A good many of you were enthralled by Natalie Jenner’s first novel and international bestseller The Jane Austen Society. I thoroughly enjoyed getting into the lives of Jenner’s cast of characters who populated that novel set in 1940s England. [You can read my review here]. Evie Stone was one of her most endearing, a young servant at Chawton House who takes a liking to the library and all the books in it – and spends her time there doing far more than the required cleaning. It was difficult to close the book on Evie and not want to know more about her life after Chawton, and obviously, it was hard for Natalie Jenner to let her go as well.
Her newest novel, titled Bloomsbury Girls, (not due out until May 2022!) gives us just what we could wish for – and not only the continuing story of Evie but also that of two other women caught up in life in a bookshop in the aftermath of World War II. How we shall wait until May 2022 is my biggest concern!
But this week, a group of bloggers headed by Laurel Ann at Austenprose, are giving you a small taste of what’s coming, starting with this Cover Reveal!
First, what’s it about?
“One bookshop. Fifty-one rules. Three women who break them all.”
The Internationally Bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world.
Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare bookstore that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager’s unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:
Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiancé was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances – most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.
Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she’s been working to support the family following her husband’s breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.
Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she’s working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.
As they interact with various literary figures of the time – Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others – these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.
Author Natalie Jenner on Bloomsbury Girls:
“I never intended for Evie Stone to be a major character in my debut novel, let alone inspire my second one, Bloomsbury Girls. But as time went on, I found I could not leave her behind in Chawton with the other society members. And then one day I rewatched a favourite movie, 84 Charing Cross Road, and I remember thinking, there’s a whole other story in here still to be told, of an upstairs-downstairs motley crew of booksellers, and right away the figures came to life.”
“As with The Jane Austen Society, Bloomsbury Girls features multiple characters and storylines revolving around one very charming location: this time, the quintessential Dickensian-type bookshop.”
“If The Jane Austen Society was the book I wrote when I was coming out of sadness, Bloomsbury Girls was written when I was very happy, and I hope it provides a little cheer to readers during this difficult time.
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Drum roll please … Cover Reveal!!*
About the Author:
Natalie Jenner is the author of two books, the instant international bestseller THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY and BLOOMSBURY GIRLS. A Goodreads Choice Award finalist for best debut novel and historical fiction, THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY was a USA Today and #1 national bestseller and has been sold for translation in twenty countries. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer, a career coach and, most recently, an independent bookstore owner in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.
Where you can find her:
- Website: https://nataliejenner.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NatalieMJenner
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010638227094
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authornataliejenner/?hl=en
- GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18786953.Natalie_Jenner
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Details:
- Title: Bloomsbury Girls: A Novel
- Author: Natalie Jenner
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Publisher: St Martin’s Press (May 17, 2022)
- Length: (304) pages
- Hardcover ISBN: 978-1250276698
- Audiobook ISBN: 978-1250852311
- eBook ASIN: B09CNDV5GJ
Purchase Links for pre-ordering:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250276691
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Bloomsbury-Girls-Novel-Natalie-Jenner/dp/1250276691/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=bloomsbury+Girls&qid=1629916389&sr=8-1
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bloomsbury-girls-natalie-jenner/1139985334?ean=9781250276698
IndieBound (for a US indie bookshop near you): https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250276698
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bloomsbury-girls
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Natalie_Jenner_Bloomsbury_Girls?id=GbA9EAAAQBAJ
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Cover Reveal Blog Schedule:
You can follow the Cover Reveal Book Blast at the other bloggers here: at Austenprose (scroll to the bottom).
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*I love this cover! Like The Jane Austen Society, it has real people on the cover (with the appropriate footwear), a bookstore in the background, and the requisite floral accompaniment! Cannot wait to enjoy the inside!
Jane Austen in Vermont 