Longbourn by Jo Baker

 

Longbourn by Jo Baker

The servants take center stage in this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice. While Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters fuss over balls and husbands, Sarah, their orphaned housemaid, is beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When a new footman arrives at Longbourn under mysterious circumstances, the carefully choreographed world she has known all her life threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended. Mentioned only fleetingly in Jane Austen’s classic, here Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Regency England and, in doing so, uncovers the real world of the novel that has captivated readers’ hearts around the world for generations.

 

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Title : Longbourn

Author : Jo Baker

Year Published : 8 Oct 2013

Original Language : English

Genre : Fan Fiction, Classics

 

Let's come back to the 18th Century when we live in a castle, wearing a beautiful dress and being a neighbor of the famous Bennet Family. Do you know them? A family of 7 persons, parents and five beautiful daughters, captured the 18th-century struggle to search for a suited husband. Yes, that would be Pride and Prejudice. The timeless classics, loved by every generation. 

Alternately, there are a lot of books made to relit or reconstruct the world of P&P. Fans made them out of love. And Longbourn is one of them. 

This is a story about persons who live under the stairs and breathe at the same Longbourn-Bennet 's resident. Not, it is not Harry Potter, who lived with his uncle and aunt Petunia. But this is the story about the maids, the cooks, the footman of the Bennet family.

The story has its protagonist, Sarah. The girl must be the same age as Jane or Elizabeth, who live to serve The Bennets family. 

Sarah is orphaned and Mrs. Hills, the senior maid (well, I don't quite remember her title) takes Sarah home and gives shelter under Bennet Family. Mrs. Hill loves her dearly, along with his husband, Mr. Hill. Even the Bennet sister loves Sarah. 

But Sarah always looks forward to the world beyond Longbourn. She longed for London, imagining the adventure she will get, just like the borrowed books she read.

One day, a mysterious young man came to the house. His name is James. He's young, healthy, and didn't seem to talk a lot. That's odd, for Sarah's mind. 

James seems buried a lot of his past and didn't want to reveal anything to the family. And the oddest thing, the family just accepts him. Doesn't young people suppose to go to the war?

 Meanwhile, a family just moved to their neighbor's house. The Bingley just arrived at Netherfield, bring also the most exotic and handsome man Sarah ever saw in her short life. The man is also nice and 'notice' Sarah.

That's all Sarah ever wants. To be noticed. To be seen as Sarah, not somebody's maid. Sarah thinks she fell in love with the man and will go everywhere just to be with him.

But wise Mrs. Hill saw that as rebellion. Sarah should be careful with a Man like that.

Then the Bingley went to London. Sarah would like to follow them and decide to pack her bag, go unnoticed to London. But James stops him, and that's the turning point of their relationship.

 In the middle almost end part, the author will reveal who James is and his story. Then how Sarah transforms into adulthood and understands the world within' at least, wisely. 

 The story uses the same timeline as Pride and Prejudice. The Author only gives the soul to the unnamed maids and creates a small world revolving around The Pride and Prejudice's setting.

I love how the Author poignantly describes the weather, the rain even the smells of delicious cake. It is so detailed that I feel like I am living around them. The prose is also beautifully written. The writer did a good job not to alter the master story, only provide name ( and soul) to the unnamed maid that was supposedly there, helping Longbourn well maintained.

The unnamed maid has a life too. She has her mind and dream to exist in the world. She wants to have a cake that is baked specifically for her. She wants to be free, see the world from what she read in the book. Yes, the story is slow-paced, just like classic story supposedly.

Yes, in some parts, the reader will see the Bennet sisters differently. Though they are nice to the maid, we cannot help thinking that the upper class has their world, occasionally seems spoiled. While we may enjoy the story upperclass in 18th century, yet in this book we cannot overlook how the society divided clearly by the social class. May be, that's the center of this story. A maid also a human.

What bug me is not significant, some matters should not belong to 18 century 😂...like chocolate. I doubt it is existed in the early ‘1800, not until another 30 years later. 

Yet, took me 3 weeks to finish the book just because the slow pace is not my thing. But it creates the nuance of Jane Austen’s world. So the author did a great job!