I originally thought it was a retelling of the story from the servants perspective but that is not actually the case. Jane Austen's original story is more of a backdrop to this one. It is happening and if you are at all familiar with the original you know what is happening, but this is entirely its own story.
The servants take center stage and it focuses on what it's like to be a servant in Regency England. I think overall I enjoyed the book and it was beautifully written. There were themes around PTSD and class. There was one thing that bothered me though. There was only one very minor character that was a man of color and I was excited for a conversation about race and racism in Jane Austen's England. But sadly that didn't happen at all. It felt like the author wanted to go there but never quite got there to that conversations. Then it felt like he was to be seen as a bad guy in the story and it deeply disturbed me that the only character of color was the bad guy. It still does not sit well with me.
Overall if you are interested in Jane Austen retellings then this one I would recommend because it is written well and the overall story is quite good.
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