Longbourn gives us a glimpse, with marvelous historical detail, of what life was like in Regency England for the majority of the people who lived then.Ī fan of Pride and Prejudice, I loved Longbourn. When Sarah gets sick, her fellow servants do not have the time to take care of her, and the Bennets do not have the inclination even to worry about her. The servants are glad that Jane falls ill elsewhere, for they won’t have to clean up after her. The near tragedy that strikes Lydia works as a foil to the devastating events of James’ life.Ī reader might admire Elizabeth for ignoring the mud and trudging the three miles to be with her sister, but the maid who must clean her petticoats does not. Sarah’s double love interests (James the footman and Bingley’s footman Ptolemy) mirror, very slightly, the double love interests of Elizabeth Bennet (Darcy and Wickham). Pride and Prejudice’s story is a vague shadow against the engaging plot of Longbourn. Sarah is a wonderful character: innocent, intelligent, kind, a hard worker who longs for something more than servitude. Hill the child servant, Polly the mysterious footman, James and our heroine, the maid Sarah. Longbourn is the story of the servants who work for the Bennet family of Pride and Prejudice, including the housekeeper, Mrs.
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