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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
In the novel Longbourn by British author Jo Baker, Jane Austen’s beloved tale Pride and Prejudice undergoes an Upstairs, Downstairs twist. Instead of following the familiar set of characters, upstairs folk like the Bennets and Mr. Darcy take a backseat as the servants instead become the focus of this excellent retelling of a classic. As in the original tale, the majority of the narrative takes place at Longbourn, but the setting also follows the characters to Pemberley, the battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, and the open road.
Longbourn, the Bennets’ house, is home to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters, along with butler and housekeeper Mr. and Mrs. Hill, and housemaids Sarah and Polly. At the heart of the story is Sarah, an orphan girl plucked from the workhouse at the tender age of six to work under the firm yet kind direction of Mrs. Hill. Sarah awakens at four thirty in the morning to begin her day of monotonous labor: boiling the laundry, blacking the stove, feeding the pigs, and waiting on the Bennets.
In a sudden and uncharacteristic move, Mr. Bennet hires a new manservant, a footman named James Smith with a shadowy past. Soon after Netherfield Hall is let at last, and an ambitious footman named Ptolemy arrives with the Bingleys. Jane and Elizabeth Bennet’s entanglements with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy begin in tandem with Sarah’s own romance and heartache.
This look at life in the early 1800s is an earthier tale than the original, with no skimping on details about the hardships of the lower classes. Sarah suffers chilblains, empties chamber pots, and has to scrub the mud out of Elizabeth Bennet’s petticoats after her walks. It’s a world where a servant may not own even their name – if there is already a Miss Mary in the house, a different name will be chosen for the servant, which is how Polly ended up a Polly.
Well-known characters are reimagined, and in this, Baker again pulls no punches. Wickham wends his way into the story, and the reader is given a grimmer, more fleshed-out take on his wickedness, while Mr. Bennet and Mr. Hill have their own secret weaknesses. Elizabeth, while still lovely and charming, is shown overtaking her new role as Mrs. Darcy with some insecurity.
Baker’s prose is vivid, and she manages to spin an entirely new tale from one of the most renowned books of all time. Fans of Pride and Prejudice and historical novels should find much to love here.
Longbourn, the Bennets’ house, is home to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters, along with butler and housekeeper Mr. and Mrs. Hill, and housemaids Sarah and Polly. At the heart of the story is Sarah, an orphan girl plucked from the workhouse at the tender age of six to work under the firm yet kind direction of Mrs. Hill. Sarah awakens at four thirty in the morning to begin her day of monotonous labor: boiling the laundry, blacking the stove, feeding the pigs, and waiting on the Bennets.
In a sudden and uncharacteristic move, Mr. Bennet hires a new manservant, a footman named James Smith with a shadowy past. Soon after Netherfield Hall is let at last, and an ambitious footman named Ptolemy arrives with the Bingleys. Jane and Elizabeth Bennet’s entanglements with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy begin in tandem with Sarah’s own romance and heartache.
This look at life in the early 1800s is an earthier tale than the original, with no skimping on details about the hardships of the lower classes. Sarah suffers chilblains, empties chamber pots, and has to scrub the mud out of Elizabeth Bennet’s petticoats after her walks. It’s a world where a servant may not own even their name – if there is already a Miss Mary in the house, a different name will be chosen for the servant, which is how Polly ended up a Polly.
Well-known characters are reimagined, and in this, Baker again pulls no punches. Wickham wends his way into the story, and the reader is given a grimmer, more fleshed-out take on his wickedness, while Mr. Bennet and Mr. Hill have their own secret weaknesses. Elizabeth, while still lovely and charming, is shown overtaking her new role as Mrs. Darcy with some insecurity.
Baker’s prose is vivid, and she manages to spin an entirely new tale from one of the most renowned books of all time. Fans of Pride and Prejudice and historical novels should find much to love here.
3.5 stars.
The bad: I struggled to get into this book and almost gave up. Things finally picked up after page 100 (almost a third of the way through the book). I also struggled with the shifting pov. It was third person, but sometimes, within the same chapter or on the same page, we heard the thoughts of several different characters. It made the storytelling feel labored at points. I'll be good if I never had to read the word "chilblains" again.
The good: A fascinating premise, and very timely coming on the heals of Austen-fever and the insanely popular Downton Abbey.
Baker took liberties with Austen's characters - giving them previously unimagined side-stories, not all of which were flattering. In most cases, these embellishments added depth and life to the characters, but seemed unnecessary in others. The new characters were complex, fully fleshed-out, and blended seamlessly into the story.
I appreciated that Baker used the original story as a backdrop only; she relied on reader's foreknowledge and only included details about what was going on upstairs when they were relevant to the downstairs story.
The bad: I struggled to get into this book and almost gave up. Things finally picked up after page 100 (almost a third of the way through the book). I also struggled with the shifting pov. It was third person, but sometimes, within the same chapter or on the same page, we heard the thoughts of several different characters. It made the storytelling feel labored at points. I'll be good if I never had to read the word "chilblains" again.
The good: A fascinating premise, and very timely coming on the heals of Austen-fever and the insanely popular Downton Abbey.
Baker took liberties with Austen's characters - giving them previously unimagined side-stories, not all of which were flattering. In most cases, these embellishments added depth and life to the characters, but seemed unnecessary in others. The new characters were complex, fully fleshed-out, and blended seamlessly into the story.
I appreciated that Baker used the original story as a backdrop only; she relied on reader's foreknowledge and only included details about what was going on upstairs when they were relevant to the downstairs story.
3/5 stars, full review to come! My god what an oddly paced tale. But I agree that Jane is beautiful and good and therefore deserves things that are beautiful and good.
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pacing: 2/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pacing: 2/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Well-written, Baker clearly knows and loves the source material. I love the upstairs-downstairs concept. But. Pride and Prejudice without a dollop of humor is just sad. And love gets a pretty hard beating here. I get the point, but this simply wasn't fun to read. The great thing about Austen is how much fun it is to get schooled. A spoonful of sugar, and all that.
This was the perfect book at the perfect time. I wanted something that I could jump right into and just enjoy. Read it at the end of vacation and really enjoyed the story. A different take on the usual Austen fan fiction.
I listened to the audio book and found it to be so long. The story is very slow and not very exciting. I did enjoy it but felt it dragged.
Definitely worth reading (or re-reading) [b:Pride and Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320399351s/1885.jpg|3060926] before reading this book. Longbourn really rounds out the experience of reading Pride and Prejudice. At times heart-warming and other times (more often) heart-breaking, this book was a solid reminder that the realities of ages past is closer to the drudge and toil of this book than the frivolity of P&P. Where P&P was light and airy, this is down-to-earth and even dirty. Wonderful characters!
Wonderful creation of a backstory for the servant characters. The parts in Spain are so vivid. If it becomes a film, it would be great to have the same director and crew show the stories.
The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys tells the story of Rochester's first wife and is another great example of an "extra-narrative" novel.
The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys tells the story of Rochester's first wife and is another great example of an "extra-narrative" novel.
Fabulous narration, but terribly boring and predictable story. I really didn't care about the characters, and I wanted more of the original Austen characters. This one just made me want to re-read P&P, or at least watch the Colin Firth BBC mini-series.
I will, however, look for more books narrated by Emma Fielding. Well done!
I will, however, look for more books narrated by Emma Fielding. Well done!
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes