Longbourn

My Rating: ★★★

Method of Reading: Personally owned hardback novel, 352 pages
Dates of Reading: January 3, 2014-January 9, 2014
Author: Jo Baker
Publication Year: 2013
Recommended to: Austenites
Quotes: 
   "It was a thought, that... Not just to hitch a lift with the first fellow who looked as though he knew where he was going, but just to go" (145).
Movie: Nope, but I could see it becoming one.

Wikipedia Link: N/A
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/books/review/longbourn-by-jo-baker.html?_r=0

My View: The servantry in this book live in a manor called Longbourn in early 19th century England. The five daughters of the household flounce to parties, play piano, pine over suitors, giggle about militiamen, take visitors and tea, soothe their "nervous" mother, and fall in and out of love in the gardens and parlors and streets of Meryton. The oldest, Jane, is a sweet and lovely girl who ends in a sweet and lovely life with her sweet and lovely suitor, Mr. Bingley. Her next sister, Lizzy, struggles through multiple courtships before ending happily with the brooding Mr. Darcy, who owns half of Derbyshire. The overlooked intellectual, Mary, comes next, spending her days pounding away on her pianoforte and casting longing glances at the gawky Mr. Collins. The youngsters, Kitty and Lydia, are nearly indistinguishable in their joint laughter and pride until Lydia marries herself off to the slimy military man, Mr. Wickham, at age 15. And all the while, two maids, a butler, a cook, and a footman must be opening the girls' doors and washing their dresses and stitching their bonnets and lighting their fires and heating their hair irons. While Jo Baker's book tells of the men and women who could have been these servants, her story is decidedly outside of the Meryton metaverse.
   It's not just that several of the events Baker reports of "below-stairs" aren't really plausible in the course of Austen's story--like James hitting Wickham without anyone later noticing, or Mr. Bennet successfully hiding a secret son for 25 years and not claiming him just for the security of the entail, or that Mrs. Bennet fusses over the girls' inheritance constantly without going to bits over the son she lost each time she discusses it. The story seems a bit gratuitous, and though it may be more "realistic" than its source novel, the added grit takes it out of the Austen world.
   The ending is a great last triumph, although Sarah striking out in Elizabeth's darkest hour doesn't quite ring true, even if Sarah is in a depression. At no other point in the novel do I sense the compelling, unbearable, action-worthy wanderlust Baker introduces right here at the end, so this dramatic exit seems forced.
   At any rate, I really enjoyed it. I might have enjoyed it more if didn't try to connect to one of my very favorites (you shot yourself in the foot dragging P&P into my head while I read your book, Baker). The writing and research were very strong though, and I appreciated the hard work that went into this book.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic Citation:

• Baker, Jo. Longbourn. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Print.
• Mayer, Petra. "Austen Unvarnished: Q&A With Jo Baker, Author Of 'Longbourn.'" NPR. N.p., 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. .