The Literature Network - Friendship by the book; When six friends gather to discuss Jane Austen's novels, they never suspect their own lives will be remade.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)

Friendship by the book; When six friends gather to discuss Jane Austen's novels, they never suspect their own lives will be remade.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)

Content courtesy of

From: The Christian Science Monitor
Date: 20040427
Author:

Byline: Ron Charles

I'm instinctively wary of genetic engineering, but Karen Fowler may have produced a literary equivalent of the elusive Super Tomato. "The Jane Austen Book Club" is modern chick lit spliced with genes from 19th-century romantic comedy. In fact, Fowler has so craftily designed this new novel to appeal to smart, middle-aged, book-buying women that one regards its demographic precision cynically. I'm sorry to report that it's delightful.

Her leisurely story revolves around the monthly meetings of six people - five women and one man - who gather to discuss ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Jane Austen

Jane becomes one of her own creations.(News)

Sweet Jane: 'The Complete Austen' comes to PBS

The Poetry of Jane Austen and the Austen Family.(Review)

Jane Austen, bibliography for 2001.(Miscellany)(Bibliography)

Why Jane? Why now?(notebook)(popularity of Jane Austen's works)(Brief article)

Jane Austen

Beckford, Godwin, Austen, and the divisive 1790s.(Conference Papers)(Jane Austen, William Beckford, William Godwin)

Jane Austen Criticism, 1951-2004.(Jane Austen and the Theatre)(Jane Austen on Screen)(Speaking Volumes: Women, Reading and Speech in the Age of Austen)(Jane Austen, or The Secret of Style)(Book review)

PERSPECTIVE: Ageism is not a new thing, just read Jane Austen.(Comment)

Writer's Jane Austen reward

Find More Articles

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.