Review: The Jane Austen Society

The Jane Austen Society

By Natalie Jenner

About the Book

 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, The Jane Austen Society is destined to resonate with readers for years to come.

My Thoughts

In post-war England, a mélange of people are brought together by a shared love of Jane Austen.

It’s no secret that I love Jane Austen. Like so many others, she is one of my favorite authors and rereading her stories and finding new books about her is a comfort for me. I also love reading about post-war England. So I was immediately drawn to The Jane Austen Society.

I think the overall theme of this novel is how books bring us together. How they can change our lives. The power of literature, in that it can carry us through hard times and help us to learn more about ourselves. It was entrancing to see the way Jane Austen’s stories helped to forge friendships between the people who eventually became this novel’s version of the Jane Austen Society. Each were very different people, yet they all shared a deep love for this timeless author and it brought them together. It gave them a community at a time when they all needed it most.

Sitting there on the bench together, with no one else to confide in, Dr. Gray and Adeline felt a strange connection through these books.

That there might be a place where people were not constantly competing against each other for their very sustenance, but were instead helping each other survive through war and injury and poverty and pain, seemed as much something out of a Jane Austen as anything else she could have hoped to find.

That’s why she lasts, like Shakespeare. It’s all there, all of life, all the stuff that counts, and keeps counting, all the way to here, to you.

My only complaint is there were a few risqué moments, mainly between Mimi and Jack, and with these same two characters there was some language. These parts were small and sparse enough that I was able to overlook them and still enjoy the novel. If it hadn’t been for these things, this would have been a 5 star read for me.

Janeites, you must read this book. It’s not only a love letter to an author we all love so dearly, but it displays the resiliency of the human spirit beautifully. Right now, we could use that more than ever.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.