Longbourn, by Jo Baker
Longbourn is home to the Bennet family. They are Mr and Mrs Bennet, with their five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia and Kitty. If this sounds familiar, it's hardly surprising. However while Jo Baker's book Longbourn is set in the Bennet household which readers worldwide know and love from Jane Austen's most famous novel, it has as its focus a cast of characters who are usually only fleetingly seen in classic novels, the various servants who keep the household running. There is quite a cottage industry - or should I say, stately home industry - devoted to spinoffs from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . Many years ago I gave my Mum one of the better known examples, Pemberley by Emma Tennant. At that time I hadn't read any Jane Austen myself, but I knew she was a fan; as far as I remember she was non-commital about its worth. I've just had a quick check online and it does seem that the majority of these books are continuations of the story. I confe...