The Observations (Jane Harris)

The beauty of this novel is its narrative: so thick and delicious you could stir it with a ladle. In The Observations, Jane Harris introduces Bessy Buckley, a first-time maid in a big country house in Scotland. In her bawdy brogue, peppered with observations of those around her, Bessy talks the reader through life in creaky Castle Haivers – while trying frantically to satisfy the strange requests of her beautiful, enigmatic Mistress. The Observations is historical fiction with a twist: there’s no romance in it. Instead, it’s a gripping story of what happens when simple people need desperately to be understood.

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