doing she explores love and grief and hope, all while plunging us headfirst into Austen's words. A celebration of the human spirit and the power of stories, I just love this book!
