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maurakeaney 's review for:
Bloomsbury Girls
by Natalie Jenner
As an Austen aficionado, I thoroughly enjoyed Jenner's debut The Jane Austen Society as a welcome escape, a vacation into a world with likeable characters who all love Austen. I was not disappointed by its sequel, Bloomsbury Girls, which focuses on Evie Stone, the character from the first novel. It can be read without having read the first, but the glimpses of familiar beloved characters in the second increased my enjoyment of it.
Jenner's follow-up is not at all focused on Austen, but it casts Evie in a familiar role of an underdog who discovers a literary treasure. Features one thoroughly dislikeable villian but just about everyone else is a character worth rooting for, which is a welcome respite from real life. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed cameos from Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and - my favorite - Sonia Blair, the widow of George Orwell. I especially want a follow up novel featuring Guggenheim and Blair.
I can't quite muster up 5 stars for it, though I thoroughly enjoyed it...pacing was a bit off at times and I found both of the romantic storylines for Evie and Vivien to be repetitive and draggy. The men in the story were far less interesting than the women.
Audiobook narration by Juliet Stevenson was delightful.
Jenner's follow-up is not at all focused on Austen, but it casts Evie in a familiar role of an underdog who discovers a literary treasure. Features one thoroughly dislikeable villian but just about everyone else is a character worth rooting for, which is a welcome respite from real life. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed cameos from Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and - my favorite - Sonia Blair, the widow of George Orwell. I especially want a follow up novel featuring Guggenheim and Blair.
I can't quite muster up 5 stars for it, though I thoroughly enjoyed it...pacing was a bit off at times and I found both of the romantic storylines for Evie and Vivien to be repetitive and draggy. The men in the story were far less interesting than the women.
Audiobook narration by Juliet Stevenson was delightful.