Longbourn

English author Jo Baker’s novel Longbourn (2013) is a retelling of Jane Austen's 1813 classic Pride and Prejudice told from the perspective of the servants at the Bennet family's Longbourn estate, where much of the original novel takes place. In an interview with NPR, Baker says that while she is a "lifelong fan of Austen's work," discovering that her ancestors were servants gives the original text a sense of "unresolvedness" for her.

Pride and Prejudice is the story of the wealthy Bennet sisters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. With no male heir in the family, it is crucial for Mr. and Mrs. Bennet to find suitable husbands for their daughters as the family fortune will fall into the hands of a cousin, leaving the girls penniless. Over the course of several months, the sisters discover varying degrees of personal agency—and limits to said agency—when it comes to courting and rejecting potential mates. This is particularly true of the central character, Elizabeth, who eventually accepts a proposal from Mr. Darcy, a man who at first seems arrogant and obnoxious but who turns out to be a tender and thoughtful husband.

In describing why she thinks it's important to tell the story from the perspective of the servants, Baker compares the prospects of the Bennet sisters to those of the women who serve them: "Though [the Bennet sisters'] father is a gentleman, they face an uncertain future: they only have a thousand pounds in the four percents, their home will revert to a cousin when their father dies; the pressure's on to marry well [...] Yes, it's brutal. But what if you don't have a penny, let alone a thousand pounds; what if you don't even have a father, or a home to call your own. What if all you have to call your own is the dress that you stand up in, and the labour of your own two hands [...] How uncertain is your future then?"



Though she is similar in age to the Bennet sisters and lives in their house, the servant Sarah has only the dimmest of marriage prospects. Due to the outbreak of the Peninsular War, it is rare for Sarah to come across a male servant, aside from the handsome but rather suspicious James Smith who works alongside her. Though they work for the Bennet household, their employers are technically Mr. and Mrs. Hill, the head servants. News arrives that the young eligible bachelor Charles Bingley has rented the nearby estate Netherfield Hall, putting a number of the Bennet family members in a frenzy over possible marriage prospects. Naturally, Sarah is more interested in Charles's manservant, the handsome black man and former slave, Ptolemy Bingley.

The night of the opulent Netherfield Ball, Sarah is disappointed to be stuck with the task of staying at Longbourn to tend to the Bennets when they come home. Alone and depressed, Sarah gets drunk and finds herself wandering the path to Netherfield Hall. There, she absconds with Ptolemy and the two share a secret kiss.

When Ptolemy learns that he must return to London with the Bingleys, he asks Sarah to run off with him. She agrees, but on the night of her escape, James follows her, begging her to stay. Sarah refuses, and James advises her at least to leave behind a letter stating her intentions so that she might not suffer social ruination. Touched by his concern, Sarah kisses James, finding that her body responds more to James than it does to Ptolemy. Sarah changes her mind and embarks on a secret sexual tryst with James over the coming weeks.



Even while accompanying Elizabeth on a trip to London, Sarah thinks little of Ptolemy. Unfortunately, back at Longbourn, James faces a fair bit of trouble when the family receives a visit from the young soldier Wickham. In Austen's book, Wickham is a scoundrel who slanders Darcy after trying to elope with Darcy's much younger sister. He is up to similar tricks at Longbourn, where he gets drunk and tries to kiss the young servant girl, Polly. James sees this and punches Wickham. Wickham, no stranger to spreading rumors, threatens to tell the Bennets that James is an army deserter. Afraid of being ruined by such a rumor, James escapes during the night.

The reader learns that James is, in fact, the illegitimate son of Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Hill. Mr. Hill, meanwhile, is gay. Moreover, James is technically an army deserter, but he only ran away after being whipped after a fellow soldier betrayed him and made up lies about him. While on the run, he sought out Mr. Bennet remembering that the man had been nice to him growing up.

Sarah is distraught when she learns that James is gone. Despite the hopelessness of ever finding James, Sarah continues to pine for him. She rejects a proposal from Ptolemy, even though Mrs. Hill is in favor of the match. After Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy marry, Sarah leaves Longbourn to work for them.



One day, during a visit from Jane and Charles Bingley, Sarah once again sees Ptolemy, who tells her that he has seen James. Ecstatic, Sarah immediately quits. She becomes a schoolteacher, all the while seeking out James. They eventually find each other again, have a child, and return to Longbourn.