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1[[quoteright:244:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/323059099_m.jpg]]
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3->''"Love is an act of sanity!"''
4-->-- '''Jocelyn'''
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6Adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler's 2004 novel about six people brought together by the novels of Creator/JaneAusten. Written and directed by Robin Swicord (who also wrote the screenplays for ''Film/LittleWomen1994'', ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', ''Film/MemoirsOfAGeisha'', and ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'').
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8Almost everybody has some inspiration in Jane Austen's characters: Bernadette is Mrs Gardiner of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', Jocelyn is the titular ''{{Literature/Emma}}'', Sylvia is Fanny Price of ''Literature/MansfieldPark'', Prudie is Anne Elliot of ''{{Literature/Persuasion}}'', Allegra is Marianne of ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'', and Grigg represents all of Jane Austen's misunderstood male characters.
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10Each character mirrors one of Austen's novel plots (though not necessarily the same plot they mirror in the book...). Jocelyn enacts ''Emma'', Sylvia performs ''Mansfield Park'', Grigg does ''Northanger Abbey'', Bernadette prances through ''Pride and Prejudice'', Allegra stumbles along in ''Sense and Sensibility'', and Prudie finally makes it through ''Persuasion''. Each of them also tends to cross over into other novels as well...
11-----
12!!Examples:
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14* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Prudie is pregnant in the one year later finale.]]
15* BathtubBonding: Allegra and Corinne have a date and meaningful conversation while taking a bath together. It's candlelit and intimate.
16* BeachEpisode: Near the end of the film, the club has one of their last meetings on the beach, paralleling the trip to Lyme in ''{{Literature/Persuasion}}''.
17%% * BelligerentSexualTension: Since they often stand in for Lizzy and Darcy from ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', Jocelyn and Grigg.
18* ChekhovsGunman: Grigg is seen emailing his sister about Jocelyn's mixed messages. [[spoiler: The sister is the one who tells Jocelyn that Grigg CannotSpitItOut]].
19* ChickFlick: Mostly about romance - when it's not about the characters reading Creator/JaneAusten's books.
20* CoolOldLady: Bernadette has been married six times, is always full of fun and acts as a TeamMom to the book club.
21* CrazyCatLady: Jocelyn is a crazy ''dog'' lady, who never dates and holds a funeral for one of her dogs at the beginning of the film.
22* DivorceIsTemporary: Daniel and Sylvia split up at the beginning but fall back in love over the course of the film.
23* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: The end sequence has several characters with different hairstyles to show their character development;
24** Prudie's fringe has grown out and she wears her hair off her face.
25** Dean's longer hair has now been buzzed.
26** Jocelyn is wearing her hair straight instead of curly.
27** Bernadette has let her short hair grow out to shoulder-length.
28* FirstNameBasis: Allegra laughs at Prudie for referring to Jane Austen by her first name.
29* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Prudie is the one girl in the group who isn't friends with the others, and she's often at odds with them. Especially Allegra.
30%% * HospitalGurneyScene: Allegra twice, first after sky diving and secondly after rock climbing.
31* HospitalHottie: Dr. Samantha Yep is an attractive doctor.
32* HotForStudent: Prudie is attracted to one of her students Trey.
33* ImportantHaircut: Downplayed, but Sylvia straightens her hair as her confidence grows.
34* InnocentlyInsensitive: Dean cancels a trip to France at the start of the movie for a last minute baseball game, unaware how much his wife was looking forward to it.
35* {{Irony}}: Prudie says she's a French teacher who has never been to France.
36%% * LatinLover: [[spoiler: Bernadette shows up married to one at the end]].
37* LesbianJock: Allegra is a lesbian and also an extreme sports enthusiast. She's seen sky diving and rock climbing throughout the film.
38* LipstickLesbian: Allegra and her girlfriends are pretty feminine and conventionally attractive.
39* LittleBlackDress: Jocelyn dons a simple little black dress for the library fundraiser.
40* MatchmakerCrush: Jocelyn tries to set Sylvia up with Grigg [[spoiler: but ends up falling for him herself]].
41* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler: Dr Samantha Yep is the only partner not shown in the end sequence, leaving it ambiguous if she and Allegra got together or not]].
42* MuseAbuse: Corinne turns out to have been writing stories based off Allegra's experiences.
43* NerdsAreSexy: Grigg is athletic and presented as a {{Hunk}} in addition to his love of sci-fi and reading.
44* NeverASelfMadeWoman: A rare GenderFlip. All the male characters are defined by their statuses as the husbands or love interests of the females - Daniel for Sylvia, Dean and Trey for Prudie and even Grigg is in the group to be a match for Sylvia (but eventually falls for Jocelyn instead).
45%% * NiceGuy: Grigg.
46* TheOneGuy: The book club has five women and only one man, Grigg. [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, however, Dean and Daniel come to love Austen too and are part of the club one year later]].
47* PartingWordsRegret: Prudie's mother dies in a car crash, and she laments that her last words were telling her to get out of her house.
48* ReadingIsCoolAesop: Definitely present, though done differently than other versions of the trope. Sci-fi {{Geek}} Grigg learns that Jane Austen is pretty cool, and Jocelyn likewise learns the same for sci-fi books. The film also name drops Philip K Dick, who's considerably more modern than most writers who get mentioned in relation to this trope.
49* RealMenWearPink: Grigg ends up really loving Jane Austen's books. As do Daniel and Dean eventually.
50* RelativeError: Grigg says he's bringing a woman to the meeting on the beach. He means his sister.
51* SciFiGhetto: In-universe. Jocelyn initially doesn't read Grigg's books because of the ghetto, preferring books about "real people". [[spoiler: When she finally reads the ones he's lent her, she reads them all in one night and tries to find the next one at a news stand in the morning]].
52* ShipperOnDeck: Jocelyn wants Grigg and Sylvia to get together romantically. (He falls for the matchmaker instead, and she for his as well.)
53* SlobsVersusSnobs:
54** French teacher, classic literature loving Prudie (Snob) and her sports-loving, slightly boorish husband Dean (Slob).
55** Sci-fi geek Grigg (Slob), Austen enthusiast Jocelyn (Snob).
56%% * TeamMom: Bernadette, as the oldest member of the club, fills this role.
57* TokenMinorityCouple: Allegra is mixed race and both her love interests in the film are the black Corinne and the Asian Samantha.

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