Jo Baker on 'Longbourn' - St Barnabas Parish Hall, Dulwich

Today's writers just can’t get enough of Jane Austen. They are forever tinkering with her, whether it be via modern reworkings (see Helen Fielding’s 'Bridget Jones’s Diary' and the ongoing 'Austen Project'), genre mash-ups (see PD James’s whodunnit 'Death Comes to Pemberley' and, lest we forget, Seth Grahame-Smith’s 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'). And then there's the out-and-out fan-fiction. But reworking Austen is inevitably a hit-and-miss endeavour.

So it was an audacious, high-risk move for Jo Baker to jump on this overladen bandwagon with her debut novel, Longbourn. But what could have been disastrous is, in this new novelist's capable hands, a fresh, stylish and clever piece of fiction. Subtitled 'Pride and Prejudice The Servants’ Story', it heads below stairs to follow the domestics who scrub and cook and launder for the Bennet family. The result has earned a raft of glowing reviews.

The classic Austen hallmarks are all there – a zinging love story, elegant phrasing, intricate observation and biting wit – but Baker’s winning card is her unusual perspective. She all but ignores Austen’s original: the plot provides a shadowy framework, and the characters only impinge on the story occasionally – and then in surprising ways – when they impact on the servants’ lives. This is not a retelling of Lizzy and Darcy’s story; it’s the brand-new story of Sarah the housemaid, Mrs Hill the housekeeper and James the footman. We may know Pride and Prejudice inside out, but we have no idea what’s going to happen here.

No doubt the novel will spark lively debate at Baker’s numerous book events, which are cropping up across the length and breadth of the country throughout February and March – from Cumbria’s Words by the Water Festival (7–16 March), to the Bath (28 February – 9 March), Oxford (22–30 March) and Essex (3–31 March) literary festivals. For Londoners, it's a case of heading to Dulwich for at an event organised by the popular bookshop Village Books at St Barnabas Parish Hall. The £5 entry fee includes coffee and a slice of homemade cake - all very civilised. 

This event is not just one for Janeites: you’ll unearth the dirty, tarnished reality of everyday Regency life that Austen didn’t touch; you’ll see the characters you thought you knew in a whole new light; and you’ll meet fresh cast members you never even noticed were there.