![]() ![]() So, a book that draws parallels between its characters and the characters of Jane Austen’s novels and includes references to the Golden Age of Hollywood would have to be awful for me to dislike. Premise and allusions to the studio system and infamous rivalries aside, Jenner has written a beautiful book about grief and chosen family. All the characters have suffered a loss. Whether it be a loved one gone too soon, or a dream left unrealized, they are all grappling with something. And the best part is that the book is lively and cheerful when it could easily be dispiriting and gloomy. Her heroines in particular discover in the course of the novel that individual happiness cannot exist separately from our responsibilities to others. ![]() ![]() A small village in the countryside of Post-WWII England with an American movie star thrown in the mix is frankly a book I would write in a fever dream. You may have noticed I like historical fiction, and I prefer a story driven by characters. And I LOVE films. I’m also obsessed with Old Hollywood. The glitz and grit of it have me watching intros and outros on TCM with as much interest as the movies themselves. The book fictionalizes the attempt to secure Jane Austens cottage in Chawton along with some of her things for historical purposes. Jane Austen depicts a society which, for all its seeming privileges (pleasant houses, endless hours of leisure), closely monitors behaviour. ![]()
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