LONGBOURNby JO BAKER
"What praise is more valuable than the praise of an intelligent servant?" -- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter I, Volume IIILongbourn is the below stairs story of the servants working in the Bennet household made famous in Jane Austen's Regency Period classic Pride and Prejudice. While Austen's novels have entertained readers for over two centuries and inspired countless prequels, sequels and imitations, they never acknowledged the existence of those who endured the backbreaking work required to keep estates like Longbourn and Pemberley running. Now, with Longbourn, author Jo Baker gives those largely unseen characters a voice, fleshing out their stories with care and great heart, while also raising issues of class, gender, sexuality and race that still resonate today.
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If you liked Longbourn, you might like:
Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen
The Colour of Milkby Nell Layshon
What the Butler Saw: 250 Years of the Servant Problemby E.S. Turner
Jo Baker was born in Lancashire, England and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University in Belfast. In addition to Longbourn, she is the author of four other novels, Offcomer (2002), The Mermaid's Child (2004), The Telling (2008) and The Undertow (2011). She lives in Lancashire with her husband Daragh Carville and their son Daniel.