“We love Jane Austen because her characters, as sparkling as they are, are no better and no worse than us. They’re so eminently, so completely, human. I, for one, find it greatly consoling that she had us all figured out.”
Attention Literati! You know who you are—scrupulous readers who crave good prose and don’t mind admitting one bit, “Yep, still doin the English major thing.” Of course, you don’t need to be an English major to adore Jane Austen. (She can feel universal like the need for oxygen, a craving for chocolate, or the pure love of puppies.) If you love Jane Austen (and I know you do), I’ve got a thoroughly charming read for you.
Jane had tons of stuff figured out over 200 years ago. I wonder if that’s why her works are still so relevant today? (You’ll have to join our upcoming book club to find out.) In the meantime, if you’re a Janeite like me, you will love Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society. Her debut novel is set in the small English village of Chawton, where Jane Austen lived for the final 8 years of her storied life. An unlikely cohort—a doctor, a widow, a farm hand, a Hollywood star, to name a few—band together in an effort to preserve what remains of Austen’s home. Not surprisingly, they forge authentic connections through remarkable Jane. And their common goal of protecting her legacy, amid difficulties of their own, underscores characters that sparkle in their own right, who are no better or worse than each of us.
p.s. The audible narrator, Richard Armitage, was spot-on!