You don’t have to know about Jane Austen to become spellbound by her, as six disparate Californians soon discover in the beautifully acted, romantic drama The Jane Austen Book Club, available to buy and rent on DVD from 17th March 2008, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

When Jocelyn (Maria Bello, A History of Violence, Thank You For Smoking) buries one of her beloved dogs her friends rally around with a plan to take her mind off her loss. Coming up with the idea of a book club concentrating on the works of Jane Austen, Bernadette (Kathy Baker, Cold Mountain, TV’s The Gilmore Girls) recruits a further four members, including the recently single Sylvia (Amy Brenneman, Heat, TV’s Judging Amy), her lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace, The Fog, TV’s Lost), uptight Prudie (British actress Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada, Charlie Wilson’s War) and handsome recluse Grigg (Hugh Dancy, Basic Instinct 2, Shooting Dogs).

As the members of the group start to make their way through Austen’s classics they begin to discover parallels with their own invariably complicated lives. And, just as in Austen’s work, love starts to blossom in the most unlikely of places.