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Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
5.0

So when I first read--and quickly finished--The Jane Austen Society, I was hooked on Natalie Jenner's ability to tell a story. So hooked that I was incredibly eager to read Bloomsbury Girls.

Bloomsbury Girls is a sequel of sorts to The Jane Austen Society. Granted, two of the three main characters are new, but Evie Stone--the remarkable Evie Stone who is one of the founding members of the Jane Austen Society--returns in this novel, as a new employee of Bloomsbury Books. There, she meets and befriends both Vivien Lowry and Grace Perkins. Both formidable women, in their own right. 


Bloomsbury Girls is a story set post-WWII in England, in 1950. A time when women were still not on even terms with men in any profession. 


Grace, Vivien, and Evie navigate the ins and outs of working in a bookstore run and own entirely by men--men who unsurprisingly seem to be as good at it as they think they are. 

The story being about all three women, is incredibly fulfilling in that it gives each woman their own time to shine, with their own incredible story arcs--while also bringing the three women together in friendship and camaraderie in a way only women can be. 

There are some slight romantic elements to this story--just enough to satisfy. While also keeping with the tone of the book--these three women are a force to be reckoned with while also being real women--vulnerable, strong, and capable of achieving dreams even in the most unlikely of situations. 

You don't need to have read The Jane Austen Society to enjoy this book-- but, it would make the experience more enjoyable. 

I am so incredibly hooked on Jenner's writing--I can't wait to see what's in store next!