As is obvious from the title it centres around a book club which is working its way through the novels of Jane Austen. There are six members of the group who take turns hosting. We learn about the lives of each character when it is their turn to host, and their lives are in some way linked with the book they are discussing. I have to admit my Austen is a bit rusty (something I intend to remedy this year) and I only really got the connections for the Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey. But I think you could have never read any Austen and still enjoy the book.
I think my favourite character was Prudie (Mansfield Park). She is a young woman teacher, happily married to Dean, who loves her and treats her well. She would seem to be well set up in life but is strangely dissatisfied. I thought she was quite a complex character.
One thing which started off puzzling me, then began irritating me was the narration. It's first person, and the narrator says that he/she is a member of the book club. But then goes on to describe all six members in the third person and knows everything about them. So who is the narrator - the ghost of Jane Austen?
But all in all a good read and one that I would recommend.
This certainly sounds like an interesting premise for a book, with all sorts of possibilities. What a pity the author couldn't sustain your interest to the end.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely about petering out towards the end, but don't you just love the way she writes about the dogs? If ever a woman knew dogs it's Fowler.
ReplyDeleteKaryn - yes it was interesting. And I really loved most of the book, my overall impression was a good one.
ReplyDeleteAnnie - I don't know much about dogs (though if Billy has his way I will in the future), so that part didn't really stand out for me. What did you think of the narration - I'm worried I'm missing something obvious about that.
This book surprised me in a good way, and I really liked the movie too!
ReplyDeletemotheretc - I didn't realise there was a movie! I'll put it on my LoveFilm list.
ReplyDeleteI think you're meant to work out who the narrator is. It's so long since I read it that I can't remember now who I decided it was, but I do remember that we had a discussion about it in our library group and while some had liked the device others had found it really annoying. I once heard Philip Pullman say that the decision about the way in which you deal with the narrative voice is the most important a writer has to make.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, I'm with the group that found it really annoying!
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