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Longbourn: A Novel
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Longbourn: A Novel
Unavailable
Longbourn: A Novel
Audiobook13 hours

Longbourn: A Novel

Written by Jo Baker

Narrated by Emma Fielding

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Pride and Prejudice was only half the story •

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she'd most likely be a sight more careful with them.

In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants' hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.

Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen's classic-into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars-and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 8, 2013
ISBN9780804149419
Unavailable
Longbourn: A Novel

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Reviews for Longbourn

Rating: 3.7638889613526567 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I like Jane Austen and so this was a natural choice. I loved where the narrative ties in with the original, like when Sarah complains about Lizzy's tramping about in all weather.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this book for my library book club. It was an alright book. The characters and story did not engage me from the start. I found myself being drawn in for a little bit and then getting a little bored with the story line. I did listen to the audio version which could be some of the reason that I did not always enjoy the book. I did also follow along with the book at times while listening and found that a better way to understand some of what was being spoken. I have read Pride and Prejudice and usually enjoy these stories involving the servants etc. Just not sure why this one didn't capture me from the start.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    very well done - I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to my thirteen-year-old and feeling a need to spend a little more time living in the world of Longbourn -- considering rereading Pride and Prejudice when I spied this book on my shelves and grabbed it instead. At first I was excessively charmed. I did like the concept quite a bit -- of seeing what life was like for the servants as the Bennets were bemoaning their limited fortunes and inheritances in front of them, but I had two problems with the novel that really started to get in my way of enjoying it by about a third of the way through. First, Sarah's sensibilities and thoughts sometimes felt distractingly modern. I mean, how am I to know the secret thoughts of the servant class of that era? But they just didn't seem consistent. Second, the danger of writing a book whose primary audience must be Austen fans is that Austen fans are sure to all have their own interpretations of all the characters. And I'm really just over all the modern interpretations of Mr. Bennet as such a scoundrel and Mrs. Bennet as completely lacking in sense.That said I did quite like the whole bit about James at war, and Sarah's ungrateful boredom at Pemberly. So, a mixed bag. Not quite what I'd hoped for, but interesting all the same.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Usually get annoyed at all the different takes contemporary authors out on P&P but this does look interesting. Got it as an ARC from my husband's store
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wow, this book is really divisive! It has been fun reading the reviews and seeing why people either loved or hated it...
    I really enjoyed It. I love historical fiction where I get a real sense of what it was like to live in that era. For me that does/must include the nitty gritty details that many here found so offensive. When I read books that spend so much time talking about dresses and hair styles I do wonder where/how they go to the bathroom, how they managed when they had their period, how often they bathed, etc. I was fascinated while touring castles in Europe to hear guides tell of guests foregoing new "lavatories" and doing their business in corners and behind draperies, much to the dismay of the servants....so I want these details in a book told from the servants point of view. Even Downton Abbey glosses over the nasty stuff.

    It has been a long time since I read P&P so I was not obsessing over every detail, I read this more as a stand alone novel. I don't think the life of a domestic servant was much fun, and the novel portrays a life of hard, often nasty work, with rare small breaks. Even walks involved running errands and had to be taken regardless of weather or ill fitting boots. The nosy postmistress - reminded me of the telephone operators who used to know everyone's business in the early days of Ma Bell. Some things never change! Now we just have TMZ.

    I liked the evolving story of James, and the interlude where we find out where he had been and what he had been through...I just found it a bit long. I loved watching Sarah's fascination with Mr. Bingley build. I thought the storyline of Mr. Hill, Mrs Hill, Mr. Bennet etc was great and not at all unrealistic.

    I feel that this book stands on it's own merit. Wether or not it is a suitable companion to Pride and Prejudice is a call I will leave to the die hard Austen fans, of which I am not.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Adjusted my rating down to three stars from four when I realized, while I liked the novel, I wouldn't read it again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Neat concept -- to look at the lives of the servants of the homes in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Nicely done as well, with a backstairs idiom and approach.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have to begin by saying how much I enjoyed Longbourn by Jo Baker. I was immediately swept up in this tale which is basically the story of Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of the below-stairs staff. It is well-researched and beautifully written, and dedicates itself to show the reader the grueling life of the servants in the early 19th century.

    Longbourn assumes the reader is already familiar with the works of Jane Austen, so begins immediately with the tale of the servants. Instead of presenting us with the seemingly glamorous lifestyle of the Bennett family, we are instead whisked away below stairs where we find the people who were responsible for all the back-breaking tasks that made that lifestyle possible.

    Jo Baker is definitely an amazing story-teller. I was entirely captivated by this book. The author provides vivid details into the lives of the servant staff which made me feel like I was transported back in time and experiencing it all for myself.

    You will find yourself becoming attached to the staff and rooting them on, feeling their despair, and wanting the best for them as you follow their struggles and daily hardships. It will make you appreciate all the daily conveniences that we have in our own lives today.

    I totally recommend Longbourn to anyone who loves the works of Jane Austen or who, like me, is just fascinated with tales of domestic service in the early 19th century. You will not be disappointed. This one is a classic!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautifully written.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge Austen fan, and because of the saturation of "Pride and Prejudice" it is probably my least favorite novel, so you should take what I say about this book with a giant grain of salt!
    I really thought the premise was very clever, a reworking of the novel looking through the eyes of those below stairs. And at times it was very good, but then my interest ebbed and flowed, along with the various plot points. The voice of the novel is Sarah, the Bennet's young house and kitchen maid, and she is terrific character, but I think the story slows down because of a lack of focus. I'm sure Austen lovers with enjoy this book very much, but for me it was just okay.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a reader in possession of a comfy seat and a cuppa, must be in want of a good book. This was sent to me by a friend, who knows my love of books and Austen. It's essentially the Upstairs-Downstairs of Pride and Prejudice. The problem is I like the originals of each so much that this inevitably fell short. It had moments, but overall, didn't engage me. I think if someone was unfamiliar with how the things we now depend on appliances and devices to do were done in days when electricity wasn't around, it might have been a bit more interesting, but I know a little about that, having lived in a third world country for a bit in the days before electricity was around or reliable and a telephone was a new and amazing device. I've heard there's a series on TV now (probably cable or PBS), but I'm not sure I'll watch. I prefer my Austen firsthand.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An eye-opening, brilliant work, enjoyable not just as a counterpoint to Pride and Prejudice, but also for its own depth and insight. Superbly narrated.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Why?? This did not need to be a reimagining of P&P...nor did the heroine need to be blander than vanilla. Reads a bit like self-insert fanfiction tbh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I remember, reading Pride and Prejudice, that Mrs Bennet once called for her maid, Hill. When Mr. Collins dined with the Bennets for the first time, he assumed that the Bennet girls had made the dinner, and Mrs. Bennet told him crossly that they had a cook and maidservants. Beyond that, I cannot recall any mention of the servants at Longbourn; they are the invisible players who got the shoe-roses from Meryton; who helped the young ladies dress, and do their hair, and pack their bags. This lovely book brings to light these invisible people, who have a life as full and interesting and dramatic as the girls upstairs do.I loved the characters that Baker drew of Mr. and Mrs. Hill, the old carriage-driver and housekeeper; of Sarah, the young woman feeling there must be more to life than doing other people's laundry; James, the footman, on the run from a troubled past, and Polly, the girl of all work, innocent, forever tired, and an outspoken little love of a child.I cannot fathom, even after reading this book, how hard servants in a Regency household had to work. I was astounded and horrified. The thought of washing other people's underclothes by hand, stains and all, put me off entirely. I am so grateful for washing machines right now.Longbourn is a really good book. I thought the ending (which I am not going to spoil) was excellent. Do read it if you're an Austen fan.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this novel far more than I expected to. This is the story of the servants in the Bennett's house as the tale of Pride and Prejudice unfolds. Sarah, the housemaid, and James, the footman, take front and center: we follow their budding relationship and learn about each of their backgrounds. Elizabeth and Jane and Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are side figures although their centrality to the lives of the servants is never shirked. The novel is more than a shadow spin-off from the great classic, though. It is a rich and thoughtful exploration of the human tendency to long for that which is out of reach, and the possibility of finding contentment by focusing on what one has and being clear about what truly matters. In our current era of rampant materialism (I'm part of it too, having recently ordered my next iPhone), the themes are timely and relevant and sweetly poignant. Very much recommended, but only if you're familiar with Pride and Prejudice.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This satisfying addition to the Pride and Prejudice bandwagon deserves the starred reviews it has been getting in national publications. The life of the servants is just as interesting as the Bennet girls' search for husbands. The timing is perfect for this book for it, like Downton Abbey, looks at the live of servants as well as those they serve. Sarah, the orphan serving girl, the housekeeper and her husband, Mrs and Mrs. Hill, and well as the young Polly are well-fleshed out characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This novel is Pride & Prejudice reimagined from the servants point of view.
    Jo Baker creates a new story by giving names & events to the sevants briefly mentioned in P&P. You don't have to have read P&P to enjoy this story.
    So well researched, Baker gives us rich details of the landscape, weather and working life in the early 1800's. She descibes chores such as doing the laundry, cooking, making soap, slaughtering pigs & emptying toilet waste while the wealthy worry about appearances, flirt & attend social functions.
    The author also writes about slavery, the brutality of war & how it can turn otherwise caring people into savages. All of this interpersed with the hopes, dreams & romances of the lower class.
    Wonderfully written, the decriptions make me feel like I was actually there. My only quibble is that the ending felt rushed.
    All in all a terrific read, highly recommended. 4.5 stars


  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Regarding this novel, I'd say I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Indeed, a lot of the passages in the book were too long-winded and too quiet, contemplative almost, to help the narrative/plot. The idea, per se, of having another point of view on 'Pride and Prejudice' is commendable, but it dragged on, despite the author's characterisation. Of course, the book doesn't pretend to have a lot of action, but this is as low key as it can get. The main character, Sarah, is given a lot of thought, but I found the Hills and Polly to be something of a caricature/stereotype. The author tackles colonial issues in the person of the black footman, which could have been further developped, in my opinion. Anyway, the novel is good to read but don't expect anything to make you swoon.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The story (and lives) of Pride and Prejudice as told by the servants of the Bennet household. The book revolves around Sarah, one of the maids in the house, and her relationship with the footman. The lives of the Bennet sisters intertwine and you can see the effect their actions have on the people who are employed to take care of them. It's also the story of a deep and passionate love, and the lives of those who are in service at this point in English history. There were a couple of tough chapters about one character's time in the Napoleonic wars taking place in Europe and the hardships involved, but the book was so worth reading that I stuck with it through scenes that were difficult. It's a wonderful story, masterfully written.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Read from August 24 to 27, 2013Sarah is a brave, hardworking young woman that works for the Bennett family. When the Bingley family comes to the neighborhood AND the Bennetts hire a new footman, things begin changing in Sarah's world. And it's a world I've always been curious about...Every time I read a Jane Austen novel, I think about what's going on in the world outside the houses and small villages the stories take place in. Austen gives you a very insular view of the world and I don't mean that in a bad way, but you just get tiny glimpses if you get any at all.This book filled in some of those gaps about the life for the other half of British society in Regency England. It could easily stand-alone, you don't have to be a fan of Pride and Prejudice to love the story here. I think it will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs and even to general historical fiction fans.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A look at the lives of the servants behind the story of Pride and Prejudice, particularly concentrating on one servant, Sarah and her involvement with some of the other servants around and with the people of the story. It does reflect how the servants weren't really taken into account by the upper classes, how negligent they were of the feelings and needs of the servants, though it's hard to believe that they would allow servants to read and not take into account their feelings and the fact that they too might want to have lives.It's still an interesting story, woven into the behind-the-scenes events of Pride and Prejudice. A different slant on the story, but one with a little too much modern takes on things, many servants would have a certain amount of pride in sending their mistresses out looking well and sometimes that would be their way of coping with being a servant. It's not all about being oppressed, it's about having a job and taking a pride in it. Some people would have resented being servants but there would have been others who found a quiet pride in the work and being able to support themselves with their labour. We take a different view of work today, and there will always be tasks that we have issues with, tasks of varying degrees of tedium but we reward ourselves as well with sometimes small things that make the tedioum easier to bear, whether it's a book, a flower, some hidden embroidery, whatever. I'm sure the lives of servants were no different and knowing where Simnel cake comes from I'm sure leftover lace made it's way to undergarments.Somehow it just didn't ring as true as it might have, interesting but not breathtaking.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this book about P&P taken from the vantage point of the servants. Jo Baker got the tone just right and was able to very effectively create her own set of characters. Well done.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'd have loved this when I was younger, maybe, not least because she has a lovely writing style. I'd have been thrilled at Heraclitus getting a mention, and maybe at Mr Bennet's wanting to take Mrs Hill's hand and say he was sorry. As it is, I think I found the romance a bit gooey, and struggled with why James should be so thoughtful, especially towards women. What was the Spanish family bit all about? The best bit for me, as it happens, was his war, which "became, for James, the shifting of an awkward object over difficult terrain in impossible weather". Know the feeling, having helped the French gun crew at Ickworth this month where the cannon misfired before we dragged it back again over the lumpy, grassy, muddy ground.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    4.5 stars. Longbourn is a cleverly written, Pride and Prejudice variation told from the standpoint of the servants below stairs. I've owned this book for many months but was reluctant to read it because of the varied reviews. In spite of some of the negative reviews I decided I wanted to read it and I am sure glad I did. I loved the author's writing style which captivated me rather quickly. And while some of the words were unfamiliar to me, I saw this as an opportunity to expand my vocabulary rather than a nuisance. I really liked how some of the the more memorable events of Pride and Prejudice were weaved into the Longbourn narrative; instances such as when Mr. Bingley arrives at Netherfield, when Lydia runs away with Wickham, and when Darcy and Elizabeth fall for each other and marry. I was afraid that Jo Baker might mar my idealistic notions of the Bennet girls, particularly Jane and Elizabeth. There were instances where Elizabeth was portrayed in a less favorable light than Jane, but not so much as to ruin my memories of the beloved classic I so fondly remember. Sarah, one of the housemaids, was an interesting character, and most of the book revolved around her. She was a spirited, curious, mischievous, responsible and sometimes rebellious young girl who was eager to experience the life she could only dream of having; a life that didn't involve serving others. I loved her character. In conclusion I felt that this was a very nicely written story that I would recommend to those who enjoy Pride and Prejudice retellings. This book was from my personal library.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm torn between two and three stars. I don't see why this book even needs the connection to Pride and Prejudice because the main characters' actions aren't really that involved with them, their actions aren't informed by theirs, the plots hardly ever mingle. Them Upstairs could be any other family. I really enjoyed the writing, the descriptions of the landscapes in particular, but thought that Jo Baker went a bit overboard with descriptions of grime and muck. They seem to come up in characters describing their surroundings even without comparing them to the largely grime-free lives of those they serve, which I didn't think was very realistic- I can see someone contemplating the differences between my own work clothes and the lily-white pressed linen of those I work for, but I don't think that people often remark casually on the layers of grime on their own kitchen tables. Those you would probably stop noticing fast, I'd imagine. Yes, the past was grimy, but I felt the author was trying too hard to be gritty and make things feel realistic, it was distracting rather than helpful. I liked the fact that even though female members of the serving class were depicted, nobody's rape was gleefully described. That's rare! I was not a fan of the only LGBT character's death (during outdoor sex. Really?), and the end felt unrealistic and rushed, but overall, it was an enjoyable read if only for this tour of the countryside
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I picked it up several months ago with Death Comes to Pemberley (which I found "meh"--watch the BBC version--much better than the book). Baker eschewed a faux Austen voice for her own authentic one resulting in a literary tour-de-force that, although set in Austen's world, is uniquely her own. This book has been described as the "downstairs" to Austen's "upstairs" because it deals with the lives of the serving staff at Longbourn, the fictional Bennet family estate from Pride and Prejudice, but it is so much more. The opening scene, where a young orphaned serving girl named Sarah is up at dawn to do the back-breaking chore of laundry, sets the tone of the book. The small service staff cling to one another, keeping each other's secrets, covering for lapses, comforting each other during times of stress and grief; all while working continually to keep the Bennet family in the comfort to which they were accustomed. Along the way is romance, treachery (our favorite bad-boy Wickham sows his poison below stairs as well as up stairs), and a long kept Bennet secret which effects the lives of the housekeeper and Sarah. I thoroughly enjoyed this one; highly recommended. Note: Austen fans beware--the Bennet family doesn't not come off well in this one. They are not deliberately cruel, just oblivious to the those below their station.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was okay. A little bit too pleased with itself at times, the author showing off all the research she had done a little clumsily so that it interrupted the sense of the story. A little bit miserable. I maybe shouldn't have read it straight after the best book in the world, because it showed up the paucity of language. But a decent yarn, at the end of it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is Pride and Prejudice but from the view of the servants who served them at Longbourn, the Bennet family home. Mrs Hill, the housekeeper and cook, her husband, and the housemaids, Sarah and Polly. It is Sarah's story that features most strongly in this book, as she finds herself admired by both Ptolemy Bingley, a footman in the Bingley household, and James Smith, a young man who has turned up at Longbourn and is swiftly employed by Mr Bennet.I very much liked working out which Pride and Prejudice event was going on in Longbourn. Seen from the viewpoint of the staff made it interesting. I also liked how the story came together and the new stories that Jo Baker has invented. It made me think. However, I did find the writing overall a little on the dull side and I think a bit more of a story was required to make it really work for me. I imagine that the lives of servants in the 1800s wasn't all that thrilling but for the purposes of a good yarn I think a bit more imagining might not have gone amiss. Overall I thought this was a good read, a really great idea, but just needed a bit more oomph.