The mere habit of learning to love is the thing.
- Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Six members of the Jane Austen Club – Jocelyn, Bernadette, Sylvia, Allegra, Prudie, and Grigg - gather together at Jocelyn’s screened porch at dusk in March to discuss Emma. It is Jocelyn, the one with the dogs and with the match-making penchant, who has made possible this congregation of minds.
Jocelyn and Sylvia are in their early 50s and have been friends since they were 11. Sylvia’s husband of 32 years, Daniel, has recently asked her for a divorce. Jocelyn has never married.
Allegra is Sylvia’s daughter, 30, and has recently broken up with her girlfriend Corinne.
Bernadette is 67, was formerly married, and has just announced that she was “letting herself go”.
Prudie is 27 years old and teaches French at the local high school. She is the only married member in the club, barring Sylvia, who is technically still married but not quite.
Grigg, 40s, is the only male member in the group. He is new in the place and has decided to get in touch with Jocelyn whom he has encountered in a hotel elevator before, is a big fan of science fiction, and one wonders why he is in this club at all.
The group thereafter meets on a monthly basis and as the members progress from Emma to Sense and Sensibility (hosted by Allegra), to Mansfield Park (hosted by Prudie), to Northanger Abbey (hosted by Grigg), to Pride and Prejudice (hosted by Bernadette), and finally to Persuasion (hosted by Sylvia), we not only are acquainted with the members’ favourite Austen books and their snobbish opinions but more interestingly, their housekeeping habits, personal histories, domestic troubles, and how they resemble characters in Austen’s stories.
This is a very difficult book to put down especially for Austen fans. For readers who still have to get acquainted with the author, this is a good introduction. There is also a synopsis to Austen’s six books at the end.
- Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Six members of the Jane Austen Club – Jocelyn, Bernadette, Sylvia, Allegra, Prudie, and Grigg - gather together at Jocelyn’s screened porch at dusk in March to discuss Emma. It is Jocelyn, the one with the dogs and with the match-making penchant, who has made possible this congregation of minds.
Jocelyn and Sylvia are in their early 50s and have been friends since they were 11. Sylvia’s husband of 32 years, Daniel, has recently asked her for a divorce. Jocelyn has never married.
Allegra is Sylvia’s daughter, 30, and has recently broken up with her girlfriend Corinne.
Bernadette is 67, was formerly married, and has just announced that she was “letting herself go”.
Prudie is 27 years old and teaches French at the local high school. She is the only married member in the club, barring Sylvia, who is technically still married but not quite.
Grigg, 40s, is the only male member in the group. He is new in the place and has decided to get in touch with Jocelyn whom he has encountered in a hotel elevator before, is a big fan of science fiction, and one wonders why he is in this club at all.
The group thereafter meets on a monthly basis and as the members progress from Emma to Sense and Sensibility (hosted by Allegra), to Mansfield Park (hosted by Prudie), to Northanger Abbey (hosted by Grigg), to Pride and Prejudice (hosted by Bernadette), and finally to Persuasion (hosted by Sylvia), we not only are acquainted with the members’ favourite Austen books and their snobbish opinions but more interestingly, their housekeeping habits, personal histories, domestic troubles, and how they resemble characters in Austen’s stories.
This is a very difficult book to put down especially for Austen fans. For readers who still have to get acquainted with the author, this is a good introduction. There is also a synopsis to Austen’s six books at the end.
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