The Jane Austen Society: A Novel

by Natalie Jenner

Overview

* INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER *

"This novel delivers sweet, smart escapism." —People

"Fans of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will adore The Jane Austen Society… A charming and memorable debut, which reminds us of the universal language of literature and the power of books to unite and heal." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250248732
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/26/2020
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	230,406
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Natalie Jenner was born in England, raised in Canada, and graduated from the University of Toronto with consecutive degrees in English Literature and Law. She worked for decades in the legal industry and also founded the independent bookstore Archetype Books in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. A lifelong devotee of all things Jane Austen, The Jane Austen Society is her first published novel.

Reading Group Guide

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.

1. There is a wide range of major characters in The Jane Austen Society. Which of the eight main characters was your favorite? Which of their personal stories did you find the most satisfying? Which one do you most identify with and why?

2. Jane Austen’s writing – and the characters’ love of her writing – is what brings them together. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, what is your favorite book and why? If not, then which of her books are you now most interested in reading?

3. Several of the characters are living with – and, to differing extents, dealing with – the grief of losing a close loved one. Did you find yourself sympathizing with one of them more than the others? What about their story touched you the most?

4. Most of The Jane Austen Society takes place in the 1940s, right after World War II. Given that it was a very different time, with very different attitudes, what aspect revealed in the novel seemed the most familiar to your experience? What seemed the most changed since that time?

5. Mimi Harrison is in sharp contrast to the rest of the characters – she’s from the U.S., she’s a movie star, she has wealth far beyond the rest of the characters. Beyond their shared love of Jane Austen’s work, what traits do you think she has most in common with the rest of the characters? Which other character does she best complement?

6. Adam Berwick has to make an important decision – one that will not only affect the Society but his family as well. Do you think he made the right decision? Why?

7. What surprised you the most about the book? Were there any plot developments you did not expect?

8. There are many obvious and more subtle allusions to Austen’s own plots and characters throughout the book. If you’re familiar with Austen, which parallels did you particularly notice? Which ones most delighted you?

9. What expectations did you have of this book entitled The Jane Austen Society? What plotlines surprised you? Which ones developed in the way you expected?

10. What do you imagine happened to the Society and to the members after the end of the book?

Editorial Reviews

03/23/2020

In Jenner’s delightful debut, a group of people are united by the goal of preserving an iconic literary figure. In post-WWII Chawton, England, farmer Adam Berwick embarks on a quest to honor the legacy of Jane Austen, seeking the help of his doctor, Benjamin Gray, to establish a museum in the cottage where Austen lived. The two men form the Jane Austen Society with former schoolteacher and young widow Adeline Grove. The society’s membership grows to include solicitor Andrew Forrester; Frances Knight, whose family owns the cottage and the Great House once belonging to Jane’s brother; and young maid Evie Stone, who has catalogued valuable books from the library at the Great House. When Frances’s father dies, his will leaves her without a claim to the cottage if a male heir is found, and the society bands together to try to purchase the cottage and preserve the valuable books that Evie has catalogued. Jenner’s immersive character development is juxtaposed against her study of Austen’s characters, providing clever insight into how the trials of Austen’s life were revealed through her books. The narrative, meanwhile, is rich with references to Austen’s literature and carried along by the strong bonds formed by the characters based on their shared appreciation for her work. Austen-ites are in for a treat. Agent: Curtis Brown, Curtis Brown. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Few things draw disparate people together so quickly as discovering they love the same writers. Few writers cement such friendships as deeply as Austen does. I believe that the readers of Jenner's book will fall in love with the readers inside Jenner's book, all of us thinking and dreaming of Austen the whole while. What could be better? Nothing, that's what! A wonderful book, a wonderful read." —Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club

"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 I’m 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!" —Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of Comfort and The Obituary Writer

"Natalie Jenner's lovely debut novel, The Jane Austen Society, is a charming, yet bittersweet tale about the power of literature — the beloved Jane Austen in particular — to heal and elevate the human spirit in the aftermath of World War II.” —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room

"Natalie Jenner's The Jane Austen Society is an extremely impressive debut novel populated with fully-developed, nuanced characters that resonate with the kind of humanity that made Ms. Austen's stories so universal and timeless." —Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

"Fans of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will adore The Jane Austen Society, which tells the story of an eclectic group of people in a post-World War II English village who come together to save the beloved author's home and legacy. Author Natalie Jenner has penned a charming and memorable debut, which reminds us of the universal language of literature and the power of books to unite and heal." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris

"The Jane Austen Society is a joyous novel. Written beautifully from the first sentence to the last, Natalie Jenner casts a spell that will have you falling in love with each of her lovingly-drawn characters, with the charming English village in which the story is set, and with Jane Austen herself. I read it straight through, relishing every word and regretting only that it eventually had to end. With tears still in my eyes from the perfect closing scene, I ran to pull a Jane Austen novel from my bookshelf, eager to remain in the magical world Natalie Jenner conjured. In a time where it is so easy to feel we are all at odds with one another, The Jane Austen Society is a beautiful reminder that connection and care are at the heart of the human experience." —Kim van Alkemade, NYTimes bestselling author of Orphan #8 and Bachelor Girl

"Prepare to meet 'three or four families in a country village' who embrace their passion and form a literary society in honor of an author whose enduring appeal, after 200 years, reminds us of what should be paramount in our lives: compassion, love, and reading!! The Jane Austen Society is an uplifting tribute to its inspiration and the nobility of the human spirit. Natalie Jenner could be the next Helen Simonson.” —Laurel Ann Nattress, editor of Jane Austen Made Me Do It and Austenprose.com

From the Publisher

2020-03-02
In the insular post-World War Two gloom of an English village, seven damaged people soldier on, heartened only by their shared enthusiasm for Jane Austen.

Chawton, the village at the heart of this story, contains the small cottage Austen occupied before her death, and it's also a cauldron of repressed longing and regret worthy of a Victorian novel. James Knight, dying heir of the Knight estate, owns the cottage as well as a stately manor house. The embittered James has altered his will: Upon his death, his only child and caregiver, Frances, a reclusive spinster of 47, will be dispossessed and the estate entailed to the closest male relative. Frances and her father’s lawyer, Andrew, were once in love, but James forced them apart. Adeline, a former schoolteacher, is pregnant and widowed—her husband died in combat in the war’s closing days. Her physician, Dr. Gray, a widower who blames himself for his wife’s accidental death, is too guilt-ridden to act on his attraction to Adeline. After she loses the baby, her Pride and Prejudice–style bantering with Dr. Gray gives way to distrust, and each flirts with morphine addiction. “Sad, silent” Adam, who farms the estate, was introduced to Austen by a visiting American fan, Mimi, a Hollywood star, who, at 35, is about to be put out to pasture by a lecherous studio boss. Evie, compelled by circumstance to forego scholarly ambitions, is a housemaid for the Knights. She’s been secretly cataloging every book in the manor’s vast library and has discovered some potentially priceless Jane Austen artifacts. These lost souls, who have been misjudged by society and/or misjudge themselves, find healing through forming the titular society to preserve the cottage as a museum—as its real-life counterpart is today. More than a passing familiarity with Austen’s work may be a prerequisite to fully appreciating this book—Austen’s characters often seem more real to Jenner’s characters than their own relatives and neighbors. But, thanks to Jenner’s psychologically astute portrayals, the society founders themselves are very real and thoroughly sympathetic.

Readers will root for these characters, wishing them Austen-worthy happy endings.

Kirkus Reviews