Jane Austin Book Club Tour

On page 5 of my edition, at the end of the Prologue, the narrator says: "The six of us -- Jocelyn, Bernadette, Sylvia, Allegra, Prudie, and Grigg -- made up the full roster of the Central Valley/River City all-Jane-Austen-all-the-time book club." Each of the six is featured in the book, and voices intimate thoughts & memories, yet throughout, the narrator maintains the voice of "we." Which of the characters is the narrator telling the story/writing the book? And if you don't know or have an opinion, which character would be the most likely narrator & why?

I'm not sure who the narrator of the book is but if I had to offer a guess my choice would be Jocelyn. She struck me as being the one who would most likely lead a group. When the author explained the story of her and Sylvia's youth she seemed to be the one who was the stronger personality of the two and this was depicted several times throughout the book.

Corinne stole Allegra's stories and passed them off as her own. Yet despite this deep betrayal of trust Allegra went back to her. Why do you think that is? Has anyone ever betrayed your trust and how did you handle it?

I think she went back to her because of love. Having your trust betrayed is something that can be terribly hurtful, and yes I can think of a few people who have done so to me. Whether it be a simple teenage love issue, which didn't seem so simple at the time to someone telling others a secret I asked that they keep, there are a lot of times when other people have betray trust. I think handling it depends on the situation itself, your ability to forgive someone for wrongdoings, and whether you can understand why the betrayal occurred. Was it spiteful, or was it simply someone who wasn't thinking of the consequences of their actions? Most of the people who have done something to betray trust with me, I have been able to forgive. At times it takes longer, and I'm not sure that the same level of trust ever exists again, but I do try to remember the humanness of us all.

When Corinne stole Allegra's stories, she both lied by omission as well as stole pieces of Allegra. Do you believe Allegra was more upset about the lie or the fact that someone stole her stories?

I think Allegra was more upset by the fact that her stories were stolen than by the lie itself. Lies happen, sometimes to protect , people's feelings, sometimes just small little white lies that I'm sure everyone is guilty of, but for someone to try to pass off stories from your life as their own seems to me the bigger betrayal.

Intrigued by the idea of a book tour and want to read more about The Jane Austen Book Club? Hop along to more stops on the Barren Bitches Book Brigade by visiting the master list at http://stirrup-queens.blogspot.com/. Want to come along for the next tour? Sign up begins today for tour #10 (Embryo Culture by Beth Kohl with author participation!) and all are welcome to join along . All you need is a book and blog.