Author: Natalie Jenner

Natalie Jenner was born in England and emigrated to Canada as a young child. She obtained her B.A. and her LL.B. from the University of Toronto, where she was the 1990 Gold Medalist in English Literature at St. Michael’s College, and was Called to the Bar of Ontario in 1995. In addition to a brief career as a corporate lawyer, Natalie has worked as a recruiter, career coach, and consultant to leading law firms in Canada for over two decades. Most recently Natalie 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.

Photograph courtesy of Author’s Website.

#BookReview Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner @NatalieMJenner @StMartinsPress #BloomsburyGirls #NatalieJenner #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner @NatalieMJenner @StMartinsPress #BloomsburyGirls #NatalieJenner #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Bloomsbury Girls

Author: Natalie Jenner

Published by: St. Martin's Press on May 17, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 370

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare book store that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager’s unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:

Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiance was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances – most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.

Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she’s been working to support the family following her husband’s breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.

Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she’s working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.

As they interact with various literary figures of the time – Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others – these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.


Review:

Nostalgic, heartwarming, and tender!

Bloomsbury Girls is a sweet, sentimental tale that sweeps you away to post-WWII London and into the lives of three main characters. Evie Stone, a young Cambridge graduate who begins work in the rare books department of Bloomsbury Books after being denied a coveted research position by the old boys at the university, Vivien Lowry, a sophisticated woman who spends her days in the fiction section grieving the loss of her fiancé during the war and yearning to become a successful writer herself, and Grace Perkins, a secretary and mother of two boys who would love to escape her loveless, controlling marriage and gain a little independence of her own.

The writing is expressive and sweet. The characters are determined, independent, and progressive. And the plot is a cosy tale about life, love, loss, family, friendship, female inequality, literary greats, hopes, dreams, and new beginnings.

Overall, Bloomsbury Girls is a light, charming, engaging novel by Jenner that was a delight to read with its abundance of self-discovery, female friendships, and cameos by some of the most famous authors of all time.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Natalie Jenner

Natalie Jenner was born in England and emigrated to Canada as a young child. She obtained her B.A. and her LL.B. from the University of Toronto, where she was the 1990 Gold Medalist in English Literature at St. Michael's College, and was Called to the Bar of Ontario in 1995. In addition to a brief career as a corporate lawyer, Natalie has worked as a recruiter, career coach, and consultant to leading law firms in Canada for over two decades. Most recently Natalie 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.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner @NatalieMJenner @StMartinsPress #TheJaneAustenSociety

#BookReview The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner @NatalieMJenner @StMartinsPress #TheJaneAustenSociety Title: The Jane Austen Society

Author: Natalie Jenner

Published by: St. Martin's Press on May 26, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

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.


Review:

Charming, cosy, and quaint!

The Jane Austen Society is a delightfully nostalgic, heartwarming tale that takes us to the small village of Chawton, England post-WWII and into the lives of an unusual, eclectic group of people that includes a farmer, a doctor, a former school teacher, a young maid, a solicitor, a movie star, an antique auctioneer, and a distant relative of Austen as they join together to preserve and honour the iconic writer and the legacy she left behind.

The writing is tender and rich. The characters are multilayered, caring, and engaging. And the plot is an absorbing mix of life, loss, love, family, friendship, heartbreak, loneliness, familial expectations, second chances, and literary dabblings.

Overall, The Jane Austen Society is a sweet, touching, sentimental debut by Jenner that does a wonderful job of reminding us of all the special, remarkable characters and tales Jane Austen created and why we still enjoy and love them so much today.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Natalie Jenner

Natalie Jenner was born in England and emigrated to Canada as a young child. She obtained her B.A. and her LL.B. from the University of Toronto, where she was the 1990 Gold Medalist in English Literature at St. Michael's College, and was Called to the Bar of Ontario in 1995. In addition to a brief career as a corporate lawyer, Natalie has worked as a recruiter, career coach, and consultant to leading law firms in Canada for over two decades. Most recently Natalie 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.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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