Carlymor
asked
Jo Baker:
HI, Having read Longbourn, I am curious as to whether you relate more to the Jane Austen works, or to those that relate more to social issues? Longbourn shows the life below the stairs. Is this type of below the stairs issue or social mores more important to you?
Jo Baker
Hi Carrie,
it was the interaction of the two.
I love Austen's work - I am a massive, daydreaming fan of her stuff - I love the wish-fulfilment and the wit and the brilliantly structured, totally satisfying stories. But coming from working class roots, I struggle see myself in her characters' shoes. Writing Longbourn was, more than anything else, an attempt to 'locate' myself within Austen's world in a way that felt true to me. So the class issue was important, but the book would never have been written if I hadn't been a total nerd for Austen's work.
it was the interaction of the two.
I love Austen's work - I am a massive, daydreaming fan of her stuff - I love the wish-fulfilment and the wit and the brilliantly structured, totally satisfying stories. But coming from working class roots, I struggle see myself in her characters' shoes. Writing Longbourn was, more than anything else, an attempt to 'locate' myself within Austen's world in a way that felt true to me. So the class issue was important, but the book would never have been written if I hadn't been a total nerd for Austen's work.
More Answered Questions
Mary Lou
asked
Jo Baker:
Hi Jo, During your recent talk in McHughs, you mentioned that it is the choices they face which help bring fictional characters to life. Do you think you would be the same sort of writer if you hadn’t chosen the academic route you followed – or is your innate ability to observe and read people so well the more important influence?
Alison
asked
Jo Baker:
Hi Jo, I recently read and enjoyed "Longbourn," in part for the sense of getting a better feel for daily life in that era. Did you have to do lots of historical research to get details right about how to make soap, what groomsmen did while waiting to drive carriages home from a ball, who washed the diapers, etc? And how did you choose which chores fit the narrative (aside from shoe roses, of course)?
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