As regular readers will know, I am a big Jane Austen fan. Northanger Abbey is my favourite book (my #AnHistorianReads book club is reading it right now!), and I thought Sanditon was a great way to re-visit Austen’s world. There is something for everyone in the world of Austen! So, I was quite thrilled when I was contacted to be a part of The Jane Austen Society book tour. Natalie Jenkins has written a fantastic novel about the real-life Jane Austen Society, and it is a perfect summer read. Today I am hosting a stop for The Jane Austen Society blog tour, and I’m excited to finally share this with you!
I have to give a massive thank you to Natalie Jenkins and St. Martin’s Press for providing an audiobook of The Jane Austen Society, and for Laurel Ann Natress for organising this wonderful tour!
Natalie Jenner is the debut author of The Jane Austen Society, a fictional telling of the start of the society in the 1940s in the village of Chawton, where Austen wrote or revised her major works. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in English Literature and Law and has worked for decades in the legal industry. She recently founded the independent bookstore Archetype Books in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.
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The Jane Austen Society, Natalie Jenkins
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.
I listened to the audiobook of The Jane Austen Society, and it is one of my new favourite audiobooks! (I listen to 30-50 to audiobooks in a year, and it truly is a great audiobook.) And I know have several regular readers who will be quite excited by the narrator…
The full unabridged text of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY was read by the distinguished English film, television, theatre and voice actor Richard Armitage for the audiobook recording. Best known by many period drama fans for his outstanding performance as John Thornton in the BBC television adaptation of North and South (2004), Armitage also portrayed Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit (2012 – 2014).
Link to YouTube audiobook excerpt:
My Thoughts
I adored this book. As someone who is usually rereading one Austen novel or another, I love getting lost in the world of Janeites, and Jenner has done a wonderful job of creating that world at Chawton. There is a rich cast of characters- they aren’t directly comparable to Austen’s characters but rather composites of sorts. (I enjoyed spotting them while reading. When you first meet a character, try and guess who their Austen counterpart is!) There was real growth with the main characters- you can see that they are real people, and they grow and change throughout the novel. You may not always agree with their actions, but that is true of real life, as well. I also think Jenkins rounding out her characters with several female and male characters is huge, when Austen is automatically thought of as female.
What really grabbed me though was Chawton itself. I was lucky enough to spend time in Bath but I haven’t had a chance to visit Chawton yet. However, I felt like I was actually there and present, which doesn’t often happen for me. The house and the village really filled out the novel, and made it a lovely and rich reading experience. Given that most of us are currently trapped in our homes, or very close to home, I think that being able to escape to somewhere else is even more important.
Richard Armitage’s narration is also wonderful. He has a gravitas that you don’t often hear in audiobooks. I could have very well seen an Austen-esque book automatically given a female narrator, but I think his narration worked well for both the male and female characters. As a reader/listener, I really felt like a lot of thought and care went into the audiobook version. Here is hoping he narrates more audiobooks in the future!
The Real Jane Austen Society
And finally, one of the reasons that I really loved the book is that it gave us more insight into the Jane Austen Society (albeit fictional), which is a real group. The Jane Austen Society has chapters all over the world, including the JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) and JASA (Jane Austen Society of Australia). The book is absolutely correct, the society was formed to protect Chawton. However, it is so much more now, and members everywhere come together regularly to discuss Austen’s books, her life, and the Regency world as a whole. (One day, I hope to attend a JASNA convention…) It is incredible to me that Austen is still bringing us together, over 200 years later, and I’m grateful that The Jane Austen Society continues that!
Is The Jane Austen Society on your summer reading list? Reading or listening, it will be a reading highlight!
Cheers,
The Historian
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