‘Pride and Prejudice’ was only half the story.
In this irresistibly imagined below-stairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take centre stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.
Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Regency England and, in doing so, uncovers the real world of the Jane Austen classic that has captivated readers’ hearts for generations.
By Jo Baker
Warren Book Club 