This was the 'hook' for me: 'If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats,' Sarah thought, 'she would be more careful not to tramp through muddy fields.' I don't remember where I first read that quote but it appears on the back cover of Jo Baker's Longbourn. Instant visual--how many times have I seen the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice? More than I can count, and I can vividly recall most of the scenes including the one of Elizabeth 'tramping through muddy fields' in order to go to her sister Jane. And yes, 'positively Medieval' as Miss Bingley notes--all that mud!
Longbourn is a reimagining of the Pride and Prejudice story from the point of view of the servants, and it is historical fiction at its finest. At least it was for me. I rarely will read spin-offs or reinterpretations of much loved stories--especially anything by Jane Austen. (Or Daphne du Maurier . . .). Sorry, have to skip the zombie version or modern day take or continuation of the story--what came after, even if there might be some good ones. But good reviews by readers I trust tempted me and then that quote was the clincher. It is a retelling that works, since it is not about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. While the familiar story is running in the background, mostly off stage and fewer details rather than major events, it is what happens below stairs that is the real focus of the story.
The only liberties that Baker took in telling this story were in giving names to those 'ghostly presences' in Austen's novel. The underlying skeleton of the story is all Austen and the rest Baker has made up. It is plausible and in some cases perhaps a little eyebrow raising without being outrageous or unlikely. This is mostly the housemaid, Sarah's story, but Mrs. Hill is there, as is young Polly, and Mr. Hill, and when a new footman arrives (a luxury Mrs. Bennet is sure will impress the neighbors), the household--below stairs, of course--is thrown into an uproar.
James Smith seems an unlikely candidate for footman, since he seems more a tramp than a servant, but criticism is dismissed by Mrs. Hill and to work he goes. He is a quiet man, keeping mostly to himself and a cause of much speculation by the other servants. It's not as though there are many opportunities for a housemaid like Sarah to socialize or meet young men, though she does have another potential suitor (the term used in the loosest of senses) when Mr. Bingley's footman, a man of color from one of the family's sugar plantation arrives. She falls for one man and is wooed by another, but a real romance is a challenge and nothing is ever (as in life) as easy as you hope it will be.
Since nothing is known about the Longbourn servants, Baker is able to create their own unique stories and histories with as much drama and flair as anything that is going on upstairs. Austen may not have had much to say about the Napoleonic Wars, but it comes alive in these pages. All sorts of twists and turns take place and the characters' lives are fleshed out--their wishes and heartaches. When hearts are broken belowstairs the difference in circumstances and outlook between the different classes comes into sharp focus. While the servants are keenly aware of what happens upstairs and down, the Bennets have no clue about the lives of those belowstairs. Servants are all but invisible--the lives they lead and jobs they fill are for the use and whims of their masters. If you thought there was drama in the story of Pride and Prejudice, there is just as much for their servants!
I really enjoyed Longbourn. I realize it might not be for everyone, and it is perhaps not a story that should be overly scrutinized or compared and contrasted with the classic novel, but if you are looking for good storytelling with a new slant on a familiar story, and a little entertaining escapism you could do much worse than Longbourn. I have heard that movie rights to the novel have been sold and I am immensely curious to know which actors might be chosen to fill the roles. I think this is Jo Baker's break out novel, but she has several other books available. I will most certainly be watching for more by her.