Longbourn by Jo Baker

From Goodreads

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah thought, she would be more careful not to trudge through muddy fields.

It is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and bleeding. Domestic life below stairs, ruled tenderly and forcefully by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman smelling of the sea, and bearing secrets.

For in Georgian England, there is a world the young ladies in the drawing room will never know, a world of poverty, love, and brutal war.

 

My review

 

If  Jane Austen had written about the servants at Longbourn this is what it might have been like.  I enjoyed this story based on the servants in the Bennet household.  Jo Baker links the life of the servants with the day to day life and events that happened to the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice.

 

I found it an entertaining read and the events surrounding the new footman could quite easily have happened.  Sarah was a likeable character and I really hope that she had a happily ever after.  It would be great to have a follow up read to see what fate had in store for Sarah, which would take matters further and could expand on the lives of the Bennet family too.

 

This was a well written story and I will look for further books by this Author.  8/10.  If you enjoy Austen and historical themed stories then give this book a go.