From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Longbourn

Jo Baker

Start date: September 1, 2023

Finish date: September 30, 2023

Discussion: 2023 Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: September 2023 group read for "retelling"…more
[close] September 2023 group read for "retelling"

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 26 topics — 719 comments total

2023 Monthly Group Reads

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Books NOT available for 2023 Monthly Group Reads
By L Y N N · 1 post · 425 views

last updated Nov 30, 2022 10:29AM

* 2023 Monthly Group Reads - List of Categories and Books
By L Y N N · 1 post · 868 views

last updated Nov 30, 2022 10:18AM

showing 10 of 36 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Oct 29, 2013 Lydia Presley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013, historic-fiction, fiction, feminism

I'm not really a fan of books that spin off of classics - with the exception of a few notable works. I loved Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys for the alternate viewpoint it brought and the way it didn't really touch on the main storyline and themes of Jane Eyre. Instead, it played with the untold story and, as a result, left the bulk of Jane Eyre untouched... except now the reader has seen Mr. Rochester through the eyes of another woman. The same with Budge Wilson's Before Green Gables, a story th ...more

Like · see review

Oct 15, 2013 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

I have never before read a book about which I felt so entirely ambivalent. Entirely. I could not care less about any of the characters, didn't care what they did, or how it affected anyone else. The only strong feeling I had was rage about the one particularly stunning revelation involving a character from Pride and Prejudice that really impugned that person's character. I have no problem with making up stories about the silent staff behind the characters in a beloved story (even if not not a si I have never before read a book about which I felt so entirely ambivalent. Entirely. I could not care less about any of the characters, didn't care what they did, or how it affected anyone else. The only strong feeling I had was rage about the one particularly stunning revelation involving a character from Pride and Prejudice that really impugned that person's character. I have no problem with making up stories about the silent staff behind the characters in a beloved story (even if not not a single one of those characters is in any way engaging for me), and working those characters' stories around the events of the earlier book. What I have a huge gripe with is altering in significant ways the nature of a previous character, making them into an utterly unlikeable person. Frankly, no one in the Bennett household escaped this story with their charm intact.
I can't give this book a terrible rating, though. I think it's well-written, in a grammatical and historical sort of way. It's a coherent, consistent, realistic, carefully written, and obviously painstakingly researched piece of work that in no apparent ways deviates from the order of the story from the original novel.
It just isn't enjoyable. One friend from book club only finished 30% of the story before she quit. She said simply that it felt like the author was depressed. I can see that logic. Everything in this book feels sad and gray. There's so little joy in any of it, and maybe that's realistic for the lower classes of the time, but it's not enjoyable to read AT ALL. Not engaging. Not memorable. And certainly not repeatable. I finished this book because I didn't want to waste the time spend already reading it, in my quest towards a number of books read for the year, and also because it marked off the county of Hertfordshire from my counties of England to-read challenge.
The book, aside from that particular burst of outrage, wasn't something I detested, that I couldn't stand to read. I read it slowly, in manageable chunks, learning bits of history and culture along the way. I appreciated the historical and cultural details, but if I'm going to suffer through dry delivery, I think I'd rather read in a non-fiction format any further information on the time and place. For now, I've finished, and I can check this off several lists it satisfies, from book club to reading goals, and move on with my life. There are certainly more enjoyable books out there waiting to be read. ...more

Like · see review

May 30, 2020 Adjrun rated it liked it

My opinion is mixed about this one. Seriously torn. The writing is beautiful, with almost poetic imagery. But the characters are all such emo malcontent sadsacks. And it requires that all the characters we love be thoughtless, entitled jerks.

It’s just unpleasant.

Like · see review

Aug 07, 2013 Julianne Dunn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the best Austen variation I have read. It's entirely from the point of view of the servant of Longbourn and the primary characters of P&P are peripheral characters. There are only 3 sightings of Darcy and the perspectives on the Bennett family is completely different. The story does continue past the timeline of P&P but doesn't take much liberty with the original story. However, there is a small but important subplot that does change my viewpoint on one of the characters (I can't explain ...more

Like · see review

Jan 23, 2014 Julie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, historical, romance

I'm a huge Pride & Prejudice fan and this look at the "secondary" characters was so amazing! The audio version was perfection and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have loved reading it as much as I enjoyed having it read to me. It was definitely a book that I hated to see end. ...more

Like · see review