Story in Review: Longbourn by Jo Baker

A retelling of Pride & Prejudice, but from the point of view of the servants, Longbourn by Jo Baker is a delightful read. If you are a fan of P&P (I most certainly am), and are always eager to read just a little more from the worlds of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, then you will probably enjoy this book. I was a bit surprised at how little we do see of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy – but I supposed I shouldn’t be: after all, the original doesn’t mention much about the servants at all. Longbourn takes the mentions of Mr. & Mrs. Hill and young Sarah and amplifies them, crafting characters that you come to love as you are drawn into a story.

The book is a love story, but throughout the novel we also see a young woman who has even less agency over her life than the young women upstairs, how money really and truly matters in this time period. As someone who once read P&P with the express task of highlighting all passages where marriage is spoken of in terms of currency, I found the lives of servants and their ability to leave their post (or not) purely because of who they are fascinating.

Favorite Quotes:

“When she was a girl, and still growing, ravenous, whenever there had been a cake… Sarah would never even let herself look at it, because she knew it was not for her… So Sarah would stare instead at the carpet underneath her feet… even to glance at the cake was an impossible agony. And for months, she realized, James had hardly looked at her at all.” – p. 157

“Words had become overnight just little coins, insignificant and unfreighted, to be exchanged for ribbons, buttons, for an apple or an egg.” – p. 173

“This was a beautiful disaster, and it could not be undone.” – p. 174

“Sometimes, she thought, it might be better just to disappear from notice, than to attract a gentleman’s particular attention like that.” – p. 198

“Some people can, it seems, be redeemed. The blots on their characters can be sponged off, and though the mark might never be gone entirely, it can pass unnoticed by all but the keenest-sighted… These people can pass muster in a crowd, or amongst strangers; they can be made good enough again for everyday use.” – p. 286

And so many more.

What made this a good story? I love that Baker introduces each chapter with a small quote from the original text. It helps to place each scene along the timeline of the original, and gives new meaning even to some of the most well-known lines of literature when they are interpreted through different members of the household. Baker’s voice was enchanting – well-paced and with just enough Austen in it to make it believable.

What could have made this a better story? At times, the language was a bit archaic – even beyond that of the original. Baker seems to reach really far back to make the novel authentic, but at times sacrifices readability. There are also some chapters that drag a bit compared to others, but in a book this size that is pretty common.

What do you think? Have you read Longbourn? What other Pride & Prejudice-esque novels should I tackle?

I read this in 2014 as part of The Empty Shelf Challenge. I hope to have room in The 2015 Book Project for more of literary fiction like Longbourn.