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lizzardgirlSo I read Longbourn over Christmas. It was the last book of 2014 I read and since I plan to make booklist posts again in 2015, I want to start by talking about this one.
My feelings are ... complicated. It's not bad or anything, it's just ... I probably have very high standards when it comes to anything Austen-related, and it fell short. There are parts of it that are modelled very closely on the novel, and parts of it that are more independent. From talking about it with Caroline, I gather she liked the independent parts better - I'm torn. I think if it'd been a non-JA novel, I really would have liked those parts fine. They were quite catching, and fascinating, and also a little heart-breaking.
However, since it was a JA-novel, I found them sort of - not exactly jarring, just slightly out of place. I did like the JA-parts. There were some very interesting insights into what might have gone on behind the scenes of P&P and how much the world of P&P really was a world of servants. However, while a certain dreariness is realism, I thought that the author - although most of her period research seems to have been extensive - took a bit too much of the dreariness of P&P'05. Especially compared with the army of servants that she has populate Pemberley, Longbourn as she describes it can't be much more than a hovel. It was A++ gritty but overdone. Also I thought that the bit with Pemberley at the end was too rushed. However, the actual ending was quite sweet and I also liked the characters a lot, as well as the main romance.
So, I guess my overall recommendation would be, don't necessarily buy it but if you can lay your hands on it through library etc means, or as an e-book offer, it's an interesting take on P&P.
My feelings are ... complicated. It's not bad or anything, it's just ... I probably have very high standards when it comes to anything Austen-related, and it fell short. There are parts of it that are modelled very closely on the novel, and parts of it that are more independent. From talking about it with Caroline, I gather she liked the independent parts better - I'm torn. I think if it'd been a non-JA novel, I really would have liked those parts fine. They were quite catching, and fascinating, and also a little heart-breaking.
However, since it was a JA-novel, I found them sort of - not exactly jarring, just slightly out of place. I did like the JA-parts. There were some very interesting insights into what might have gone on behind the scenes of P&P and how much the world of P&P really was a world of servants. However, while a certain dreariness is realism, I thought that the author - although most of her period research seems to have been extensive - took a bit too much of the dreariness of P&P'05. Especially compared with the army of servants that she has populate Pemberley, Longbourn as she describes it can't be much more than a hovel. It was A++ gritty but overdone. Also I thought that the bit with Pemberley at the end was too rushed. However, the actual ending was quite sweet and I also liked the characters a lot, as well as the main romance.
So, I guess my overall recommendation would be, don't necessarily buy it but if you can lay your hands on it through library etc means, or as an e-book offer, it's an interesting take on P&P.
