I received The Jane Austen Society yesterday, which was the date of its release, and finished it in the early hours of this morning. It was certainly an enjoyable book, well thought-out, peppered with real insight into Austen's characters, and populated with personae who were interesting, if predictable. I think that was the fault of the entire book - it was predictable - characters did what you expected and hoped that they would do, and there were very few elements of surprise.

The book is set in Chawton, where Jane Austen lived in Chawton cottage from July of 1809 until her death in July of 1817. The house was provided by her brother Edward Austen Knight, who had been adopted away from his family with wealthy patrons better fitted to raise and educate an intelligent boy. Edward lived in Chawton Great House, which in the novel is still inhabited by the last of the line of the Knight family. You can see that the author has done her research well, and that she has visited the setting often enough to know where churches and graveyards and cottages sit.

Back to the book: in post-World War II Britain, a group of Jane Austen aficianados band together to ensure the preservation of Chawton cottage, where at the very least Austen wrote Persuasion, and to purchase it by selling some of the rare and valuable books belonging to Chawton Great House. The group is populated by the town's doctor, a lawyer, a school teacher, the heiress to the Knight family, a farmer, a school girl, a Sotheby's appraiser, and a famous Hollywood actress who is planning to move to Chawton when she marries her handsome bad-boy producer, who has his own plans for Chawton.

That's pretty much the whole plot. Of course there are some romances, and a couple of mysteries posited and easily solved. I think mainly I felt annoyed that the author had dumped into Chawton, as if by accident, everyone who would be necessary to preserve Austen's heritage. There's a lawyer, a rich woman, a precocious school girl, an appraiser to sum up the worth of the books, so it's all made easy for the group because they have gathered the necessary expertise.

I didn't hate the book, in fact I quite enjoyed it, but afterwards I felt unsatisfied by it. The author's innate intelligence and the skill of her editors did not get that the book was too unrealistic ever to be true, and that well-versed readers might catch on to that, despite the quotes from Austen and the pleasant setting. So: unfulfilling, enjoyable, but not on the soul-deep level that a good book requires. ( )

This book is about grief and loss, how purpose can heal the wounds that life bring, and of course, how books can help us cope. Yet in the end, real human relationships are the key to a satisfying life. ( )

The Jane Austen Society is character-driven historical fiction loosely based on the founding of the real first Jane Austen Society. It follows a group of people in post-World War II Chawton, England who are all dealing with losses and begin to find salvation in trying to preserve the cottage where Ms. Austen wrote and revised her work as a museum. This diverse group -- a widower doctor, a bachelor attorney, the daughter of a descendant of Jane Austen's brother, a reluctant farmer, a young teen forced to quit school and going into service at the Great House, a young, widowed teacher, an acclaimed Hollywood actress, and a Sotheby's auctioneer -- help each other to move on with their lives and share their love of all things Austen. The story is engaging, but the writing bogged down at times in internal monologues in the middle of a conversation that were distracting, a little too much telling rather than showing. Nevertheless, this novel is a tribute to the power of literature and a lovely exploration of the interpersonal relationships in this rural English village in the 1940s. Really about 3 and a half stars for me. ( )

It was fun trying to see which Austen characters were being used as templates for the characters in this novel about trying to protect the legacy of Austen.
Richard Armitage is a talented reader. I will seek him out again! ( )

I liked this book ok, in spite of my better judgement.

It started out great---I could imagine beloved Chawton, the Cottage, the Great House, all the things that us Janeites are familiar with and love about Jane's village. Then the characters of Mimi and Jack were introduced and I was immediately turned off by their storyline. It seemed glaringly out of place with its vulgar language and crude scenes.

On top of that, I wasn't sure how I felt about the made up family line and story of the acquisition of the Cottage---until a super fun regarding one of the characters twist made it great---then it fell flat when the group voted in a way I thought was ridiculous.

It all ended well, the bad guys and good guys dispatched accordingly, and I came away feeling overall positive. But I wouldn't read it again.

Warning: includes the obligatory raunchy sex scene and obligatory gay character that many of us are so sick of. I have a hard time believing these appeal to the "general market" when so many people are turned off by them... ( )