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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
It's 1950 London and Bloomsbury Books has been in business for a hundred years. The general manager has 51 unbreakable rules and every employee is able to name each rule and identify when anyone is breaking them. The men are "in charge" at the store but the real movers and shakers are the three women, making things happen, or at least making their unhappiness known, with their unique silent communications to each other, to the vexation of the men. Yes, the men know the woman are pulling the wool over their eyes everyday, they know that even though they are the decision makers, they may not be as in charge as they'd like to think.
Vivien wears her list of grievance like a badge of honor and I think the men of the store are scared of her. No way they can escape her sarcastic wit and critique but she is so very good at what she does and she is determined to make changes at the store, one way or another. Grace is a mother of two, in a miserable marriage, who loves her career but is worn out with all the work she does both at home and the store, always feeling guilty about leaving her family to go to work each day, even though she's the bread winner in the household. Young Evie, who was in the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, has her hopes dashed when a less qualified man gets the academic job for which she was better qualified. These smart, resourceful women have to bow down to men because a woman's place is to do all the grunt work, make the tea, keep quiet and helpful, never getting recognition for the fact that they are really the heart of making the store run.
Three men feature in this story, too, Alec, who can't keep his mind off Vivien, even if he feels she will be the ruin of him, Lord Baskin, the gentle, hands off owner of the store, who has been hanging around the place more than he did in the past, and Ash, from India, who knows a different kind of discrimination than the women, that he must endure on a daily basis. There are other men at this store, all powerful and dismissive of the women and their work. Little do they know that they are creating a storm like they have never seen before.
You do not need to read the author's previous book to enjoy this one, even though this is a continuation of the earlier story. This book starts slowly but once Evie get a job at Bloomsbury Books, I was swept up with the politics and in fighting among all the players. And then we begin spending time with real life people from the writing and publishing world of that time, both men and women. I've become familiar with the backgrounds of these people from other books I've read and I enjoyed seeing Vivien, Grace, Evie, and the men intermingling with these legends. I'm hoping the author has more in store for us because I can't wait for another book that contains some of the fictional characters in this world.
Publication: May 17th 2022
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
It's 1950 London and Bloomsbury Books has been in business for a hundred years. The general manager has 51 unbreakable rules and every employee is able to name each rule and identify when anyone is breaking them. The men are "in charge" at the store but the real movers and shakers are the three women, making things happen, or at least making their unhappiness known, with their unique silent communications to each other, to the vexation of the men. Yes, the men know the woman are pulling the wool over their eyes everyday, they know that even though they are the decision makers, they may not be as in charge as they'd like to think.
Vivien wears her list of grievance like a badge of honor and I think the men of the store are scared of her. No way they can escape her sarcastic wit and critique but she is so very good at what she does and she is determined to make changes at the store, one way or another. Grace is a mother of two, in a miserable marriage, who loves her career but is worn out with all the work she does both at home and the store, always feeling guilty about leaving her family to go to work each day, even though she's the bread winner in the household. Young Evie, who was in the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, has her hopes dashed when a less qualified man gets the academic job for which she was better qualified. These smart, resourceful women have to bow down to men because a woman's place is to do all the grunt work, make the tea, keep quiet and helpful, never getting recognition for the fact that they are really the heart of making the store run.
Three men feature in this story, too, Alec, who can't keep his mind off Vivien, even if he feels she will be the ruin of him, Lord Baskin, the gentle, hands off owner of the store, who has been hanging around the place more than he did in the past, and Ash, from India, who knows a different kind of discrimination than the women, that he must endure on a daily basis. There are other men at this store, all powerful and dismissive of the women and their work. Little do they know that they are creating a storm like they have never seen before.
You do not need to read the author's previous book to enjoy this one, even though this is a continuation of the earlier story. This book starts slowly but once Evie get a job at Bloomsbury Books, I was swept up with the politics and in fighting among all the players. And then we begin spending time with real life people from the writing and publishing world of that time, both men and women. I've become familiar with the backgrounds of these people from other books I've read and I enjoyed seeing Vivien, Grace, Evie, and the men intermingling with these legends. I'm hoping the author has more in store for us because I can't wait for another book that contains some of the fictional characters in this world.
Publication: May 17th 2022
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Bloomsbury Girls. The characters in this book were endearing and I did enjoy reading it, however it seemed a little long for the story. What took more than 350 pages could have been accomplished in under 200, which is largely why I gave the book 3 stars. The setting for this book is a charming book store in London and the men and women who staff the store. Each character is developed and their motivations for working at the store are thoroughly explored. Relationships with wealthy women in publishing seem rather unlikely and seem a little magical, but this part of the story sends an important message about women helping women. I enjoyed this book but had no idea it was part of a series. Based on my experience with this book, I'm putting the first book in the series, The Jane Austen Society, in my TBR pile!
I enjoyed the writing style, the book store setting, the famous-author namedropping, the leisurely pace, the gentle tone (even though there is some edgy content), the endearing characters, and the satisfying ending.
What can II say about a book set in London about a bookshop? Nothing bad that’s for sure. I haven’t read the prequel to this, but best believe I have ordered it from the library, and it stands alone anyway. The characters, all of them, fictitious or not, were either likeable or not but all were interesting and you wanted to know what became of them.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
Had a difficult time focusing on this book for some reason. Not as much fun as the last book (but also less Austen parallels, so that tracks), but sort of comforting in its way because it followed some of the same conventions. Ultimately, I think the characters didn't grab my attention as much as I would have liked, and I never felt a connection to any of them by the end of the book.
Comforting in its way, but bland.
Comforting in its way, but bland.
The entire book just felt like exposition and I was bored most of the time. The only interesting part was how the three women got what they wanted, and it happened in like the last 2 chapters. There was potential with the idea but such poor execution
What a charming book! I think this book convinced me that I like historical fiction more than I thought I did. This was a nice warm blanket of a story and one that makes me want to go back and read her previous novel The Jane Austen Society.
In this book we follow three separate women who all work at a bookstore in post WWII London. Evie Stone beings working there after she obtained her degree from Cambridge but found herself struggling to find a research position at the school to lesser qualified male candidates. Vivenne works while secretly working on her own writing ambitions and finds herself annoyed at the men who ignore her ideas for better sales and events at the shop. Grace finds herself more satisfied at work than with her husband at home who has become more and more hard to deal with.
This was just a nice story. I’m not even quite sure how to analyze it. It was soft and allowed you to drift along with the conflicts without ever getting too upset or worried about the characters because you just knew it would work out fine. Even some of the main conflicts or villains of the story were given lessons and learned from their mistakes. It’s a truly feel good story and one I suppose I needed at this moment.
The characters were nice and felt simple but real. The only reason its down from 5 stars to 4 is that I think I could have focused on any one of these women and gotten a more full story but focusing on all three gave me only glimpses. I also loved how this story incorporated inclusion, which is something that historical fiction seems to struggle with. The way they mention the outside fears and prejudices of the world while showing their own small bubble of accepting made it feel like a happy place.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and had a silly smile on my face while listening to it.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The audio was narrated by Juliet Stevenson, who did a good job.
In this book we follow three separate women who all work at a bookstore in post WWII London. Evie Stone beings working there after she obtained her degree from Cambridge but found herself struggling to find a research position at the school to lesser qualified male candidates. Vivenne works while secretly working on her own writing ambitions and finds herself annoyed at the men who ignore her ideas for better sales and events at the shop. Grace finds herself more satisfied at work than with her husband at home who has become more and more hard to deal with.
This was just a nice story. I’m not even quite sure how to analyze it. It was soft and allowed you to drift along with the conflicts without ever getting too upset or worried about the characters because you just knew it would work out fine. Even some of the main conflicts or villains of the story were given lessons and learned from their mistakes. It’s a truly feel good story and one I suppose I needed at this moment.
The characters were nice and felt simple but real. The only reason its down from 5 stars to 4 is that I think I could have focused on any one of these women and gotten a more full story but focusing on all three gave me only glimpses. I also loved how this story incorporated inclusion, which is something that historical fiction seems to struggle with. The way they mention the outside fears and prejudices of the world while showing their own small bubble of accepting made it feel like a happy place.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and had a silly smile on my face while listening to it.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The audio was narrated by Juliet Stevenson, who did a good job.
Is there anything better than a book about a bookshop? I really enjoyed this follow up to The Jane Austen Society as it follows the brilliant Evie Stone on her quest to find a rare book and outsmart all the men around her who want to take credit for her discovery. With appearances from old characters and lots of details with new characters, this novel examines the following topics:
-the plight of women after WWII has ended
-homophobia
-sexism
-racism
-gender roles
It was interesting to read about women in publishing as well as famous authors. I did find the first third of the book to be pretty slow. But the last part of the book and what the women pulled off was really something!
3.5 stars
-the plight of women after WWII has ended
-homophobia
-sexism
-racism
-gender roles
It was interesting to read about women in publishing as well as famous authors. I did find the first third of the book to be pretty slow. But the last part of the book and what the women pulled off was really something!
3.5 stars
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced