THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA book club discuss the works of Jane Austen and experience their own affairs of the heart in this charming “tribute to Austen that manages to capture her spirit” (The Boston Globe).In California’s central valley, five women and one man join to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable … tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her eye for the frailties of human behavior and her ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.
Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy.
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I adore this movie, and didn’t learn until recently that it was based on a book! I picked it up from BookBub and fell in love with the characters all over again. I very much enjoyed the varying perspectives of each of the chapters, and Fowler brings together the perfect mix of characters to create my absolute favorite book club.
A whimsical, heartwarming, well-written read.
I loved this story and its delightfully human characters, and the movie made from the book is one of my all-time favourites.
This was an interesting book. I’m not sure why I picked it up — I’m not really a fan of Jane Austen. I’ve been trying to discover new authors, though, so I grabbed it.
It’s an interesting story, but the word that I think best describes it is discombobulated. It wasn’t always clear who the narrator was (the narrator often spoke in plural). I thought it might be a book where each chapter was about a different character, but that didn’t really happen either. You just never knew who would be described in which sections and there was no real rhyme or reason as to who was being discussed.
It was also a bit disturbing to have a sexual assault so early in the book — I wasn’t expecting anything like that to be described in a book like this, and it was really the only graphic thing about it, so it felt a bit out of place. I thought maybe the rest of the book would explore the ramifications of that assault or the healing of it, but it was just sort of forgotten.
Overall, it was an interesting book, but it felt off balanced in which characters were emphasized and how some of their stories were never really resolved (we’re told what happens with Allegra and Prudie, but we never really get to see what motivates them to make their final decisions). A good book, but definitely an unusual read.
R-rated for thematic elements and swearing.
It’s been awhile but I didn’t like it much. I feel that people are selling books with
Jane Austen’s name that are not worthy of her work, It was an interesting premise
but I didn’t relate to the characters and felt it just wasn’t a very good book
Although I’m a fan of Jane Austen, when I read this the first time I wasn’t impressed, for some reason. When I saw the movie a few years later and really enjoyed it, I thought I’d better give the book another try. I never prefer the movie to the book!
I’m glad I did re-read it. Must have been in a funk the first time because i liked it much better and can recommend it.
This is one of the best Jane Austen transformations. A good read it its own right, those of us who love Austen can get into each character and the parallels with the Austen book they are reviewing.
Disappointed in this one!
Fun even if you don’t know her books well. Each Austin book summarized at no. Wish I had noticed while reading.
A bit difficult to follow but interesting how the author builds the characters.
This book was just fun to read. I couldn’t wait to see what would possibly happen next. No great literature, although I did enjoy the references to the books they were reading.
Different. Read it as a possible choice for my book club. However, there was a scene earlier on that caused me to not feel comfortable reading it with my group. Intense view of personal lives and relationships.