Natalie Jenner--Austen at Sea

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Quite by felicitous chance I discovered Natalie Jenner's second novel, BLOOMSBURY GIRLS, which I so adored that I tracked down Natalie through a mutual connection and asked her to write a guest post, which she kindly consented to do. (You can read it here.) I then went back and read her debut novel, THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY, and I have been a huge fan of Natalie's books ever since. Now, picture me jumping for joy when I saw there was a new novel, and one with a tie-in to Jane Austen! And of course I immediately invited Natalie to tell us what inspired this book, and I was unexpectedly moved by her story.

NATALIE JENNER: 

I delivered the final manuscript of my third novel, Every Time We Say Goodbye, to my editor at 12.30 pm on Monday, May 8, 2023. At 1.00 pm, my doctor called to tell me I had cancer and would need a second operation within weeks of the first. After getting through an afternoon of appointments and a very difficult phone call with my daughter, I had only one solution for getting through the weeks ahead: write a new book.

            It is only with the benefit of time that I can see how critical time itself was to this decision. For one thing, I had sat down just the day before, on a whim, and punched out the first chapter of a new story. It was based on an idea that had been brewing in my head for six years, ever since I learned about two Boston women who had written in 1852 to Admiral Sir Francis Austen, the last surviving sibling of Jane Austen, seeking her signature. I remember thinking to myself at the time, “They’re the original groupies!” and knowing right away that I would one day turn it into a book.

But why did I end up choosing the day that I did? Was it simply because I was officially finished writing the last book and wanted a new “toy” to play with? Or had I somehow intuited, despite my many doctors’ assurances otherwise, the need to have a stoke in the creative fire when the medical news came in?

That first chapter now sat on my laptop screen like kryptonite. It had all the power of an unknown future and all the hope for better times ahead. I wrote every day up until my second surgery a few weeks later. Two days after that, I returned to my characters in 1865 Boston, who were now about to board a ship to England, several of them with the secret intent of meeting Jane Austen’s brother. I finished the book—now titled Austen at Sea—in the fall of 2023, the very week I was declared cancer-free.

Painting of Austen at Sea's fictional characters, commissioned by Natalie from artist Sally Dunne

Even more strange than all this timing was the almost umbilical connection between Austen at Sea and Every Time We Say Goodbye, the book that had been delivered within minutes of my diagnosis. The research for that very different story had been harrowing, and the subject matter—occupied Rome during the Second World War—completely foreign to me. During its writing, I learned about a “lost” movie that had only recently been discovered and its enigmatic British-Italian director Jack Salvatori. In wanting to quote from Salvatori’s journals in my own book, I sought out Professor Laura Ruberto of Berkeley City College, who had featured Jack Salvatori on the website iItaly.org and was able to connect me to his one child, Ray Holland.

Jack Salvatori

In the summer of 2022, while writing the first draft of Every Time We Say Goodbye, I emailed Ray to obtain his permission to excerpt his father’s journal from occupied France in my manuscript. A few months later, that very journal, Ray’s only possession of his father’s, showed up in my mailbox as casually as a flyer. Stunned, I held the journal in my hands and read its unforgettable words, just like a group of my characters in Every Time We Say Goodbye do in one of its final chapters. Now I am them, I remember thinking to myself.

Jack's Journal

As I continued to work on the manuscript, I also continued my correspondence with Ray, who at eighty-five years of age had expressed fear to me that time was running out to share his father’s remarkable story. Ray happened—coincidentally, if there is such a thing—to live in Hampshire, the county of Jane Austen and Chawton, and southernly, near the sea. We exchanged mostly emails, but occasionally cards and letters. He sent me photos of his mother and father, a disk of the once-lost movie Umanita, copies of beautiful artwork that he had done over the years.

Sadly, Ray Holland died of cancer in February 2024, only three months before Every Time We Say Goodbye released. Of course, the stealth-like power of art means that only now do I realize again that strange, wonderful, karmic tie between real life and fiction. For, as I wrote Admiral Austen during my recovery from cancer surgery, it turns out I was also writing Ray. Another old man near the end of life, living in Hampshire near the sea, corresponding with a North American about his lost ancestor and their legacy.

Admiral Austen felt so real to me as I wrote him—it is only now, long after I had written him, that I realize why. Sadly, this is something I can no longer share with Ray himself—my power as a writer ends there. All I can do is to write it here instead: to make it real, to make it last, but—above all—to make the wonder of life happen, again, and again.

 

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Natalie Jenner is the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, Bloomsbury Girls and Every Time We Say Goodbye, which have been translated into more than twenty languages worldwide. Her new book Austen at Sea releases on May 6, 2025, from St. Martin’s Press. Formerly a lawyer, career coach, and independent bookshop owner, she lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her family and two rescue dogs.

From the bestselling author of  The Jane Austen Society comes a new novel about Austen's fans set in 1865 Boston and Hampshire.

In Austen at Sea, Henrietta and Charlotte Stevenson, the only children of a widowed Massachusetts supreme court judge, are desperate to experience freedom of any kind, at a time when young unmarried women are kept largely at home. Striking up a correspondence with Jane Austen's last surviving sibling, ninety-one-year-old retired admiral Sir Francis Austen, the two sisters invite themselves to visit and end up sneaking on board the SS China, a transatlantic mail packet steamship heading to Portsmouth. They are joined on the China by a motley crew of fellow Americans including a reluctant chaperone, two Philadelphia rare book dealer brothers secretly also sailing at Admiral Austen's request, a young senator's daughter and socialite in hot pursuit of the brothers, and Louisa May Alcott, traveling to Europe for the first time as an invalid's companion. Alcott will end up leading the other women on board ship in a charity performance of vignettes from Charles Dickens's latest novel A Tale of Two Cities, and hilarity ensues when the men petition to join.

Landing in Portsmouth, the American visitors soon learn Sir Francis's real purpose in receiving them, and the battle begins over a piece of Austen's legacy so controversial, it will result in historic and climactic court cases on both sides of the Atlantic. Jenner's trademark large cast of characters this time includes a theatre impresario, a newspaperman, a street waif, suffragists and Boston bluestockings, a fortune teller, a disgruntled divorce court judge, and the entire bench of the Massachusetts state supreme court. Releasing in the 250th year since Jane Austen's birth, Austen at Sea is a celebration of literature and the lengths we will go to, to protect who and what we love.

                  ________________________________

 

Natalie Jenner is the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, Bloomsbury Girls and Every Time We Say Goodbye, which have been translated into more than twenty languages worldwide. Her new book Austen at Sea releases on May 6, 2025, from St. Martin’s Press. Formerly a lawyer, career coach, and independent bookshop owner, she lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her family and two rescue dogs. 

DEBS: Thank you, Natalie, for sharing your journey with us. I am a firm believer in those karmic connections, too.

Readers, doesn't this book sound absolutely delicious? And the painting! I keep going back to look at all the lovely details, and the expressions on the characters' faces!

PS! REDS ALERT!! Evelyn is the winner of Catriona McPherson's THE EDINBURGH MURDERS!  Email me your address at deb@deborahcrombie.com and I will pass on your info to Catriona. Congratulations!

Natalie Jenner--Bloomsbury Girls

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Sometimes you happen across a book that ticks all your boxes, the sort of book you dive into, don't put down and, when you finished it, wish you could start all over again.

I somehow missed Natalie Jenner's debut novel, THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY. 

But this spring, when I saw a mention of BLOOMSBURY GIRLS, I preordered the book because:

--London

--London in 1950, such an interesting period

--Bloomsbury, and not just Bloomsbury, but Lamb's Conduit Street!

--Bookshop

--Literary society

--Great cover!

It was a lucky find, and today it's my great pleasure to introduce Natalie Jenner, who has a few more things to say about luck!

Luck: writing’s dirty little secret

Natalie Jenner

I am almost embarrassed by how much luck goes into my writing. I am a dedicated pantser—a fun term for someone who writes by the seat of their pants—and luck plays an outsized part in what shows up on the page. As a group of people without a plan, what all pantsers have in common is an infatuation with the power of our imagination. Luck, writing’s dirty little secret, is what keeps that infatuation from becoming a very bad date.

As a former career coach, I know another little secret: what you randomly encounter in life can completely change it. My new book Bloomsbury Girls is a tale about such luck, mirrored by a writing process that hinges on that same what if doorway in life.

What if, in the fall of 2019, I hadn’t caught a Netflix documentary on Peggy Guggenheim?

I so loved one of its throwaway lines—“Guggenheim and Samuel Beckett spent five days in bed at the Ritz, and only opened the door once—for a tray of sandwiches!”—that I immediately put the idea on simmer in my brain, hoping to one day find a use for its unique mix of hot sex and whimsy.

What if, four months later, a rare bookshop in London had sent me the book I had ordered online (a Jane Austen edition with an introduction by Daphne du Maurier) and not Du Maurier’s memoir instead?

It was the first wave of the pandemic and things everywhere were a mess. The shop kindly let me keep the entire care package, which had been intended to boost someone else’s spirits in isolation. This was how Du Maurier—and not Jane Austen, for once—made her stealth entry into my brain instead.

What if, when my debut novel The Jane Austen Society released in May 2020, the bookstores hadn’t all been closed?

This must be the reason why I decided to set my next book Bloomsbury Girls inside the quintessential 1950s London bookshop, where disaffected staff and famous people of the time could circle each other. I now also had a way to insert cameo roles for that simmering trio in my mind: Du Maurier, Guggenheim and Beckett.

What if Daphne du Maurier had never met Ellen Doubleday or Oriel Malet?

Cursory initial research on Du Maurier quickly led me to Ellen Doubleday, her dear friend and object of affection. In pitching Bloomsbury Girls to my editor, I mentioned both Ellen and her husband Nelson Doubleday as potential characters, only to learn from my editor that by 1950, Nelson was dead. You really don’t want your research called out in an editorial pitch.

But once Nelson’s demise was dealt with, my research began in earnest. One day, while scrolling through a website on female literary friendships, I read about Oriel Malet, a young writer who had landed Du Maurier as a mentor after encountering her in a hotel corridor while waiting for a party being hosted by Ellen Doubleday to start. Suddenly, I had my lucky-break plot for my new book, while my own luck happily continued.

What if there was no The Mummy!

For a separate but parallel plotline, I needed a real-life woman-authored book with both demonstrable value and no repute. I found the perfect book within five minutes of Googling, but was convinced I could not be that lucky. So, I spent weeks scouring lists of old and relatively unknown books until I gave in to my own good fortune. As a writer, this is trickier than it sounds: the Wikipedia rabbit hole promises, and so often proves, that there is always something even better, just a little further down. And down.

What if Peggy Guggenheim had not worked at the Sunwise Turn?

At the bottom of that Wikipedia rabbit hole, I tripped across Guggenheim again, decades before her five days with Beckett in bed. It turned out that as a young heiress and socialite, she had worked at the Sunwise Turn, one of the first bookshops in America to be fully owned and operated by women. This fact would end up directly inspiring the caper-style ending to Bloomsbury Girls. My agent told me that a lucky writer gets these gifts sometimes, and you just have to run with them.

I am the kind of person, and writer, who chooses to see all of this as a form of luck. It fuels my imagination—the other altar at which I worship. In Bloomsbury Girls, there are many random encounters that lead to lucky breaks—the very type of good fortune that I experienced while writing this book. No one wants to think that life can indeed be this random or beyond our control. Everyone likes to think that hard work and perseverance are enough. They are indeed essential to success, but the dirty little secret—both in my book, and in the writing of it—is that luck can play just as big a part.

The good news? We can make our own luck. Just stay open to the possibility, recognize it when it shows up, and run as fast and as far with it as you can.

 Bloomsbury Girls is about three women in 1950s London who work at an old-fashioned bookshop and are engaged in a battle of the sexes with the male managers of the shop. With the help of famous literary figures of the time including Daphne du Maurier, the female staff find a way to realize one very ambitious plan: to take over the bookshop from the men who run it. 

Natalie Jenner is the author of The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls. Both books were instant national bestsellers, June Indie Next Picks, Amazon Best Books of the Month and People Magazine Picks of the Week. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer, career coach and, most recently, an independent bookstore owner in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.

DEBS: Of course when I finished Bloomsbury Girls I immediately read The Jane Austen Society, which I loved as well. The books are interconnected but don't have to be read in order.

REDS and readers, what book have you run across by chance that was a perfect fit for you?

What We're Reading

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We had so much fun with our "recommends" yesterday I thought we'd extend our chat to WHAT WE'RE READING–always a big fave here on Jungle Red. We love nothing more than talking about our latest finds.

I'll start with BLOOMSBURY GIRLS by Natalie Jenner. Set in 1949 London in a bookshop in Lamb's Conduit Street (the location of Duncan's police station in the present day–how could I not want to read this book?) three very different women navigate a changing world.

The male characters are very well done, too, and lots of famous literary figures are woven into the plot. I loved this book so much that I read Jenner's previous (and debut) novel,  THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY, as there is some character and plot crossover. I enjoyed it, too, although I didn't adore it as much as BLOOMSBURY GIRLS.

Another big thrill for me was a new book by Ella Risbridger–you may remember me raving about MIDNIGHT CHICKEN last year. This one is called THE YEAR OF MIRACLES and is ostensibly a cookbook, but it is so much more. The subtitle is "recipes about love + grief + growing things) and is a journal of Risbridger's year following the death of her partner. It's also an accounting of the first year of the pandemic, as it begins in January, 2020. Risbridger's writing is absolutely gorgeous and it's a very inspiring and affirming book. The book is beautiful, too, so I'd highly recommend the hardcover. It will be a keeper even if you never cook a single recipe. (NOTE: It won't be released in the US until July 26th but it is out in the UK and you can order from Book Depository. It's fast and no more expensive.)

And one more! I somehow ran across a book called THE NOTHING GIRL by Jodi Taylor. We've mentioned her CHRONICLES OF ST. MARY'S series before, as Julia and I are big fans. Do not be put off by the invisible talking golden horse!! This is a gem of a novel about an isolated young woman who agrees to marriage as a business proposition and gets much more than she bargained for. It's laugh-out-load funny, touching, suspenseful, AND it's on Kindle Unlimited at the moment!

I also thoroughly enjoyed Connie Berry's latest Kate Hamilton mystery, THE SHADOW OF MEMORY. This series just gets better and better. Connie will be here Thursday to tell us more!

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m betwixt and between. I have just finished Alicia Bessette’s SMILE BEACH MURDER and I hate to leave the Outer Banks! Last week I hated leaving Julia Child’s Paris. I have a lot of books ordered, including Krista Davis’s newest and Sarah Stewart Taylor’s newest and Paula Munier and Kristan Higgins, and I have a million books on my nightstand. But still, sometimes it’s hard to dive into something brand new. Any recommendations for THE PARIS LIBRARY or THE TASTE OF GINGER or FENCING WITH THE KING?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Absolutely do not miss Sulari Gentill’s THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY.  It’s a meta-literary mystery and I cannot say anything more, but just–read it.

Along those same lines, ish, THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett. Those books both delve into the workings of a writer’s mind, and a reader’s too, and they’re marvelous and hilarious and brilliant, both of them.  And I am getting ready for THE MURDER RULE by Dervla McTiernan.   Also LOOK CLOSER, by David Ellis, one of my favorite authors ever. And I am reading JAMES PATTERSON by James Patterson–in preparation for interviewing him in June!  Reds and readers, this autobiography is AWESOME and wonderful and charming and unique.

DEBS: Hank, what fun! I sat next to James Patterson at the Bouchercon Dallas GOH dinner, and he was so nice. A very charming and interesting man.

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve been enjoying a wild variety lately. ALLOW ME TO RETORT: A Black Guys Guide to the Constitution by Ellie Mystal. Fascinating book mostly about the amendments and why they need to be revisited. DOUBLE SHOT DEATH by Emmeline Duncan.

A terrific cozy mystery set in Portland about a coffee cart owning amateur that really captures the PNW vibe. THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell. Delicious suspense novel about three families and deep dark secrets. So good! 

RHYS BOWEN:   Rhys, the blurb queen here. It seems like a never-ending stream. They are mostly good reading but sometimes I’d like to choose.

I’ve just finished another upcoming book to blurb called The Spying Eye by Michelle Cox.

Quite good

And now I’m embarking on a non fiction about women’s lives around the world called Women’s  Work by Megan K Slack. Fascinating so far.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The heat has been climbing into the 70s and even 80s here in southern Maine, I've been mowing daily for the past five days (yes, I have that much lawn) so for me, it's beach read time! First up, THE HOMEWRECKERS by Mary Kay Andrews. If you've ever read her, you know she describes home renovation and decorating like a dream, and when I saw she had come up with that's basically about a young widow getting her own HGTV-like show, you know I had to have it. 

Next on my TBR pile, NEVER COMING HOME, a delicious domestic thriller from Hank's First Chapter Fun buddy, Hannah Mary McKinnon. Here's the start of the jacket copy:

Lucas Forester didn't hate his wife. Michelle was brilliant, sophisticated and beautiful. Sure, she had extravagant spending habits, that petty attitude, a total disregard for anyone below her status. But she also had a lot to offer. Most notably: wealth that only the one percent could comprehend.

For years, Lucas has been honing a flawless plan to inherit Michelle's fortune. Unfortunately, it involves taking a hit out on her.

Sounds awesome! I love rich people behaving badly.

Finally, this summer's book from my friend Nancy Thayer, SUMMER LOVE. It doesn't feel like summer until I've read one of Nancy's tales of heartache and hope, set on the idyllic island of Nantucket. SUMMER LOVE is about a reunion of people in my age bracket, which I love, accompanied by their twenty-something kids, which my daughters love. Something for everyone.

HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve just started reading Susan Orlean’s ON ANIMALS. She’s a wonderful essayist, musing on everything from household pets (hers) to the animals we eat to her experiences keeping chickens and critters further afield (Moroccan donkeys)… and on and on. It’s a book for animal lovers and perfect for the summer because you can savor it in chunks.

 

READERS, what books have tickled your fancy lately?