Broad St. Readers Book Club

In July, the Broad St. Readers revisit the world of Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of the servants downstairs. While the Bennet girls navigate the intrigues of drawing rooms and balls, intrigue and romance also impacts the smooth operations of the household staff.

The servants take center stage in this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice. While Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters fuss over balls and husbands, Sarah, their orphaned housemaid, is beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When a new footman arrives at Longbourn under mysterious circumstances, the carefully choreographed world she has known all her life threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended. Mentioned only fleetingly in Jane Austen’s classic, here Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Regency England and, in doing so, uncovers the real world of the novel that has captivated readers’ hearts around the world for generations. - Penguin Random House

“A witty, richly detailed re-imagining. . . . Fans of Austen and Downton Abbey will take particular pleasure in Longbourn, but any reader with a taste for well-researched historical fiction will delight in Baker’s involving, informative tale.”
—People

The Broad St. Readers is a club for adults age 55 and up. New members are always encouraged! Join fellow readers for an engaging and thoughtful discussion on July 26th at 11:00am at the Salem Council on Aging.

Please call and check in with Rosanna at (978) 744-0924.

Books are available behind the Main Desk at the library. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email hviding@noblenet.org or call the library at (978) 744-0860.