Bernadette (Kathy Baker) decided to start a Jane Austen book club for her friend Jocelyn (Maria Bello). Jocelyn has lost the love of her life--her dog. And with four other friends with similar wounds to heal, they meet over six months to discuss the six novels Jane Austen wrote. Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) deals with her husband leaving her for another lover. Allegra (Maggie Grace), is Sylvia’s daughter and is trying to deal with her father leaving her mother and filing for a divorce. Prudie (Emily Blunt) is the one member of the group who is the most unaware of the book's application to her own life, but she is the one who most needs the lessons of the books to change her life. She cannot see past her own misery to recognize that the one male member of the club, Grigg (Hugh Dancy), is in love with her.