The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

The other day I read in one of my news alerts that a terrific book has just been adapted to make a movie. The Jane Austen Book Club, directed by Robin Swicord and starring Maria Bello, opened September 21. This would be an intriguing choice for a book club, if only because the theme is a book club! Six readers start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen only to discover that their own lives resemble modern versions of her novels.

I don’t know what your opinion is about the audience for this book – women only? Perhaps we should be careful not to stereotype: men appreciate Jane Austen too, for her elegant writing and witty observation; and there is one (as a reviewer called him) “enigmatic” man in the book club of the title.

That same review (in Publisher’s Weekly 03/22/2004) suggests that Karen Joy Fowler is rather like Jane Austen herself, writing with sly wit and quirky characters. It strikes me that the characters and their “hangups” might be sources of some good discussion, and the humor might make it all rather fun!

You will find a Discussion Guide in Novelist. Find a link to Novelist on ReadersPlace Home page.

The book got two other “Starred Reviews” and was a New York Times Notable Book.

Click here to Find this book in our catalog.

Here are some suggestions of similar books:
Dinner With Anna Karenina by Gloria Goldreich
The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley

Click here for a list of books about Jane Austen in fact and fiction
Karen Joy Fowler's Web Site : Fowler provides information about herself and her books.