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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Read this many many years ago, when I hadn't read P&P since college. Having since become an Austen diehard, I savored this re-read so much! One of the best P&P adaptations out there.
4.5 stars
A completely pleasurable read! Jo Baker's beautiful, meandering prose smartly echoes Austen's, and reading the "other half" of the Bennets' story was a delight. The novel's only shortcoming, to me, was that I felt Sarah's character was not quite fully developed...I wanted to understand her just a bit more. But overall, highly recommended, and indispensable to all Austen devotees.
A completely pleasurable read! Jo Baker's beautiful, meandering prose smartly echoes Austen's, and reading the "other half" of the Bennets' story was a delight. The novel's only shortcoming, to me, was that I felt Sarah's character was not quite fully developed...I wanted to understand her just a bit more. But overall, highly recommended, and indispensable to all Austen devotees.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is totally delightful, and fleshes out familiar and deserving characters in a way that is consistent with and additive to the original.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was a great conceit with a strong start as a “behind the scenes” view of what is happening during pride and prejudice from the servants perspective.
i like how realistic the author was in situating the historical context of how the regency class made its wealth and the truth of how often servants were treated even within a “respectable” household from the upper classes.
my only complaint is that the author really lost the pace and primary point of the novel in part III. i wish more of the backstory of the servant characters had been sprinkled throughout versus saved for this chunk of book while the reader is accustomed to the book following the story of p&p. it made what could have been a compelling backstory become droning.
i also think the author introduces the reality of the “sugar trade” and then abandons the point midway through the book without a satisfying resolution. the treatment of Ptolemy Bingley as a rake of a drunk and wild man, while being the only speaking Black character introduced, aligning to a Wickham type of the serving class, or only to illuminate the racism of the Hills, was poorly done.
i read this with a bookclub after we finished reading p&p together, which is a comfort book for me. i think it was great to give these characters some depth by showing a darker side to their behaviors and wealth, but ultimately the novel was just fine.
i like how realistic the author was in situating the historical context of how the regency class made its wealth and the truth of how often servants were treated even within a “respectable” household from the upper classes.
my only complaint is that the author really lost the pace and primary point of the novel in part III. i wish more of the backstory of the servant characters had been sprinkled throughout versus saved for this chunk of book while the reader is accustomed to the book following the story of p&p. it made what could have been a compelling backstory become droning.
i also think the author introduces the reality of the “sugar trade” and then abandons the point midway through the book without a satisfying resolution. the treatment of Ptolemy Bingley as a
i read this with a bookclub after we finished reading p&p together, which is a comfort book for me. i think it was great to give these characters some depth by showing a darker side to their behaviors and wealth, but ultimately the novel was just fine.
I felt like the 2nd half got clunky- there was a lot going on.
I know the point is to contrast the harsher realities of the servants' lives with the people above stairs, but the second half got much more gritty and intense too.
I think I'm ready for an escapist chick lit book next.
I know the point is to contrast the harsher realities of the servants' lives with the people above stairs, but the second half got much more gritty and intense too.
I think I'm ready for an escapist chick lit book next.
Hardcore fans of Pride and Prejudice may not like this book. For one thing, the main characters of Pride and Prejudice are hardly in this book, and most of the main plot is barely touched on. There is an entirely new plot in this book. This book is a period piece about the home life of servants more than it is about the events of Pride and Prejudice. The servants in this book not dependent on their masters for problems-- they have enough of their own, because Regency-era England, as glamorous as it is in Jane Austen’s novel, was hard work for most people.
Another reason fans of the Austen classic may not like this book is because it shows how a typical regency-era family like the Bennets would have likely treated their staff. This book, while using Pride and Prejudice as a jumping-off point, is less worried about being true to the novel than being true to the time period. In that world, the staff were to be treated fairly, but they were generally not to be considered outside of some physical comfort needing attending. As in Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie Bennet is kind, but she is also a mistress with needs, and her maid Sarah is exhausted. It is hard not to resent Lizzie or her kind sister Jane sometimes when they forget Sarah’s workload or thoughtlessly send her out into a storm (with Lydia’s encouragement) for unnecessary fripperies.
However, fans of historical fiction that will not be offended by a flawed Lizzie Bennet will likely enjoy this book. Longbourn does drag on a little in places, but it is a fascinating look into the homelife of servants in Regency England during the Napoleonic wars. The fact that it involves some bit parts by characters from a favorite book just makes it more enjoyable. It is not necessary to have read Pride and Prejudice to enjoy this book, as it stands well enough on its own. However, reading Austen’s novel first would lend an extra layer to the novel for the reader to savor.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No