the jane austen book club by karen joy fowler

Put Jocelyn in the alpha position and you have the makings of an advanced civilization. Ridgebacks are a matriarchal breed it's one of their many attractive features. The only wall held a row of photographs-Jocelyn's dynasty of Ridgebacks, surrounded by their ribbons and pedigrees. Maybe someone would be saying something brilliant. This hadn't happened yet, but we were looking forward to it. When it was sufficiently dark out, at the perfect moment, they would snap on all at once like a choir. There were porcelain lamps in the shape of ginger jars, round and Oriental, and with none of the usual dust on the bulbs, because it was Jocelyn's house. There were Indian rugs and Spanish-tile floors of a red that might hide dog hair, depending on the breed. Jocelyn had two portable heaters going, and the porch hummed cozily. It was just a leaf, and Jocelyn removed it as they hugged. When she'd arrived, she seemed to have a large bat hanging over her ear.

Sometimes this was annoying, but mostly it was restful. We're so pleased that you're here.' Bernadette never said anything once if it could be said three times. 'It's so lovely to see a man taking an interest in Miss Austen,' she told him. Though she'd been the one to request girls only, she had the best heart in the world we weren't surprised that she was making Grigg welcome. Whenever he first spoke, whatever he said, one of us would have to put him in his place. We really could not approve of someone who showed up with an obviously new book, of someone who had the complete novels on his lap when only Emma was under discussion. He had brought the Gramercy edition of the complete novels, which suggested that Austen was merely a recent whim. Apparently, somewhere beneath the clamor of her kennel of barking dogs was a chorus of frogs. 'Just listen to the frogs,' Jocelyn said. Due south in the springtime, but not the summer, was a stream. The sunset had been a spectacular dash of purple, and now the Berryessa mountains were shadowed in the west. We sat in a circle on Jocelyn's screened porch at dusk, drinking cold sun tea, surrounded by the smell of her twelve acres of fresh-mowed California grass.

The jane austen book club by karen joy fowler