The Observations
 First edition | |
| Author | Jane Harris |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
Publication date | 06 Apr 2006 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 432 |
| ISBN | 0-571-22335-4 |
The Observations, is the debut novel by English author Jane Harris published in 2006 and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2007.[1] It was Waterstones book of the month and Faber & Faber's lead debut fiction title for spring 2006 (with its biggest ever initial print run for a first book).[2]
It was published in the UK by Faber and Faber, in the US by Penguin, and in Australia/New Zealand by Allen & Unwin. It has been published in the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Germany, Norway, Poland, France, Portugal, Sweden and Brazil. It is due to be published in Israel, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Croatia, Russia, Turkey.. An audiobook version is available, narrated by the author. There is also a Danish audiobook version.
Plot introduction
Set in Scotland in 1863, is narrated by the lively, sharp Bessy Buckley, who leaves Glasgow and happens into a job as a maid at Castle Haivers.
Arabella, her mistress, encourages Bessy to write her thoughts and experiences in a journal. She also subjects Bessy to odd experiments, but Bessy goes along with them because she is flattered by the attention and quickly grows attached to her mistress.
Things change when Bessy snoops in Arabella's locked desk and discovers the book Arabella has been writing, The Observations, a study of the "habits and nature of the Domestic Class."
Bessy is incensed to read criticisms of herself in the account, and also learns of Arabella's affection for one of her predecessors, a girl who died under mysterious circumstances.
Bessy concocts a revenge that ends up having consequences far more lasting than she ever envisioned …
Reception
- Kirkus Reviews says "Harris’s story, though light on plot, is rich in character, its strength deriving almost wholly from Bessy’s irrepressible and ripe narrative voice. A helter-skelter conclusion combines farce (Arabella escapes confinement and beats with a shovel the pompous cleric responsible for Nora’s downfall), tragedy (another death on the railway line) and moral improvement (Bessy’s virtues recognized), takes a few sideswipes at the publishing business and still leaves the door open for what Bessy might do next." and concludes "Rollicking and engaging. A confident, fresh, roguishly charming first work"[3]
- Catherine Taylor writing in The Independent also praises Bessy's narrative voice. "The supreme controller of this sumptuous narrative is Bessy herself, arch manipulator to the end, as she - and Harris - effortlessly show how compelling a rattling good story can be". [4]
- Joanna Briscoe, in The Guardian continues the theme, "Jane Harris has pulled off a difficult trick, showing the heart behind the tart with genuine and affecting empathy, cleverly undercutting preconceptions that the character has, at least on the surface, fulfilled. The beleaguered but spirited protagonist's emotions are suppressed, hinted at, and beautifully described in a series of stories within stories built on shifting realities as deception is met with counter-deception. Despite the easy comparisons, this is a true one-off."[5]
Awards
- Prix du Premier Roman – France (2009)
- Waterstone's Book of the Month (April 2006)
- USA Book of the Month Club's First Fiction Prize (2007)
- Waterstone's 25 Authors for the Future
Shortlistings
- The Orange Prize for Fiction (2007)
- British Book Awards, Newcomer of the Year (2007)
- South Bank Show / Times Breakthrough Award (2007)
- The Saltire Society, First Book of the Year (2006)
- Glen Dimplex New Writers Award (2006)
References
- ↑ BAILEYS Women's Prize for Fiction » 2007 Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- ↑ 'Already compared with Sarah Waters, debut novelist Jane Harris will soon be everywhere, from Waterstones to Tesco', Liz Hoggard, The Observer, Sunday 19 March 2006 Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- ↑ In her entertaining debut, a British writer hands the job of storytelling to a saucily streetwise servant in Victorian Scotland. Retrieved 2-16-07-15.
- ↑ The Observations by Jane Harris, Watching me, watching you - aha!, The Independent, Saturday 22 April 2006 Retrieved 2016=07-15.
- ↑ "Dear God, it was a gobaloon! Joanna Briscoe enjoys the raucous heroine of a Victorian pastiche", The Guardian, Saturday 15 April 2006 Retrieved 2016-07-16.