Beautifully timed to coincide with the 200th Anniversary of the first publication of Pride and Prejudice, Jo Baker’s Longbourn takes you behind the gentile façade of the Bennet household. The story runs concurrently with Pride and Prejudice, using key scenes in the book as reference points to enhance Longbourn. Ms Baker shows you the grime; the hard graft and mind numbingly repetitive everyday life of the Bennet’s mostly invisible servants. Well you might say, what’s interesting about that? And of course this book could have been a study of boring domestic servitude, but she imbues the servants with such vivid characters, deftly unfolding their lives before you, that you can’t help but want to find out what happens to them. Then into this scene of boring, repetitive, hard domestic life she cleverly introduces the mysterious James. Not only does James change the whole dynamics of ‘belowstairs’; he brings with him secrets. Secrets that have consequences. Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice as a template on money, class, morality, marriage and ineffectual parenting in early 19th Century England. Jo Baker complements this, all be it with a modern voice, by revealing what could have happened to the rarely mentioned servants, whose lives were going to be as equally affected by Mr. Bennet’s need to conform to the cruel law of patrilineality as his wife and daughters. Longbourn thankfully is not a pastiche but a handsome tale that hangs on Jane Austin’s classic novel, complimenting and enhancing it. I enjoyed Longbourn immensely, the story fascinating me with the classic ‘what could have happened if’. Longbourn is definitely a ‘keeper’.

Review: wow! What a fabulous retelling! When I first heard about this book I thought it was a wonderful concept and knew that I would have to read it. Now I sometimes struggle with the language and lengthily descriptions in some of Austen's novels and was worried that I might struggle with this one but it was such an easy and compelling read, I had no problems whatsoever. The language, in fact was one of my favourite parts. The narration was in easy to follow English but the thing the servants said to on another and indeed the other characters in the novel, the Bennets, the Bingley folk were all as they would have been phrased at that time and I thought it gave a really good a balance! Some of the things Mrs Bennett or Mrs Hill said had me laughing out loud! The characters in this novel were fabulous, such a good idea to feature these hard working and yet unseen characters from Pride and Prejudice! Sarah is the main character really and like a lot of books that I read, she is a young women who is hard working and wants good things for herself and so is prepared to work for them. She gets herself into a couple of romantic entanglements along the way, readers will be pleased to hear, and she really goes for the things she wants in life, even if it means things are going to be difficult for her. The relationship she has with Mrs Hill (a wonderfully formidable character) is a mother/daughter type and the relationship she has with the younger maid Polly is also like that only in this case, Sarah is the mother figure. She also has a good relationship with the two older Bennett girls which means that she does get to travel in this novel. This is not just a story about the everyday comings and goings in the Bennett household, there is a lot more that goes on below stairs than we realise. You get such a good feel for the pain the servants must have been in constantly tramping up and down the stairs, and the description of the aches and pain, and the chilblains are so realistic, you really get to feel their pain. You learn more about the landscape surrounding Longbourn, the journeys to London, to Netherfield and eventually, of course, to Pemberley. The novel is divided into three significant parts, the first two parts are mainly based at Longbourn, with a short journey into London, but the final part focuses slightly more on the story of the footman and how he came to be. I didn't find this part quite as enjoyable as the previous two sections, but the very end of this section is where Sarah goes to Pemberley with Elizabeth and this was really very enjoyable so made up for the rest of this part. It was an interesting choice to divide the book into parts like this but I think it really works, and each section is definitely separate from the last! Overall this book really lived up to my expectations, exceeded them even. I found it a real page turner, the language is beautiful, the characters engaging and what a gorgeous cover too! I think that most readers will really enjoy this book, it does help to know the story of Pride and Prejudice but I don't think it is essential and you certainly don't have to be overly familiar with Austen and her work in order to fully enjoy this wonderful novel! A must buy!

I really like the story in this book. In a fictional setting. Very much a Downton Abbey type book. It is very descriptive in the story of what life is like for the downstairs staff. Very detailed in the hardships of the working life. It is a beautiful story to cosy up to.

It is always good to read a story from a different angle and this is indeed different. It is good to know the story of those who reside downstairs! and I think Jo Baker has down all the servants proud Yes indeed it is a very well written and enjoyable book.

Among the huge pile of Pride and Prejudice sequels and associated books available, this one really stands out. Covering the period of the novel, it tells the story of Mrs Hill and the other servants in the Bennet household, the figures who are briefly mentioned as being in the background, announcing visitors, carrying messages and hot water, serving up meals which provide some of the set pieces in the novel. This book is well known as the book which has a typical line “If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah thought, she would be more careful not to tramp through muddy fields”. Sarah is the maid of all work, a young woman painfully conscious of her seemingly never ending tasks “Work just lingered and festered and lay in wait, to make you slip up in the morning”. Sarah, little Polly, Mr and Mrs Hill comprise the near silent workers who support the memorable family and all the visitors to the household. This is their story, as the family flips in and out of view, revealing secrets or keeping quiet on the comings and goings of various people. Not that they are insular, changeless people, as a new member of the household has a curious effect on the balance of the servants’ lives. This is the story of love in several forms, fear and disruption amid the secrets of a seemingly settled domestic machine. Beautifully written, intense and full of insight, this is a wonderful read for all those with any knowledge of Jane Austen’s masterpiece. Sarah, taken in by the motherly Mrs Hill and trained up to work in the household, notices much about the house that she has grown up in, learning how to wash, clean and much else. She knows that she has little to show for her labours: two dresses and a lot of chilblains. She can read, but has little opportunity of leisure for such activities. When she encounters a footman from Netherfield, she begins to wonder if there could be more to life than domestic work. James also turns up, and no one is very sure what to make of him, though he certainly has a past which he is unkeen to reveal. As Sarah encounters the harsh reality of military life, Polly is also exposed to risk from a familiar character. Mrs Hill is keeping secrets, not all her own, as their lives are affected by the risk of Mr Bennet’s death and the famous entail which would mean that the house went to Mr Collins, whose visit is also of much interest to the servants below stairs. As characters from the well known novel intersect with the servants, more is subtly revealed about their lives than Austen wrote, but which is entirely consistent with what is so well known. This is a book which explains in incredible detail the daily lives of a large section of the population, away from the relatively comfortable lives usually reflected in period novels and tv adaptations. Baker’s research into the household tasks carried out by women is of great depth, but never gets in the way of the strength of the narrative. The concept of the book is an excellent one, and Baker carries it out brilliantly. The section away from the house is weaker, as the great strength of this book is in the shadowing of the famous novel. This book is an attractive and worthwhile read for any Austen fan and was much enjoyed by myself and our book club.