I was stuck in the airport for several hours a few days ago, so I picked up a couple of books to pass the time. I finished the second of the books, “The Jane Austen Book Club” today.
I picked up the book because I’m a fan of Austen. However, I should note that I am by no means an expert…I enjoy reading and writing, but I wasn’t a literature major for good reason. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the book–the world Austen lived in and wrote about was full of problems to be sure, but the ladies, gentlemen, and ballrooms of her books at first didn’t seem to fit with the modern world Karen Joy Fowler created in her book–the world of divorcee’s and lesbians and memories of molestation–not that there’s anything wrong with divorcee’s and lesbians, but it just didn’t seem to fit with Austen.
So, that was my first opinion as I started reading the book…but by the end, I’d fallen victim to its charms. It’s a great novel for any Austen fan, or anyone who loves to read…
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Mark Bernstein