The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler - #10

A wonderful book about how different people can come together. Jocelyn, Bernadette, Prudie, Allegra, Sylvia and Grigg make up the all Jane Austen book club. They meet each month in each others homes to discuss one of Austen's novels. The idea for the club cam from Jocelyn, a unmarried woman in her 50's who raises ridgebacks. Her best friend Sylvia, whose husband just left her, and her daughter Allegra, a lesbian, are the first two members of the club. Jocelyn also invites Prudie, a high school French teacher, Bernadette, a older woman twice divorced, and Grigg, a young man she met while attending a convention. As the book progresses each member takes on the discussion of their favorite book. This is when we see how their lives are connected to Austen's novels. We also learn that they each have their own personal Austen that the other members do not always agree with. Over the course of their meetings we learn about their dreams, trials and heartaches and we see how they become a real family even though they do not always see eye to eye.

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved how Fowler wrapped the characters lives up with the Austen books. I enjoyed how each of the books characters had their own section dedicated to them because it helped to learn a lot about them in a short manner. Of course many of their stories intertwine and that is also interesting to read. There is a film version of the book coming out in limited release at the end of September. I recommend this book if you like well developed characters, whether you like Austen or not.