Every so often, there is an author who just speaks to me. It’s rare, but it happens. And even rarer? When that author is Canadian. Natalie Jenner is a talented, Canadian author, and one who uses literature to bind her stories, no less. I adored The Jane Austen Society, a book that made the first year of the pandemic much more bearable. When I found out that there was a follow-up novel, it went on my to-read list immediately. I’m incredibly grateful to have been included on this book tour, and to share Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner with you!
Thank you to Austenprose PR and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Bloomsbury Girls, Natalie Jenner (Read by Juliet Stevenson)
The internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world.
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.
Why You Should Read This…
I must admit, in theory, Bloomsbury Girls should not be for me. However, this is one of the most well-written and heart-warming books that I’ve read in I don’t know how many years, and I ended being incredibly invested in Evie, Vivien, and Gracie, more so than any characters I can remember. Evie in particular reminds me of myself and this book has made me reconsider the way I look at my own future. (No small feat!) And to “meet” so many incredible authors from the past? So well done!
Listening to this audiobook has been such a lovely reading experience. This isn’t a racing storyline, what-happens-next novel, but rather one that develops in its own way and time. And that warmth and cosiness makes for the best kind of reading. A lot of authors who attempt this type of novel end up drifting into boring territory, but I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook. Jenner has brought this bookshop to life, and all of the women and men who spend their time there.
I also have to admit that I thought Richard Armitage’s narration of The Jane Austen Society was one of the best I’ve heard, but Juliet Stevenson is my new favourite. She handled the accents of visitors to the shop so well, and she instilled so much emotion into her reading without being over the top. I may have downloaded two more audiobooks to listen to more of her work…
A Note From Natalie Jenner
Dear readers,
I am immensely grateful for the outpouring of affection that so many of you have expressed for my debut novel The Jane Austen Society and its eight main characters. When I wrote its epilogue (in one go and without ever changing a word), I wanted to give each of Adam, Mimi, Dr. Gray, Adeline, Yardley, Frances, Evie and Andrew the happy Austenesque ending they each deserved. But I could not let go of servant girl Evie Stone, the youngest and only character inspired by real life (my mother, who had to leave school at age fourteen, and my daughter, who does eighteenth-century research for a university professor and his team). Bloomsbury Girls continues Evie’s adventures into a 1950s London bookshop where there is a battle of the sexes raging between the male managers and the female staff, who decide to pull together their smarts, connections, and limited resources to take over the shop and make it their own. There are dozens of new characters in Bloomsbury Girls from several different countries, and audiobook narration was going to require a female voice of the highest training and caliber. When I learned that British stage and screen actress Juliet Stevenson, CBE, had agreed to narrate, I knew that my story could not be in better hands, and I so hope you enjoy reading or listening to it.
Warmest regards, Natalie
Is Bloomsbury Girls on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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