Longbourn is an historical fiction novel about the servants' lives at Longbourn, the home of the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice.
The Longbourn house is too grand to be without servants but not nearly grand enough for there to be much of an hierarchy. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are assisted by two young girls that came to them from the local workhouse to help with the massive amount of laundry generated by the five Bennet sisters; both serving girls are orphans. Although none of the servants are related to each other, they make up a kind of chosen family. Sarah, for instance, as deeply exhausted as she is, allows Polly, the younger girl, to slack off early recognizing her need to play. Mrs. Hill becomes concerned when Jane, Lizzie and Lydia marry, knowing that there will no longer be enough work for Sarah and Polly.
Sarah is older, and perhaps a little more interesting because, as Baker tells us, Sarah has memories of her life with her parents, weavers, before they died.
While the world of the novel seems to make clear that there is nothing for Sarah and Polly than a life of service, both are readers, lent books by the Bennets. Nevertheless, Polly eventually becomes the village teacher.
A stranger arrives to work as a footman, and his arrival perplexes Sarah greatly. She alternately hates him and confesses to herself that she is attracted to him. He, for his part, becomes gradually attached to her until he suddenly realizes that he loves her. I saw this as the chief way that Longbourn mirrored Pride and Prejudice.
Another way, though perhaps less obviously, Longbourn mirrors Pride and Prejudice is the concern of Longbourn with class. One example is Wickham himself; here is portrayed as "neither fish nor fowl," a man whose varied background has left him able to charm the Bennet sisters while he remains more comfortable visiting the Bennet servants. Pride and Prejudice implies that Wickham is a sexual predator; Longbourn makes this explicit.
Longbourn is gritty, lingering on Sarah's chilblains, on the long hours worked by the servants.
The characters are well-rounded and feel like real people.
Baker's novel feels deeply authentic, in part because the characters behave in a way that seems to reflect the restrictions of the period. One note that I found jarring is when Mrs. Hill talks to Lizzie about Lizzie's engagement to Darcy; Mrs. Hill thinks to herself that she understood that Lizzie had made "a spectacular deal." That language seemed a little too modern for me, although it's certainly true. I like best historical fiction that feels authentic and seems to convey the concerns of the period rather than our own concerns. Longbourn is very good in this respect, and some of my favorite historical fiction ever.
The things that I liked best about Longbourn were:
1. The "downstairs" story mirrored the upstairs story, with a romance that included a "true" and a "false" suitor;
2. Sarah, the protagonist, was a complicated, sympathetic and interesting person;
3. Wickham, Lydia and Mrs. Bennet all make an appearance, and their character here is entirely consistent with the same in Pride and Prejudice, while elaborated.
4. Baker's prose is very beautiful. She uses metaphor for economy in her description is a way that's quite poetic.
5. The novel is full of historical details that I imagine Baker carefully researched.
The Longbourn house is too grand to be without servants but not nearly grand enough for there to be much of an hierarchy. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are assisted by two young girls that came to them from the local workhouse to help with the massive amount of laundry generated by the five Bennet sisters; both serving girls are orphans. Although none of the servants are related to each other, they make up a kind of chosen family. Sarah, for instance, as deeply exhausted as she is, allows Polly, the younger girl, to slack off early recognizing her need to play. Mrs. Hill becomes concerned when Jane, Lizzie and Lydia marry, knowing that there will no longer be enough work for Sarah and Polly.
Sarah is older, and perhaps a little more interesting because, as Baker tells us, Sarah has memories of her life with her parents, weavers, before they died.
While the world of the novel seems to make clear that there is nothing for Sarah and Polly than a life of service, both are readers, lent books by the Bennets. Nevertheless, Polly eventually becomes the village teacher.
A stranger arrives to work as a footman, and his arrival perplexes Sarah greatly. She alternately hates him and confesses to herself that she is attracted to him. He, for his part, becomes gradually attached to her until he suddenly realizes that he loves her. I saw this as the chief way that Longbourn mirrored Pride and Prejudice.
Another way, though perhaps less obviously, Longbourn mirrors Pride and Prejudice is the concern of Longbourn with class. One example is Wickham himself; here is portrayed as "neither fish nor fowl," a man whose varied background has left him able to charm the Bennet sisters while he remains more comfortable visiting the Bennet servants. Pride and Prejudice implies that Wickham is a sexual predator; Longbourn makes this explicit.
Longbourn is gritty, lingering on Sarah's chilblains, on the long hours worked by the servants.
The characters are well-rounded and feel like real people.
Baker's novel feels deeply authentic, in part because the characters behave in a way that seems to reflect the restrictions of the period. One note that I found jarring is when Mrs. Hill talks to Lizzie about Lizzie's engagement to Darcy; Mrs. Hill thinks to herself that she understood that Lizzie had made "a spectacular deal." That language seemed a little too modern for me, although it's certainly true. I like best historical fiction that feels authentic and seems to convey the concerns of the period rather than our own concerns. Longbourn is very good in this respect, and some of my favorite historical fiction ever.
The things that I liked best about Longbourn were:
1. The "downstairs" story mirrored the upstairs story, with a romance that included a "true" and a "false" suitor;
2. Sarah, the protagonist, was a complicated, sympathetic and interesting person;
3. Wickham, Lydia and Mrs. Bennet all make an appearance, and their character here is entirely consistent with the same in Pride and Prejudice, while elaborated.
4. Baker's prose is very beautiful. She uses metaphor for economy in her description is a way that's quite poetic.
5. The novel is full of historical details that I imagine Baker carefully researched.
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