The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
My review: 3.5 of 5 stars
This is one of the few books where I liked the movie better. It was smoother and more engaging. However, I still think The Jane Austen Book Club would work well as a book club choice. It is witty, poignant, and clever with characters’ layers gradually pealed away in a succession of book discussions and flashbacks. Although The Jane Austen Book Club is both intelligent and highly literary (especially if you’re a Jane Austen fan), the staccato rhythm is bothersome. The narrative simply doesn’t flow evenly, and as a result, the pace slows. The middle bogged down, but the pace finally picked up toward the end. Not exactly a page-turner, but I still enjoyed the read. Recommended for book clubs and Jane Austen fans.
Quotes:
“A night that began with mind-reading a grateful crustacean and ended with drunken elves would be a night to remember” (p. 131).
“She meandered around her point, which, when gotten to, was seldom worth the journey” (p. 159).
“No one with real integrity tries to sell their integrity to you” (p. 185).