Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #414166 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-01
• Binding: Hardcover

Customer Reviews

Who are these people, and why should we care?
Maybe I just have a short attention span, but I couldn't get interested in the characters in this book. Ironic, since the characters are exactly what's kept Jane Austen's novels in print lo these 200 or so years. I read about half the book, then skimmed the rest hoping to figure out who the narrator/observer was. The six members of the club are all discussed in third person, but the narrator, included in "the six of us," has "I" sections that didn't seem to relate to any of the six. Maybe the answer is in there, but I'm not intrigued enough to sift through the rest of the book to find out.

Never could figure out what's supposed to bind these people together. It felt like a bunch of vignettes culled from who-knows-where, sort of like random paper dolls propped in different rooms of a doll house.

So, one star for the characters and miniscule plot, and one more because the writing's quite decent and well-edited, and an occasional descriptive phrase struck me as interesting.

Wish I'd liked this one more, as I had great hopes for it, but what's a disappointed reader to say?

One-sentence review
A light little novel, sometimes amusingly constructed, and displaying a wealth of knowledge about and appreciation for Jane Austen, but nevertheless having very little in the way of sticking power after the cover is closed.

A delightful read
I'm a little surprised by the low reviews this book has received...I am listening to the audio version and am enchanted by the style of the author and the way she weaves the different stories through the lives of her characters. I suppose if you've watched the movie first you probably have different expectation and could be disappointed. But I personally find her clever, candid and tongue-in-cheek humor to be refreshing and delightful! I do plan to watch the movie also; it's on my Netflix queue, but it's always a gamble as to which could possibly "ruin" the other for me...the narrator's tones and expressions certainly do help in bringing it to life. I like it, and barring a totally contrived and awful ending, I suspect I'll feel the same way at the end of the book as I do now, in the middle.