Longbourn
Registered by edithdoll of Winthrop, Massachusetts USA on 9/27/2014
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
Another book from the Jane Austen universe. This one is very well written and pulls you in and focuses on the servants employed at Longbourn the Bennett home. Spoilers follow.
I enjoyed the first two volumes but the author sort of lost me on volume III. She set up a great story with wonderfully detailed characters and sort of gave you an idea or shift of prospective of the beloved Bennett girls in quite a different light--per a servants point of view the work they all generated, etc.
Volume III was a shift in her own story line and taking on the additional plot line of Mr. Bennett in what I felt was stepping over the line. The idea that doddering Mr. Bennett would have not married/had a bastard child and a son is just kind of a blasphemy in the Austen universe, plus I think it crosses the line in appropriating the character both as a young and older man--which is loosely based on Austen's own father and clergyman brothers and doesn't hold up well with Austen's own backstory that she painted that Mrs. Bennett did not marry as well as her sisters, ostensibly for love and the author here paints a narrative of Mr. Bennetts both youthful and long suffering love which I did not like/nor accept. Kind of gives that whole line about a girl liking to be crossed in love a whole other unwanted connotation. The plot line of the mysterious footman (the alleged unloved son) and the maid was very well done except again the last third -- which was disappointing. I think the use of the Wickam character in pursuit of the younger scullery maid was interesting but I think Wickam would have had more cunning and bigger fish to fry than the idea of trying to juggle the Bennett girls upstairs vs. downstairs. He obviously always intended to abandon Lydia at some point -- hence the rescue of Mr. Darcy which again kind of disturbs the foundation from which the author works and Janeites love. At the end I thought her depiction of Darcy and Elizabeth at Pemberton also suffered. I don't like to think of Elizabeth that way (dismissive and self absorbed) even if realistically she became that way as a mistress of a large mansion I want her to remain the Lizzie Bennett we all love. Also the pacing was a little strange. The tension was built nicely but volume III held a lot of flashback to explain backstory which seemed like a little too late somehow and artificial filling in -- although well written I think it would have worked better to have the flashbacks earlier. Holding via available shelf for now.
I enjoyed the first two volumes but the author sort of lost me on volume III. She set up a great story with wonderfully detailed characters and sort of gave you an idea or shift of prospective of the beloved Bennett girls in quite a different light--per a servants point of view the work they all generated, etc.
Volume III was a shift in her own story line and taking on the additional plot line of Mr. Bennett in what I felt was stepping over the line. The idea that doddering Mr. Bennett would have not married/had a bastard child and a son is just kind of a blasphemy in the Austen universe, plus I think it crosses the line in appropriating the character both as a young and older man--which is loosely based on Austen's own father and clergyman brothers and doesn't hold up well with Austen's own backstory that she painted that Mrs. Bennett did not marry as well as her sisters, ostensibly for love and the author here paints a narrative of Mr. Bennetts both youthful and long suffering love which I did not like/nor accept. Kind of gives that whole line about a girl liking to be crossed in love a whole other unwanted connotation. The plot line of the mysterious footman (the alleged unloved son) and the maid was very well done except again the last third -- which was disappointing. I think the use of the Wickam character in pursuit of the younger scullery maid was interesting but I think Wickam would have had more cunning and bigger fish to fry than the idea of trying to juggle the Bennett girls upstairs vs. downstairs. He obviously always intended to abandon Lydia at some point -- hence the rescue of Mr. Darcy which again kind of disturbs the foundation from which the author works and Janeites love. At the end I thought her depiction of Darcy and Elizabeth at Pemberton also suffered. I don't like to think of Elizabeth that way (dismissive and self absorbed) even if realistically she became that way as a mistress of a large mansion I want her to remain the Lizzie Bennett we all love. Also the pacing was a little strange. The tension was built nicely but volume III held a lot of flashback to explain backstory which seemed like a little too late somehow and artificial filling in -- although well written I think it would have worked better to have the flashbacks earlier. Holding via available shelf for now.
Part of the Austen Universe book box. BCID# 315-12955056 -- Holding for now.
Never heard back from the sole Bookcrosser who expressed interested in my idea for the Jane Austen Universe book box. So holding for now...
Released to an Austenite and Bookcrossing friend. Enjoy!
Whoops....just realized I did not journal this book. Looks interesting and I am looking forward to reading it.
Of the "Jane Austen universe" books I've read, this is probably the best. Not to say it's Jane Austen, I liked the fact "Pride & Prejudice" was in the background. You could tell where you are in the general story without the new one getting in the way. I agree some of the plot twists were out of character for the principals, but I still enjoyed the story line. Would recommend to fellow Janeites.
I got this book at today's Boston BookCrossing Meetup; many thanks! It was great to see you again!
I've wanted this one for some time, ever since coming across a reference to Austen's usually-invisible servants in Robert Rodi's delightful read-along/review of her works, Bitch in a Bonnet. He actually suggested using the servants' point of view for a novel, instead of revisiting all the other characters (usually, it seems, as amateur detectives!), so when I first heard about this book I wanted to give it a try.
Later (spoiler warning):
.
.
.
I enjoyed the book very much, though I do agree with some of edithdoll's points, especially concerning Mr. Bennett. Not that I think it impossible that he might have had a fling in his youth, but I don't believe he'd have handled it as depicted in the book - and I didn't find that it added very much to James Smith's storyline. As to the relative chilliness of Elizabeth as Mrs. Darcy... well, she didn't feel much like the Austenian Lizzie at that point, but we see little of her with Darcy, and only as she relates to Sarah, so I can hope for her happiness. Then again, the whole point of the novel is to show us the "invisible" servants with their own problems, loves, and losses, so making Lizzie's life less interesting might be intentional.
My favorite aspect of the story included the behind-the-scenes glimpses at the main plot, in much the same way that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead gave us glimpses of Hamlet and his doings. And I also appreciated the gritty and grim details of workaday life for the servants, including their views on such things as Elizabeth's blithe walk to Netherfield in the mud - she's not the one who has to clean the mud off her clothing! I also enjoyed the way that Sarah's story paralleled Elizabeth's to some degree, as she had her own "pride vs. prejudice" issues to deal with.
I was mildly amused at the addition of the "Mary falls for Mr. Collins" subplot; the author isn't the first to imagine that Mary might have been a good match for Collins, but Austen never gave us much of a hint that she might have any feelings for him (or anyone else), and of course that match would have undercut the whole Charlotte/Rosings arc and thus Could Not Be {wry grin}.
The lengthy flashback to James' past was interesting to me - the horrors of war, indeed! It did feel rather out of place next to the majority of the story, and the gist of it could have been imparted in a shorter nightmare/memory for James or an actual confession to his mother or to Sarah, but I didn't mind it. And it certainly drove home the perils James faced if his secret came out.
One small subplot that amused me and touched me - Mr. Hill's relationship with the "hard-handed labourer of middle years from the next farm", which explains why he was willing to have a marriage-in-name-only with Mrs. Hill all those years. Mrs. Hill knew all about it (or at least as much as she wanted to know) and was very sympathetic when [spoiler: Hill died in mid-tryst. The mix of sadness on both their parts and the wry line "between them, they managed to get Mr. Hill's britches back on" made me laugh even as I got a bit teary].
And Sarah - I really liked her as a character, and appreciated that she wasn't depicted as a modern-day woman in a period piece, but as a person of her own place and time.
Thanks for sharing this one!
I've wanted this one for some time, ever since coming across a reference to Austen's usually-invisible servants in Robert Rodi's delightful read-along/review of her works, Bitch in a Bonnet. He actually suggested using the servants' point of view for a novel, instead of revisiting all the other characters (usually, it seems, as amateur detectives!), so when I first heard about this book I wanted to give it a try.
Later (spoiler warning):
.
.
.
I enjoyed the book very much, though I do agree with some of edithdoll's points, especially concerning Mr. Bennett. Not that I think it impossible that he might have had a fling in his youth, but I don't believe he'd have handled it as depicted in the book - and I didn't find that it added very much to James Smith's storyline. As to the relative chilliness of Elizabeth as Mrs. Darcy... well, she didn't feel much like the Austenian Lizzie at that point, but we see little of her with Darcy, and only as she relates to Sarah, so I can hope for her happiness. Then again, the whole point of the novel is to show us the "invisible" servants with their own problems, loves, and losses, so making Lizzie's life less interesting might be intentional.
My favorite aspect of the story included the behind-the-scenes glimpses at the main plot, in much the same way that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead gave us glimpses of Hamlet and his doings. And I also appreciated the gritty and grim details of workaday life for the servants, including their views on such things as Elizabeth's blithe walk to Netherfield in the mud - she's not the one who has to clean the mud off her clothing! I also enjoyed the way that Sarah's story paralleled Elizabeth's to some degree, as she had her own "pride vs. prejudice" issues to deal with.
I was mildly amused at the addition of the "Mary falls for Mr. Collins" subplot; the author isn't the first to imagine that Mary might have been a good match for Collins, but Austen never gave us much of a hint that she might have any feelings for him (or anyone else), and of course that match would have undercut the whole Charlotte/Rosings arc and thus Could Not Be {wry grin}.
The lengthy flashback to James' past was interesting to me - the horrors of war, indeed! It did feel rather out of place next to the majority of the story, and the gist of it could have been imparted in a shorter nightmare/memory for James or an actual confession to his mother or to Sarah, but I didn't mind it. And it certainly drove home the perils James faced if his secret came out.
One small subplot that amused me and touched me - Mr. Hill's relationship with the "hard-handed labourer of middle years from the next farm", which explains why he was willing to have a marriage-in-name-only with Mrs. Hill all those years. Mrs. Hill knew all about it (or at least as much as she wanted to know) and was very sympathetic when [spoiler: Hill died in mid-tryst. The mix of sadness on both their parts and the wry line "between them, they managed to get Mr. Hill's britches back on" made me laugh even as I got a bit teary].
And Sarah - I really liked her as a character, and appreciated that she wasn't depicted as a modern-day woman in a period piece, but as a person of her own place and time.
Thanks for sharing this one!
Journal Entry 8 by 
GoryDetails
at Little Free Library, South St. in Milford, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, June 10, 2015
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, South St. in Milford, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Released 8 yrs ago (6/10/2015 UTC) at Little Free Library, South St. in Milford, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library at around 2:45 or so; hope the finder enjoys it! (According to my stats, this is my 8,000th wild release - nice landmark!)*** Released as part of the 2015 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
