Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Longbourn by Jo Baker

12 reviews

berodatheelf's review against another edition

emotional informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Longbourne was an interesting dive into the world of pride and prejudice, I felt that I had learnt a lot about the history of the regency era. The descriptions of Sarah carrying about her daily tasks fascinated me and the author had well researched the topic. 

Jo Baker didn't hesitate to hide away from the darker aspects of the period, and gave the pride and prejudice characters twists which was intriguing. 

I felt the first two parts were strongest and the third fell a little by the wayside. The flashback scenes felt a little out of place and I think would've had a stronger impact if Mrs Hill and James had spoken to Sarah about their pasts, thus creating a stronger emotional bond between the characters. It was nice to read the wrap up of the characters at the end and to know how all the characters turn out.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Blood, and Slavery

megmajor's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, Child death, Death, Gore, Racism, Gun violence, Blood, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Classism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Miscarriage

atamano's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Child death, Grief, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and War

Minor: Racism, Blood, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Excrement, Alcohol, Slavery, and Sexual harassment

acasiamae's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Child death, Pedophilia, and Animal death

below_average_baker's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Animal death, Blood, Slavery, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, and Death

queenstaves's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Masterfully captures the pastoral aesthetic and pedestrian pace of Austen et al, but within the context of a world that is extremely difficult and uncertain. The book also does not linger on the depressing parts of the world for texture or shock, but has them as a very matter-of-fact aspect of life. 

The P&P characters, I think, are truly represented, but with the sheen of idealism gently and frankly pulled back. People are allowed to be complex, and the world is allowed to be both large and grotesque, and small and precious. 

It is a very slow pace, but the prose is very purposeful. It isn't meandering. The pace is set by the material limitations of a servant in the regency era. It is hard for me to pay attention to a lot of slow paced books, but I paid attention here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and War

Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

Minor: Racism and Rape

The explicit tags are limited to a single chunk of the book

as a character's backstory

. The sex trafficking is paired with poverty and famine during the war section, but it is not explicit. The miscarriage is somewhat detailed briefly and is called a "mishap", so you can skip ahead once you come across that. It is only described once, but mentioned twice. The p*do is a part of a secondary character, and I think the interpretation is extremely well done. It is only ever a threat, which I'm not putting in spoiler tags. The aspect is not about plot, but it peels back the veneer of the world without being exploitative. It is mentioned in the war section with the sex trafficking, but only in passing and never described. The racism is structural, and it is illustrated without being exploitative of it. The slave trade of the time is regarded without flinching, but also without exploitation. For example,

Mr. Bingsley is in the sugar business; a servant worked on a ship that stopped in ports where people were still traded as slaves in the sugar industry; we see aristocrats talking about how much they love sugar; we see an Englishman evaluating people as slaves in the foreign port on behalf of some gentleman; we see Jane hope for Mr Bingley's proposal. It's all a part in the reality of the world, and woven in as a fact, rather than a political point; but the way it unfolds is very powerful. Very show, not tell.

elinorb's review against another edition

hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Enjoyable easy read.
Fun premise but would have been boring without the Austen connection.
Sometimes felt a little on the nose, like the author was trying to fit in as many gritty points as possible.
The pedo stuff was just unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Sexual violence

imrereads's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In this reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, the story of Lizzy and her family takes a step back to let us focus on the lives of the servants at Longbourn. Whenever a meal is being eaten in Pride and Prejudice, it is prepared in Longbourn. Whenever a ball is attended in P&P, the carriage is driven and a servant waits up in Longbourn. We follow the story step by step, but yet see such a different side of it. We see the hard work of the servants, the calloused hands and the worn feet, the early mornings and the late nights. In this book we also get a slightly more diverse cast (although not by a lot), like a black footman of Netherfield, or blink and you'll miss it glimpse of what it might be like to be a gay servant in the the early 19th century. 

Mostly I found this very compelling. I could read for hours without wanting to put it down, and mostly I found it to be very consistent in terms of fitting the style of writing of Pride and Prejudice, while simultaneously making it fitting to the new voices and class of the characters of this book. It certainly takes it's liberties with the characters, but that's what I want from a book like this. I'm not sure if I agree with the way Elizabeth is written towards the end of the book though. It certainly doesn't fit my view of her character, but when I remind myself that this is a different book, and it really isn't farfetched at all, I feel content with the way it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery and War

grets_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment and War

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, Animal death, Death, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia

jlewis's review

emotional inspiring relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Life at Longbourn, the home of the Bennett family in Pride and Prejudice, as seen through the eyes and stories of the servants - the housekeeper, butler, 2 housemaids/maids of all work and a recently arrived footman and groom, who is secretive about his past.  All is revealed about this in a lengthy flashback in part 3 of the book, before returning to the starting chronology in book 4. There are some well-drawn characters and some thought-provoking suggestions that consider how both sexual orientation and pregnancy out of wedlock might have been managed. Overall it is a well-written, well-researched and engaging book.  I would agree with the several other reviewers who found the second half of the book less engaging than the first and that the ending was not altogether convincing in terms of either plot or character consistency.   But one of the better P&P spin-offs. 
For those who know Pride and Prejudice, it will surprise no one to be told that Mr Wickham is still a villain. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Violence, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Racism