Natalie Jenner
Natalie Jenner was born in England, raised in Canada, and graduated from the University of Toronto with consecutive degrees in English Literature and Law. She worked for decades in the legal industry and also founded the independent bookstore Archetype Books in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. The Jane Austen Society is the first published novel for this lifelong devotee of all things Jane Austen and comes out on May 26, 2020 from St. Martin’s Press (North America) and on May 28, 2020 from Orion (UK).
Twitter: @NatalieMJenner
Instagram: @authornataliejenner
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
I snuck in a minor in cinema studies while at university, and my writing has always been influenced by films that focus on multiple characters and/or a strong sense of place. Favourites include The Leopard, The Rules of the Game, Pulp Fiction, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Barcelona. My writing has probably been most influenced overall by the films of Whit Stillman, who takes a group of characters with varying social mores and then lets the games begin.
What's your favourite comic strip or graphic novel?
Peanuts. The whole world is contained within those cartoons. WWI flying aces, sexual ambivalence, dime-store psychology, the questionable role of parents in our lives, gloomy souls, and the wonderful yet self-involved perseverance of Snoopy. I didn't get my own first beagle until I was nearly 50, and everything about Snoopy now makes complete and total sense.
Is your go-to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?
Food inspires everything about me. I live in a household that starts wondering what's for dinner the minute we wake up. I myself go to sweet food for comfort, and am a champion baker (literally! My cherry pie once won second place in a county fall fair). When I was writing The Jane Austen Society, I made a lot of Victorian sponge and coffee & walnut cakes, and snuck in homages to both in the book.
Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
The large-format Water Lilies by Monet. I have been lucky to see them at both the Musee de L'Orangerie in Paris and at MOMA in New York. I love these paintings in part because of their very scale and the way you can practically step into them. I also love how there are no edges within the frame to set your perspective; no beginnings, and no ends. Just total immersion and peace, which is what I like to think Monet wanted most for the world when he donated them following the Armistice of WWI.
Vacation druthers....city or rural destination? Why?
I live in a wonderfully sedate and tree-covered town on the shore of Lake Ontario, with a sixteen-mile creek for rowing and kayaking, so when I travel I crave urban activity. I want to eat the local cuisine I have been thinking about since waking, and then walk off all the calories by seeing as much of the city on foot as possible.
