Longbourn

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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. 

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9780385351232
9780804149433
9780385351249
9780804149402
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9780804149402
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Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors evocative, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "social classes," "social life and customs," and "aristocracy."
Historical fiction novels offer an engaging homage to the life (Miss Austen) and work (Longbourn) of Jane Austen. Longbourn is a Pride and Prejudice retelling told from the Bennet family servants' perspectives; Miss Austen stars Cassandra Austen, Jane's older sister. -- Kaitlin Conner
Marley - Clinch, Jon
Marley and Longbourn offer the reader a similar journey: the chance to re-experience a Victorian classic from a different angle. These intricately plotted dramatic adaptations of well-loved novels offer a compelling and descriptive alternate history of the original works. -- Michael Jenkins
These books have the appeal factors well-crafted dialogue, and they have the genre "biographical fiction"; the subjects "household employees," "social classes," and "aristocracy"; and characters that are "likeable characters" and "authentic characters."
These books have the genre "adaptations, retellings, and spin-offs"; and the subjects "social classes" and "british history."
These romantic Pride and Prejudice retellings center on peripheral characters from the original novel -- Mary Bennet (The Other Bennet Sister) and the Bennet family servants (Longbourn). -- Kaitlin Conner
An assembly such as this: a novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, gentleman - Aidan, Pamela
With narratives that run parallel to the events of Pride and Prejudice, these historical novels should enchant Jane Austen fans. An Assembly Such as This tells Mr. Darcy's story, while Longbourn examines the everyday lives of the Bennett family's servants. -- NoveList Contributor
These books have the genre "historical fiction"; the subjects "household employees," "social classes," and "housekeepers"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the subjects "social classes," "balls (parties)," and "british history."
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Nelly Dean: a return to Wuthering Heights - Case, Alison A.
Both are richly descriptive literary adaptations of popular classic novels, told from servants' perspectives. They evoke the upstairs/downstairs dramas of upper-class nineteenth-century manor houses and the interwoven emotional connections between the family and their servants. -- Jen Baker
Readers who enjoyed Longbourn may be interested in the novel from which it draws its inspiration, Pride and Prejudice. While Jane Austen's book pays little attention to life below stairs, its sympathetic characters and their relationships should satisfy Longbourn fans. -- NoveList Contributor

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These authors' works have the appeal factors stylistically complex, and they have the subjects "household employees," "social classes," and "intrigue."
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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Elizabeth and Darcy take a backseat in this engrossing Austen homage, which focuses on the lives of the servants of Longbourn rather than the Bennet family. Baker's (The Undertow, 2012) novel finds Sarah, the Bennets' young, pretty housemaid, yearning for something more than washing soiled dresses and undergarments. The arrival of a handsome new footman, James Smith, creates quite a stir as he's hired after a heated discussion between Mrs. Hill, the cook and head of the servants, and Mr. Bennet. Sarah isn't sure what to make of the enigmatic new member of the household staff, but she's soon distracted by the Bingleys' charismatic footman, Ptolemy, who takes an interest in Sarah and regales her with his dreams of opening up a tobacco shop. Baker vividly evokes the lives of the lower classes in nineteenth-century England, from trips in the rain to distant shops to the struggles of an infantryman in the Napoleonic Wars. She takes a few liberties with Austen's characters Wickham's behavior takes on a more sinister aspect here but mostly Austen's novel serves as a backdrop for the compelling stories of the characters who keep the Bennet household running.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

The servants of the Bennett estate manage their own set of dramas in this vivid re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice. While the marriage prospects of the Bennett girls preoccupy the family upstairs, downstairs the housekeeper Mrs. Hill has her hands full managing the staff that keeps Longbourn running smoothly: the young housemaids, Sarah and Polly; the butler, Mr. Hill; and the mysterious new footman, James Smith, who bears a secret connection to Longbourn. At the heart of the novel is a budding romance between James and orphan-turned-housemaid Sarah, whose dutiful service belies a "ferocious need for notice, an insistence that she fully be taken into account." When an expected turn of events separates the young lovers, Sarah must contend with James's complicated past and the never-ending demands of the Bennetts. Baker (The Mermaid's Child) offers deeper insight into Austen's minor characters, painting Mr. Collins in a more sympathetic light while making the fiendish Mr. Wickham even more sinister. The Militia, which only offered opportunities for flirtations in the original, here serves as a reminder of the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars. Baker takes many surprising risks in developing the relationships between the servants and the Bennetts, but the end result steers clear of gimmick and flourishes as a respectful and moving retelling. A must-read for fans of Austen, this literary tribute also stands on its own as a captivating love story. First printing of 150,000. Agent: Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Associates. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Library Journal Review

This brilliant and inventive novel brings Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice's below stairs to life, in the process creating as much intrigue and romance as the original. Baker (The Undertow) fleshes out the lives of the servants, footmen, and cooks to create a classic tale of love lost, perseverance, and early 19th-century life that will please even the most critical of Janeites. The story centers on the Bennets' maid, Sarah, a naive, likable young girl. When a new footman, James, joins the Longbourn staff, life is turned upside down and may never be the same again. Emma Fielding brilliantly narrates this novel with her smooth English accent and does a fantastic job bringing the characters to life using accents and inflections in all the right places. Verdict A must listen for fans of historical fiction, Austen, and Downton Abbey. ["...[D]ensely plotted and achingly romantic. This exquisitely reimagined Pride and Prejudice will appeal to Austen devotees and to anyone who finds the goings-on below the stairs to be at least as compelling as the ones above," agreed the starred review of the Knopf hc, LJ 8/15/13.-Ed.]-Erin Cataldi, Franklin Coll. Lib, IN (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Kirkus Book Review

An irresistible retake on Pride and Prejudice alters the familiar perspective by foregrounding a different version of events--the servants'. Daring to reconfigure what many would regard as literary perfection, Baker (The Undertow, 2012, etc.) comes at Jane Austen's most celebrated novel from below stairs, offering a working-class view of the Bennet family of Longbourn House. While the familiar drama of Lizzie and Jane, Bingley and Darcy goes on in other, finer rooms, Baker's focus is the kitchen and the stable and the harsh cycle of labor that keeps the household functioning. Cook Mrs. Hill rules the roost, and maids Sarah and Polly do much of the hard work, their interminable roster of chores diminished a little by the hiring of a manservant, James Smith. Sarah is attracted to James, but he is mysterious and withdrawn, and soon, her eye is caught by another--Bingley's black footman, Ptolemy. James, though trapped in his secrets, has noticed Sarah too and steps in when she is on the verge of making an impulsive mistake. And so, the romance begins. Baker is at her best when touching on the minutiae of work, of interaction, of rural life. James' back story, though capably done, offers less magic. But a last episode, moving through grief and silence into understated romantic restoration, showcases a softly piercing insight. Sequels and prequels rarely add to the original, but Baker's simple yet inspired reimagining does. It has best-seller stamped all over it.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Elizabeth and Darcy take a backseat in this engrossing Austen homage, which focuses on the lives of the servants of Longbourn rather than the Bennet family. Baker's (The Undertow, 2012) novel finds Sarah, the Bennets' young, pretty housemaid, yearning for something more than washing soiled dresses and undergarments. The arrival of a handsome new footman, James Smith, creates quite a stir as he's hired after a heated discussion between Mrs. Hill, the cook and head of the servants, and Mr. Bennet. Sarah isn't sure what to make of the enigmatic new member of the household staff, but she's soon distracted by the Bingleys' charismatic footman, Ptolemy, who takes an interest in Sarah and regales her with his dreams of opening up a tobacco shop. Baker vividly evokes the lives of the lower classes in nineteenth-century England, from trips in the rain to distant shops to the struggles of an infantryman in the Napoleonic Wars. She takes a few liberties with Austen's characters—Wickham's behavior takes on a more sinister aspect here—but mostly Austen's novel serves as a backdrop for the compelling stories of the characters who keep the Bennet household running. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

In centuries past, servants were barely seen or heard, but then came Upstairs Downstairs. Here, Baker visits one downstairs that will intrigue many readers—that of the Bennet household in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. British author Baker's second novel to appear here, after the much-praised The Undertow.

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Library Journal Reviews

Avid Jane Austen readers know Longbourn as the family home of the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice, where five unmarried daughters in search of husbands with fortunes and their put-upon parents reside. This, however, is not their story. The novel takes place beneath the staircase, where the servants prepare the meals, wait tables, scrub mud off boots and petticoats, drive the carriages, and otherwise cater to the daily demands of the household. While the drama of husband-hunting takes place largely offstage and the family goes about its familiar social engagements with the Bingleys, the Darcys, the insufferable Mr. Collins, and the mendacious Wickham, the real drama unfolds when the enigmatic James Smith arrives as a footman and catches the eye of Sarah, the young housemaid with dreams of a world beyond Longbourn. VERDICT British author Baker's second novel after her much lauded The Undertow is densely plotted and achingly romantic. This exquisitely reimagined Pride and Prejudice will appeal to Austen devotees and to anyone who finds the goings-on below the stairs to be at least as compelling as the ones above. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 4/8/13.]—Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.

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Library Journal Reviews

Elizabeth and Darcy take a backseat in this retelling of Jane Austen's beloved Pride and Preju-dice. Instead, the focus is on the servants who keep the household running smoothly, for the most part. Captivating and delightful; a must-read for fans of Austen, Upstairs/Downstairs, and Downton Abbey. (LJ 8/13) (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Publishers Weekly Reviews

The servants of the Bennett estate manage their own set of dramas in this vivid re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice. While the marriage prospects of the Bennett girls preoccupy the family upstairs, downstairs the housekeeper Mrs. Hill has her hands full managing the staff that keeps Longbourn running smoothly: the young housemaids, Sarah and Polly; the butler, Mr. Hill; and the mysterious new footman, James Smith, who bears a secret connection to Longbourn. At the heart of the novel is a budding romance between James and orphan-turned-housemaid Sarah, whose dutiful service belies a "ferocious need for notice, an insistence that she fully be taken into account." When an expected turn of events separates the young lovers, Sarah must contend with James's complicated past and the never-ending demands of the Bennetts. Baker (The Mermaid's Child) offers deeper insight into Austen's minor characters, painting Mr. Collins in a more sympathetic light while making the fiendish Mr. Wickham even more sinister. The Militia, which only offered opportunities for flirtations in the original, here serves as a reminder of the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars. Baker takes many surprising risks in developing the relationships between the servants and the Bennetts, but the end result steers clear of gimmick and flourishes as a respectful and moving retelling. A must-read for fans of Austen, this literary tribute also stands on its own as a captivating love story. First printing of 150,000. Agent: Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Associates. (Oct.)

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