Quick Take
- Narration: Genevieve Gaunt establishes the series’ audio identity with Volume 2; the intimacy of her delivery suits the journal format and signals what the next four volumes will deliver.
- Themes: A curious mind thwarted by circumstance, the first stirrings of Lapis Lazuli’s peculiar community, Victorian domesticity as both prison and stage
- Mood: Lighter and more paced than the first volume, beginning to accumulate real warmth
- Verdict: The volume where many readers report the series clicking fully into gear; at under five hours it is also the most efficient way to discover whether this world is for you.
I listened to Volume 2 of the Emma M. Lion journals on a Saturday morning when I had the apartment to myself and the particular luxury of knowing that nothing was required of me for the next several hours. I mention this because Volume 2, at just under four and a half hours, is the shortest entry in the series, and there is something to be said for fitting an entire world into a Saturday morning. The domesticity of the experience suited the material. Emma M. Lion, sitting at her desk with tea and windows flung open while listening to The Tenant arrive in the garret on the other side of the wall, is doing almost exactly what I was doing: attending to the life that was happening just adjacent to the one she had planned.
This is the second volume of Beth Brower’s ongoing Victorian comedy series, and it marks the point at which the world of St. Crispian’s and Lapis Lazuli House achieves critical mass: enough characters in enough established relationships to generate genuine comedy from their collisions. Volume 1 introduced the architecture; Volume 2 populates it. The Tenant in the garret becomes a figure of genuine narrative interest. Archibald and Aunt Eugenia are present in their full, somewhat devastating specificity. The neighborhood begins to feel less like a backdrop and more like an entity with its own designs.
The Tenant in the Garret and the Quality of Emma’s Attention
The opening excerpt from Volume 2, with Emma hearing The Tenant arrive through the wall while she reads at her desk, is characteristic of Brower’s method. Emma is aware of everything that happens in her domestic radius in the way that a good novelist is aware of everything that happens in their story, with a sideways attention that catalogues and annotates without immediately imposing meaning. The Tenant becomes interesting not because of what he does but because of how Emma notices him. This is the quality that the comparisons to Austen and Wodehouse are reaching toward, though neither comparison quite captures Brower’s particular tone: there is something in the Emma M. Lion series that resembles early L.M. Montgomery in its combination of intellectual sharpness and genuine warmth, and it is most clearly present here in the relationship between Emma’s observations and her emotional investment in what she is observing.
Where Volume 2 Accelerates Relative to Volume 1
Reviewer Carla Terry describes enjoying Volume 2 much more than the first, finding it funnier, more charming, and more entertaining, and this is a common experience. Volume 1 is doing the necessary work of establishment, which is often slower than what comes after. Volume 2 has the advantage of a world already built and can spend its runtime playing within it rather than constructing it. Reviewer Angiegirl, who came to the series with existing affection for Brower’s earlier novel The Q, describes falling madly in love in a way that suggests the series’ quality is consistent with Brower’s other work. For new readers, Volume 2 is confirmation that the investment made in Volume 1 was correct, and the brevity of the installment means that confirmation arrives quickly.
The Production Team and Its Contribution to Serial Identity
The series is produced by Echo Point Books and Media and directed by Tamsin Collison, with recording at The Strathmore Studios in London. Collison’s direction is evident in the intimacy of the audio: this sounds like a private document being read to you, which is exactly the right quality for a journal-format narrative. Gaunt’s narration in Volume 2 has the ease of someone fully comfortable with the character, and the series’ consistent production team means that quality does not vary between installments. The companion PDF, included with the audio purchase, is a production element that suggests the publisher’s commitment to the series as a deliberate artifact. Reviewer 2LZ specifically mentions listening to the Audible edition while reading the Kindle version simultaneously, describing it as the nicest reading experience, which suggests the audio and text are well matched in pacing and that Gaunt’s interpretation does not conflict with the reader’s own sense of the character.
Who Should Start Here and Who Should Not
Volume 2 requires Volume 1 and rewards familiarity with both on arrival. It is not an independent entry point, though it is short enough that working through Volume 1 first is a modest commitment. The series description compares Brower’s writing to Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, and L.M. Montgomery, all four comparisons, and while none of them is entirely precise, all four are present in embryonic form in Volume 2. By the end of this installment you will have a clear sense of whether this kind of slow, precise, character-driven comedy is what you want to spend your time with. Most readers who reach the end of Volume 2 want Volume 3 immediately, which is the most reliable signal that a second installment in a series is doing its job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Volume 2 be a starting point for someone who heard the series is worth trying?
It is not an independent starting point. Volume 2 presupposes the character introductions and world establishment of Volume 1. If Volume 1 felt slow, Volume 2 does accelerate, which is why reviewers often cite it as the turning point. The recommendation is to work through Volume 1 before deciding.
Why do so many reviewers compare Beth Brower to Austen, Wilde, Wodehouse, and Montgomery simultaneously?
The Austen comparison reflects precision of social observation and the gap between characters’ stated and actual motivations. Wilde is present in the wit and compression of comic observation into memorable sentences. Wodehouse appears in the cheerful incompetence of the supporting cast. Montgomery brings warmth and a sense of a sharp female sensibility finding its place in a constraining world. Brower does not replicate any of these exactly but operates in their shared tradition.
At 4 hours and 31 minutes, is Volume 2 significantly shorter than the rest of the series?
Yes, Volume 2 is the shortest installment in the series. Later volumes run between 6 and 8 and a half hours. The brevity makes it a good follow-on to Volume 1 but also means it leaves more in motion for the next installment than longer volumes do.
Does reading the Kindle version while listening add something, as one reviewer suggests?
Reviewer 2LZ describes the simultaneous print-and-audio experience as the nicest reading experience, suggesting the two formats are well matched. Brower’s prose has a quality that rewards slow attention, and for readers who find the audio moving slightly faster than they process language, having the text available could genuinely enrich the experience.
