Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Longbourn by Jo Baker

1 review

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.