They do not adhere slavishly to their assigned doppelganger, a conceit that is often annoying in Austen imitations.
The members of the group adapt their roles to fit each novel, as well. The amateur theatricals in Mansfield Park become a high school musical the Upper Rooms in Bath morph into a science fiction convention and Bingley's ball becomes a fundraiser dinner dance. Each chapter also tells the story of the leader of that particular book's discussion, with the entire chapter, past and present, echoing the original novel under discussion in interlocking twists of narration, so subtly that even the well-read Janeite can miss the references if she is not careful. Each chapter includes a discussion of one of Jane Austen's novels and a month in the lives of the members of the club, five women and one man. The plot is nonlinear, but with a story arc that brings the disparate sections together. Fortunately, our fears were unfounded The Jane Austen Book Club is a delightful comedy of manners that holds many joys for readers and many more joys for Janeites. I should like to know what her estimate is, but am always half afraid of finding a clever novel too clever, and of finding my own story and my own people all forestalled." A letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra AustenĪpWe approached The Jane Austen Book Club with some trepidation, fearing, like Jane, to find a clever novel too clever: that showy sort of cleverness that is vulgarly self-congratulatory, as if drawing the reader's attention to itself and away from the story. The Jane Austen Book Club By Karen Joy Fowler "We have tried to get "Self-control," but in vain.
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