The Jane Austen Society: A Novel

A chance meeting makes all the difference for the future. Adam is a quiet farmer who has lost his home and lives with his bitter mother, escaping by reading Jane Austen on cold winter nights based on the recommendation of a stranger. His quiet comment to Dr. Gray leads to a discussion with Adeline, a school teacher who is expecting after finding out her husband will not be coming back from war. Based on a common interest in Jane Austen, who actually lived in one of the cottages in their village, they create a society for saving her home, inviting a solicitor, a possible heir, a world-renowned actress, and an art dealer to help. But things like family, finances, and fame may keep the group from accomplishing their goals.

This story. Oh, this story. It invokes memories of long ago, not because it was a simpler time but, like in Jane Austen’s beloved stories, a time of real people living real lives with real problems who are not perfect. It is epic like Jeffrey Archer’s tales and touching like Ruta Septys’s histories. It examines the way literature touches our very souls and makes us more than we are because we’ve explored a world away from our own. Fantastic.