Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Oh, my goodness. Between a trip to Idaho, a wedding, appointments all over the place, and getting ready for Girls Camp, that was a longer break than I’d intended; I might still be on break, honestly, except that I want to send Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society to Idaho with the contingent that’s leaving today. I was lucky enough to win an ARC of it from St. Martin’s Publishing Group, and having thoroughly enjoyed it, I’m sending it along to my sister so that she can do so as well.

Jenner’s novel involves an unlikely group of Jane Austen fans in postwar England; all of them have dealt (or are dealing) with loss, and Austen’s novels have proven therapeutic for each of them. There is true pathos here–England’s suffering during both world wars as well as the sometimes hardness of life–and yet it’s a hopeful novel, with a satisfying ending and sly representatives of key Austen characters. (I struggled a bit with Mimi’s attraction to Jack, but that’s not to say it was unrealistic, and that plot line may be the slyest representation of them all.) Fans of Austen will be delighted, but this is a solid story in its own right, and anyone who enjoys historical fiction ought to pick it up. I’m looking forward to more Jenner novels to come!