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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it! The characters and their stories were so engaging, I couldn't put the book down. There were many layers and important themes woven into such a lovely story. I was sad to reach the end!
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner is an elegantly written and compelling story of three women as they face the challenges typical of their gender in post-WWII London. The author has done her research well, bringing to life the various levels of society in England of the time. The descriptions of the settings are rich and detailed, adding to the overall appeal of the story.
The three main characters - Vivien, Grace, and Evie - work together at the Bloomsbury Bookstore and each of the women has her own distinct challenges that she must face. Yet while their challenges differ greatly between them, there is also the one constant - the treatment they receive from their male colleagues and their determination to rise above and beyond the roadblocks most of the men in their lives place in their way. While these roadblocks and the women's reactions to them ring true for many female readers, the author effectively communicates how much more difficult things were for women at the time. These difficulties and the women's efforts to succeed despite them make all of the characters compelling and relatable, and readers will be sure to care about how the women progress through the story.
Literary themes abound throughout, as does the name-dropping of various notable personalities in history.
This book is definitely a page-turner and it was difficult to put it down until the very end.
I was lucky to get an ARC of #BloomsburyGirls from #NetGalley.
The three main characters - Vivien, Grace, and Evie - work together at the Bloomsbury Bookstore and each of the women has her own distinct challenges that she must face. Yet while their challenges differ greatly between them, there is also the one constant - the treatment they receive from their male colleagues and their determination to rise above and beyond the roadblocks most of the men in their lives place in their way. While these roadblocks and the women's reactions to them ring true for many female readers, the author effectively communicates how much more difficult things were for women at the time. These difficulties and the women's efforts to succeed despite them make all of the characters compelling and relatable, and readers will be sure to care about how the women progress through the story.
Literary themes abound throughout, as does the name-dropping of various notable personalities in history.
This book is definitely a page-turner and it was difficult to put it down until the very end.
I was lucky to get an ARC of #BloomsburyGirls from #NetGalley.
I really enjoyed the story line and the characters in this book. I am encouraged to read the authors previous book the Jane Austen Society which has several characters that come into this book. I hope the author has some more books in progress.
This story was woven with a bookstore, the men and exemplary women who work there, history, and the 1950s. The growth of the women who work there was slow and steady. The men learned a great deal from these women. It was a great story.
The women at Bloomsbury Books store are watching it crumble before their very eyes. Not literally, but it's been a couple years since Vivien's fiancé died in World War II, and the bookstore isn't seeing the economic windfall that other businesses have been experiencing after the war ended, not even with its iron-clad rules. Vivien has it out for the Head of Fiction, who stands in the way of almost everything she desires at work. Grace is a consummate professional, but her home life is in shambles after her husband comes home broken from the war. Evie is extremely intelligent, yet has been unfairly denied advancement in her chosen profession, now working at Bloomsbury to figure out her next move. Each of these women individually want the bookstore to succeed, but it isn't until Evie discovers something uniquely special that these three women have the opportunity to make a difference that defies what their managers, and society, expects of them.
Life takes us to interesting places, and sometimes we're there for a reason, to make a difference. After the events of The Jane Austen Society, Evie is in London trying to propel her career forward. That unfortunately means working in a bookstore run by rigid men who think the rules will save them as the world shifts in the post-war era. Evie and the other women believe that shifting the sales approach can help save the bookstore, but that isn't likely with the current managerial approach. I liked how each woman approached her desire to change things differently, and they applied their unique talents in ways that went underappreciated by those in power.
Not only is this an interesting story set in a bookstore, but it's also full of interesting imagined dialogue with famous writers of the post-war era, and an important commentary on individuals who are otherwise competent and intelligent, sidelined by societal expectations and bias. Bloomsbury Girls is the story of three women, each searching for fulfillment, advancement, and success after World War II, conquering their own struggles, and banding together to make a difference in a world dominated by the rigidity of the society, and men, surrounding them. Recommended for readers who enjoyed The Jane Austen Society, who enjoy stories about women making a difference against the odds, and who love stories set in bookstores, surrounded by rare books, where the books themselves can help make a difference in people's lives.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary digital copy of Bloomsbury Girls. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Life takes us to interesting places, and sometimes we're there for a reason, to make a difference. After the events of The Jane Austen Society, Evie is in London trying to propel her career forward. That unfortunately means working in a bookstore run by rigid men who think the rules will save them as the world shifts in the post-war era. Evie and the other women believe that shifting the sales approach can help save the bookstore, but that isn't likely with the current managerial approach. I liked how each woman approached her desire to change things differently, and they applied their unique talents in ways that went underappreciated by those in power.
Not only is this an interesting story set in a bookstore, but it's also full of interesting imagined dialogue with famous writers of the post-war era, and an important commentary on individuals who are otherwise competent and intelligent, sidelined by societal expectations and bias. Bloomsbury Girls is the story of three women, each searching for fulfillment, advancement, and success after World War II, conquering their own struggles, and banding together to make a difference in a world dominated by the rigidity of the society, and men, surrounding them. Recommended for readers who enjoyed The Jane Austen Society, who enjoy stories about women making a difference against the odds, and who love stories set in bookstores, surrounded by rare books, where the books themselves can help make a difference in people's lives.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary digital copy of Bloomsbury Girls. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
On the surface, this is a sweet book about a bookshop on London and the people that work in it. But below the surface, this one is about women in the era after WWII, and their journey to find themselves and their place in the world. Extremely well written with a very well developed plot. Definitely recommend!
I've been on a winning streak with books lately, and here's another one. This book is like 84, Charing Cross Road on steroids. Not to say that this is an epistolary novel, because it's not. But it IS a book about very different people working at a London bookstore around WWII.
Almost every character is a book unto themselves, without being stereotyped. Almost everyone has a secret of one sort or another. The title refers to the three women of the story, and how they navigate what is still very clearly a man's world, and ultimately turn it upside down. Real authors and people connected to the literary world are brought into the book, and used as pawns, in a way, in the "war" between men and women working in the shop.
I have only two negative things to say about this delightful book. One, I was expecting and hoping for one particular relationship to head in a certain way and it didn't, so I like to believe it did. Secondly, I'm devastated that I can never read this book for the first time again. It was funny, sweet, mysterious, suspenseful and entertaining. I found it hard to put down and savored every word.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are given freely and are mine.
Almost every character is a book unto themselves, without being stereotyped. Almost everyone has a secret of one sort or another. The title refers to the three women of the story, and how they navigate what is still very clearly a man's world, and ultimately turn it upside down. Real authors and people connected to the literary world are brought into the book, and used as pawns, in a way, in the "war" between men and women working in the shop.
I have only two negative things to say about this delightful book. One, I was expecting and hoping for one particular relationship to head in a certain way and it didn't, so I like to believe it did. Secondly, I'm devastated that I can never read this book for the first time again. It was funny, sweet, mysterious, suspenseful and entertaining. I found it hard to put down and savored every word.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are given freely and are mine.
What is not to like with a novel about an English bookshop, a group of diverse employees and famous writers here and there. Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner is that book. Although this is not listed as a sequel, there is a link to The Jane Austen Society in the person of Evie Stone who is an important character in both books. The time is after World War II. The place is London, which is beautifully described as characters wander there on their days off. Bloomsbury Books has been in business for a hundred years and not much has changed in that time. The management of this establishment are all male. There are three female employees: Vivien, Grace and Evie. Life is not easy to navigate for the women in more ways than one. The relationship between men and women is at the centre of this intricate plot. The rest of the story you must read for yourself. Natalie Jenner has written a thoughtful, honest and fair look at life in a post-war London bookshop and reading Bloomsbury Girls is an absolute pleasure. This is historical fiction at its best. A cup of tea, a comfy corner and this book is all you need for a satisfying read. Highly recommended. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a fan of the Bloomsbury Group, this novel is set a few decades later, but is a wonderful tribute to the smart women who found a new way to share their voices.
Partly inspired by 84 Charing Cross Road, it is a wonderful homage and a step beyond.
Dealing with misogyny in the professional world and racism, the book is still hopeful. I recommend Natalie Jenner’s first book, The Jane Austen Society- and that you read it first for fun.
Partly inspired by 84 Charing Cross Road, it is a wonderful homage and a step beyond.
Dealing with misogyny in the professional world and racism, the book is still hopeful. I recommend Natalie Jenner’s first book, The Jane Austen Society- and that you read it first for fun.