The Jane Austen Society

Synopsis

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.

In the early 1800s, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. By the 1940s, little remains of her legacy but a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate, including the cottage where Austen wrote or revised her books. With the winds of change blowing through the country in the postwar days and the cottage's future now in the hands of fate, a group of disparate individuals fight to preserve both Austen's home and her legacy for the world. These people- a farmer, a young war widow, the village doctor, and employee of Sotheby's, a Hollywood star, a local solicitor, the anticipated heiress to the estate, and a precocious house girl- 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 the loss and trauma of war and other tragedies, they find solace, connection, and hope in rallying together to create the Jane Austen Society.

Loved

• Oh my get ready for some gushing. I am grinning ear to ear like a fool- I just LOVED this story!

• The characters! These people are so dear to me, and I've only known them for 10 hours (I guess a week since I started the audiobook a week ago). Each one of them is so endearing because each has such significant trauma, grief and loss, but not one of them is bitter. The members of the Society are kind, generous, and humble- all lonely souls who have found solace in Jane Austen and connect through discussion of her literature. Not only is it so fun and intriguing to hear the characters debate all things Austen, but it's also very moving to see them support and uplift each other through grief, heartache and loss. Each is unique and vivid, and I loved every single one of them.

• Jane Austen history! I am so impressed with Natalie Jenner, the author, for her knowledge and insight into Jane Austen's books. I've been a lifelong fan of Austen and started reading her when I was 12. But there were so many insights into these familiar books about the characters and their motivations, secret heartaches, and influence from Austen's life that I had never thought about or realized at all. Austen was such a fascinating and progressive woman for her time, and learning more about her life made me love and appreciate her even more.

• An Austen fan's dream. One of the best aspects of this story is the characters' individual and deep love for Austen. Each character has his/her favorite book and character, and each has found comfort in Austen's literature through heartache, war, and grief. I just smiled to myself as the characters debated about everything Austen- from discussing Emma and Mr. Knightley's banter to analyzing Mr. Darcy's insecurities. I completely ate this up and it made me want to go reread all of Jane Austen's books this year.

• The theme of hope. Not only is this a bookworm's dream, this is also a moving and uplifting story about finding hope through darkness and pain. Each character has gone through unimaginable heartache, thanks to WWII and other tragedies. Yet a love for literature connects this ecclectic group and bonds them- leading them to deeply care for each other and support and comfort each other through these heartaches. This story is full of conversations processing grief, loss and unanswered questions, and I was very moved watching these characters find hope through both their love for literature and their love for each other.

• The Austen tropes!! Okay, this is when I realized I was completely head over heels for this book. Not only do we get to talk about Jane Austen throughout the book, but we get her OWN tropes with the characters! And guess which retelling we get? My favorite Austen story- Persuasion. I about died when one of the romances follows this story (even down to Wentworth's letter!). Seriously, it's too much. I can't stop grinning just thinking about it.

• The narration! Okay, this was narrated by RICHARD ARMITAGE. Yes you read that correctly- Mr. Thornton from North and South! (and Thorin from the Hobbit . . . ) His narration was fabulous. His American accent was spot-on, he does great female voices, and let's be real- his voice is just sexy ;) Definitely listen to this one!

Didn't Love

• I absolutely loved this story, I think it's fabulous!

Content

• Language: 
• One use of "F***." Occasional uses of "damn," "hell."

• Sexual content: 
• A sexual assault scene. A man nearly rapes a woman and sexually assaults her.
• A woman and man are engaged and reference sleeping together, but nothing described.
• Man thinks a lot about "how to get in bed" with a certain woman.
• A few kisses, not described.

• Violence
• References to people being killed in WWII.
• Man beats up the man who tried to sexually assault his girlfriend.


• Other themes: 
• LGBTQ Rep: two male main characters fall in love and live together. 

Overall Thoughts

Oh my goodness, I am just going to feel giddy for the rest of the week. I went into this with low expectations- for some reason I was thinking it just couldn't be as good as the premise makes it sound, and the reviews on Goodreads weren't great. But I fell completely in love with these characters, and they feel like dear friends to me. Not only are characters are vivid, genuine, and empathetic, but they love Austen!! Listening them debate Austen was such a treat and got me so excited to reread all her books. This story just has it all- romance (with AUSTEN TROPES!), love of literature, historical WWII context, loveable and relatable characters, and a powerful reminder that hope can be found even in the darkest of times through kindness, connection, and a little Jane Austen :)