Longbourn Audiobook CD – Audiobook, Unabridged Author: Visit Amazon's Jo Baker Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0804149402 | Format: PDF
Longbourn Audiobook CD – Audiobook, Unabridged Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred 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.)
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
*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. --Kristine Huntley
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Audio CD
- Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (October 8, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0804149402
- ISBN-13: 978-0804149402
- Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the market is oversaturated with Jane Austen pastiches. Toss some zombies or a murder mystery into Austen's elegant accounts of the travails of the landed gentry, and you've got something that lots of people will buy, out of embarrassed curiosity if nothing else. I imagine the marketing of Jo Baker's LONGBOURN will target that audience, but those expecting a lighthearted parody or a return to beloved characters will be disappointed. This is less a companion to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE than a distant cousin, one that interacts with its relative rarely and in unrevealing ways. Fortunately, the story it tells is interesting enough in its own right to make a rewarding experience, albeit one that won't surprise readers who have more than a superficial knowledge of the period.
Where PRIDE AND PREJUDICE left the Bennet servants as faceless ciphers, in LONGBOURN they are the central characters. There are Mr and Mrs Hill, butler and cook; teenage maid Polly; and the heroine, Sarah. To this small, thinly-stretched team is added James Smith, the new footman. At first Sarah is suspicious of James, whose arrival in the household was the subject of a mysterious argument between Mrs Hill and Mr Bennet. As suspicion hardens into dislike, Sarah finds herself drawn toward the charming footman at neighboring Netherfield, who is also the first black man Sarah has ever seen. As she learns more about these two strange and fascinating arrivals, Sarah takes steps that will change her life forever.
The true subject of LONGBOURN is not, however, Sarah's romantic life, which mirrors Elizabeth's from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and is equally predictable.
There is no shortage of books that are based on, related to, and/or inspired by Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice. In fact, it seems that the literary world has been recently inundated by works that claim a connection with the classic novel. And now, here is Longbourn, whose plot chooses to run alongside the original story, giving readers a glimpse into the lives of the Bennet family's household staff -- notably Sarah, a maid, James, the new footman, and Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper. And it's not pretty. While the Bennet girls go to balls, the servants deal with their dirty laundry. While Mary practices on the pianoforte, Sarah cleans up animal dung.
The novel itself is mediocre. Sure, the author is a descriptive storyteller, with sights, sounds, and smells flying all over the pages. And she has created characters with pasts and passions. But these characters do not leap off the pages. Furthermore, the novel lacks focus, trying to tell the stories of multiple servants, and switching perspectives so often and abruptly that the entire thing feels disjointed, and then, suddenly, there's a big twist, and a big shift -- but things don't get more exciting, only more grim.
Aficionados of Pride & Prejudice will, from time to time, recognize key events from the novel playing out alongside the servants' tales, but may be disappointed to find how little time is spent on our beloved, familiar characters. Mr. Darcy is barely even seen. Elizabeth and Jane have a bit more of a presence, but be prepared to find every member of the Bennet family -- yes, even beloved Lizzy -- to be full of faults, as seen through the eyes of the household staff. Some familiar characters are given a bit more depth than Jane Austen ever intended -- Mr.
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