Longbourn by Jo Baker

Reading Level: Adult
Submitted by Gerti

There are so many fans of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and so many authors who have taken that classic 18^th century novel and written satellite books which hover around its story and characters. The temptation would be to see Jo Baker’s book as just one of that pack. But hers is a different take on the classic romance, and even though Baker occasionally drops in lines and scenes from the original (which are like seeing an old friend in a crowd for me), Baker tells her story from the Longbourn servant’s vantage point. For those who are not familiar with the Austen original, Longbourn is the name of the house in which Elizabeth Bennet, heroine of “Pride and Prejudice”, and her memorable family live.

As far as I recall, only the servant Mrs. Hill is mentioned in the original, as Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs. Bennet, is constantly requesting her presence to do work for her. But of course there would also be a man servant in a gentleman’s house at that time, and in Baker’s book, that is Mr. Hill, a gay man who uses Mrs. Hill as his beard. Mrs. Hill doesn’t mind, because she has a few secrets of her own, including that she had a love child with Mr. Bennet (Elizabeth’s bookish father) before he got married. That union produced a son, whom Mr. Bennet has never acknowledged, but who has found work at Longbourn. There are also two kitchen maids on the Bennet payroll, and of course, one of them eventually falls in love with this son of Mrs. Hill and Mr. Bennet.

I’ll admit I am a traditionalist, so like many readers, I have notions of the characters even beyond what Jane Austen wrote (and probably meant) them to be. So to my mind, these changes and alterations are disturbing. As readers and fans of the films no doubt remember, the Bennets do not have a son (only 5 daughters), which means that when Mr. Bennet dies, the girls can’t keep living in the house – as it is what is called “entailed” to the humorously officious clergyman, Mr. Collins. That causes much grief for the Bennets, and leads to a battle between Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth after Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal, even though it would keep the house in the family. I don’t like that Mr. Bennet has a child out of wedlock, just as I don’t like that he didn’t marry Mrs. Hill when he got his servant pregnant, whatever the morals of the time

Baker must take great joy in these relationships which push the envelope on 18^th century mores. She has one of the kitchen maids fall for a black servant of the Bingley’s, and has the same girl sleep with Mrs. Hill’s son before marriage. She clearly shows the scoundrel Wickham’s affinity for young girls, as he trifles with another, younger kitchen maid at Longbourn. And of course there is the matter of Mr. Hill’s hidden homosexuality. Baker seems to glory in lifting the moral rock of the time, showing us the slime underneath. And while I love stories about the Regency, the intent to sully its innocence seems a bit deliberate to me. The book’s prime saving grace is that Baker looks in-depth at a Regency servant’s endless work hours and often back-breaking chores, a view rarely seen today.