I need to qualify this review by saying I’m not a Jane Austen fan. In fact, my only exposure to her (besides Clueless) was in my British Lit. survey class long ago, and I cannot even remember what we read. (It must have been just an excerpt.)  But, being a culturally literate person, I am familiar with Austen’s characters.

I also was not anxious to read this novel as I received it in a pdf as a galley from the publisher (for an honest review). For some reason, I find it hard to read these.

But, once I started, I could not put it down.

I wanted to connect with Jane like the members of the society did.  Mimi’s connection is shared with Adam on their first brief meeting:

I just feel, when I read her, when I reread her—which I do, more than any other author—it’s as if she is inside my head.  Like music.  My father first read the books to me when I was very young—he died when I was twelve—and I hear his voice, too, when I read her.  (Location 74)

I totally responded to the characters, every single one of them in the society. I loved the atmosphere of the small English village, the hunt for Austen artifacts, and the plan to save one of her homes. The society consists of a former school teacher, a medical doctor, a tenant farmer, a solicitor, an American movie star, a maid, a Sotheby’s accessor, and a would-be heiress.  Quite the eclectic group.  I also appreciated their take on Austen’s characters.  For instance, Dr. Gray observes:

Emma is not selfish, per se.  She is self-interested, in a way that most people can’t afford to be. (Location 536)

I was also totally in love with the banter between the characters, especially when they were quoting Austen back and forth.

And Jenner creates her own memorable characterization.   We get a glimpse into Frances through her love of books:

Something about her favourite books gave her tremendous comfort, and even a strange feeling of control, although she could not quite put her finger on why.  She just knew that she did not want to invest her time trying to figure out a new world, whom to like and whom to trust in it, and how to bear the author’s choices for tragedy and closure—or lack thereof.  (Location 952)

There is a bit of romantic air in the novel, but I would not characterize it as a “romance novel.” Although there are some happy endings, getting there requires the characters to cope with some terrible life experiences.

If I had any criticism of this work, it was that I could not hear the characters with a British accent and sometimes I thought the syntax and speech did not mirror post-WWII proper Queen’s English. That is a minor flaw and is not too distracting.

I also now own the complete works of Jane Austen. It’s going to the top of my to-read stack.  Thank you Ms. Jenner for introducing me to the classics.

The Food:

If one did not know that this novel was set in England, I think the assumption could be taken just from the food (and drink) listed below.

• toast and tea
• champagne
• iced tea
• “courgettes and wax beans and beats to pe pickled and preserved for the winter ahead” (location 503)
• tea and sugar buns
• “hot buns on their knees as their hands cradled warming mugs of milk black tea” (loc. 550)
• apples and squash
• Scotch
• Piper-Heidsieck
• lemon
• gin and tonic
• strong cup of coffee
• bread and butter
• roasted chestnuts and mulled wine
• “sugar plums and rum balls and warm mince pies….bottles of claret and champagne….mulled wine steeped with cinnamon sticks, cloves and nutmeg” (loc 1787)
• oranges
• “two different kinds of cakes on display:  walnut, and Victorian sponge filled with preserves made with strawberries from the walled garden and honey from the estate’s own apiary” (loc 2065-66)
• whiskey
• tea with both milk and sugar
• “two tiny glasses of sherry” (loc 3244)

The mulled wine would have been fun, but it’s not the holidays.  I also was not going to try to master a Victorian sponge.  (I have been totally intimidated by this dessert since watching The Great British Baking Show.)  I went to the Jane Austen Centre for recipe ideas and found my inspiration there.     (The center is locted in Bath, not the Chawton setting of the novel.)

Miss Bates’ Baked Apples

Inside the bakehouse at Jane Austen’s Chawton home. (from https://www.janeausten.co.uk/)

I mentioned that I also recieved a gift from Judy at The Book Club Cookbook.   

 What was inside?

Ground bay leaf and spice mix.

Check out there inventive spice names here.

 

Photo from Book Club Cookbook Book Blends

I’m linking up with Foodies Read for May.