It’s hard to imagine a time when the name Jane Austen wasn’t synonymous with the idea of the English author. Today she casts a long shadow over all English literature and 203 years after her last books were published she is still very popular.

All six of her novels are still in print, on Valentine’s Day this year, the latest high-profile film adaptation of one of her works, Emma, was released and a Jane Austen themed improvised comedy group has sold out a West End Theatre in London. 

It’s easy to imagine it has always been this way, but Jane Austen hasn’t always been this popular. There was a time when she wasn’t a household name. 

The Jane Austen Society 

A new novel called, The Jane Austen Society, by Natalie Jenner takes us back to this time. The book is set during and immediately after the Second World War, in the English country village of Chawton where Jane Austen lived. However, financial hardship has befallen Austen’s descendants and her name is unrecognised in her home village.

The novel follows a range of characters, all who have been touched by Austen’s writing. Her words have given meaning to their fears, hopes, personal tragedies and traumas. Together they form a society to preserve the memory of Jane Austen and to acquire a cottage in Chawton that she used to live in to turn it into a museum. 

The Jane Austen Society is a character-led novel. The book focuses intimately on the lives, feelings and thoughts of these characters. In the style of Austen herself, the book is mainly focused on their romantic desires as exploits of the Society brings the characters together, spark some new passions and rekindles some old flames.

Rich characterisation

The characterisation is rich and every one of the main characters is fully fleshed out. I got a strong impression of them as people, their pasts, their wants and needs. This was mainly achieved through the author’s voice explicitly telling the reader what the characters wanted in a particular moment or by having their backstory explained in detail. 

This novel could have benefited from showing the reader what motivated a character, rather than telling. I would have preferred that the characters reveal themselves for the reader via their own actions or words.

An intimate portrait of village life

Similar to Austen’s novels, The Jane Austen Society is an intimate portrait of English village life. The village of Chawton is as much a character in the story as any of the people. Like the other characters we a rich sense of the place and its history. The book explores the closeness of everyday life, in a world that is yet been changed by the big social upheavals of post-war Britain. 

The novel explores all aspects of such life, the positives and negatives. For example, there is the pressure to appear respectable. Some characters are subject to prying eyes and maybe would prefer the anonymity of a big city. It can be hard for love to bloom when it’s watched constantly. There is also the strong sense of togetherness that comes from living with people in such a small community.

Jane Austen’s whit

The Jane Austen Society has a lot in common with a Jane Austen novel. For example, several of Jenner’s characters cannot see for themselves what is the plain to the reader. They are so caught up in their thoughts that they cannot see the happiness that they could have if only they embraced it. This creates a strong sense of dramatic irony, as the reader understands much more about the situations than the characters do.

This novel has dramatic irony and the small rural community setting in common with a Jane Austen novel, but it lacks the whit that Austen is well known for. There is none of the witty sparing between characters or the wry observations that Austen did so well.

By contrast, the recent film adaption of Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy found a way to make the humour accessible to a modern audience. Jenner’s prose is emotive and her dialogue is poignant. Many of character have suffered personal tragedies and their pain, sadness and fear is powerful portrayed in the novel. 

This creates a very different tone to one of Austen’s novels. Jenner’s novel is much sadder, which is not what I expected from a novel about one of English literature’s great wits. This isn’t a flaw in the novel, the descriptions of pain and loss in Jenner’s novel are very moving, but it wasn’t the tone I expected.

Passion for Austen

The character’s passion for Austen is tangible. I believe in their love of her writing, how it has touched these people and awoken a passion for her work. The characters spend a lot of time discussing Jane Austen, comparing the motivations of her characters and mentally casting themselves in the roles to help them understand their own lives. This is what fans of great stories have done throughout the centuries and continues today.

A lot of the novel is given over to characters discussing Austen in detail. It may not surprise you for a book titled The Jane Austen Society, but this is a book about characters who are chiefly concerned with Austen. This is certainly a novel for fans of Jane Austen as this is not just the focus on the book, but is almost exclusively its content. 

Happily married

Readers who love Jane Austen as much as Jenner’s characters will love this novel. I can imagine this book being well received by reading groups. There is certainly a lot to discuss. Which characters from the novel most closely align with Austen’s characters? Do you agree with how they interpret Austen’s characters? 

The Jane Austen Society builds to a neat and satisfying conclusion. In true Austen style, each character marries their true love and lives happily ever after. This leaves the reader with a content feeling that everything worked out for the best in the end, despite any upsets along the way. Much like a Jane Austen novel.

Audiobook review

The standout feature of this audiobook is Richard Armitage’s narration. His deep, rich voice is a pleasure to listen to. I have admired Armitage’s stage, TV and film performances for years, but I was struck by how well suited he is to reading audiobooks. 

Aside from Armitage, the production is a little flat. The audiobook lacks music or other embellishments to bring the story to life. However, this is more than made up for by Armitage’s excellent reading. I highly enjoyed this novel in audiobook form.