The Observations (2006)

This shows up on on the computer generated 'recommended for you..." lists and now I know why. It is a Dickensian yarn similar but not quite as good as a Sarah Waters novel. A bit of mystery, atmosphere, a bit gothic - a brew I like. This is 1860's Scottish countryside outside of Glasgow - a young girl, Bessy Buckley, recently escaped from a life of childhood prostitution stops at 'Castle Haivers' and becomes the new all-purpose maid. A job she is ill-suited for. Her 'missus' writes all about her in her journal 'The Observations' as she has written about all the girls who came before.. What happened to the girls that came before? This question begins a sometimes funny, sometimes creepy, sometimes sad but always entertaining novel that I often couldn't put down.

The character Bessy is a gem. The comparisons with Becky Sharpe from 'Vanity Fair' and Sugar from 'The Crimson Petal and the White' have been made often and are apt. I did think the novel was at its best the first 2/3rds or so when Bessy was saucy and more true to character. I thought the novel lost its way at the end, correlating with the maturation of Bessy's voice.

In any event, a great escapist read. Perhaps not great literature, but not without merit either. An interesting look at the times, and the servant vs gentlefolk dichotomy, an engaging story and a fabulous narrator to boot. WIll be interested in what this author writes next. ( )

The cover of this book (the debut novel for the author of Gillespie & I) tells me that it is set in 1863 Scotland, but other than a single reference to the “war in America”, the time period could be anytime in the 19th century. That it is Scotland, though, is obvious.

Bessy Buckley, a young teenager serving as a housemaid, is asked by her mistress to keep a journal. The blurb hints of something sinister coming of that, but Bessy discovers the purpose early on in the book and it’s not earth-shaking. In fact, I thought the book over-long for the plot.

But other critics have raved about Bessy’s voice – and rightly so. Harris has captured a working class Irish/Scottish street slang that is endearing, even though it is oftentimes crude. And that voice was strong enough to garner several prizes, including a shortlisting for the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction.

Be forewarned: Bessy’s language is sometimes obscene. A mild example: “Once or twice he got a jack on him would have put your eye out, you could see it poking behind his trousers .” But her life has made her so. In fact, sometimes it seemed that Bessy’s lively voice did not allow the true impact of her tragic past to affect the reader.

Read this if: you want to be glad you weren’t born into a 19th century British slum. 3½ stars ( )

I truly expected to love this book, having read the blurb and some favourable reviews. However, the book really dragged and I struggled to finish; for 521 pages there's astonishingly little plot. It is true that Becky's voice is sometimes amusing and her observations at times quite accurate and sharp, but the book is simply too long and didn't sustain my interest. By the time you arrive at the far-fetched ending you're past caring for any of the characters. Ultimately I got the impression that the author couldn't quite decide what to do with her novel: by turning it into part murder mystery, part social commentary on life above and below stairs, the loveless marriages women had to endure for the sake of social status, child prostitution, the ambitions of men for further social and monetary advancement and the treatment of the criminally insane, the book achieves none of these things to any degree of satisfaction and instead becomes a real hotch-potch of a book that left me with a real sense of disappointment. What a shame! ( )

I had reason to leave Glagow, this would have been about three four years ago, and I had been on the Great Road about five hours when I seen a track to the left and a sign said 'Castle Haivers'. Now there's a coincidence I thought to myself, because here I was on my way across Scratchland to have a look at the Edingurgh castle and perhaps get a job there and who knows marry a young nobleman or prince. I was only 15 with a head full of sugar and I had a notion to work in a grand establishment.
Not only that but this lad from the Highlands had fell into step with me the past hour, he would have been about my age and he had been to get a tooth pulled. He kept dragging his lip down to show me the hole. I was sick of this boy and his grin and his questions, fair are you going? fair do you live? fwot is your name? fwould you like to lie down with me? — all this. I had told him a whole clatter of lies hoping he would go away but he was stuck to me like horse dung on a road sweepers shoe."


So begins Bessy Buckley's account of events that transpired at Castle Haivers. Impressed by the name, she expects to find a great estate, but is met instead with a run down home and the owner's wife chasing down a pig. The beautiful Arabella Reid just so happens to be looking for a maid, and Bessy is quick to assure her she's had plenty of experience, a fiction which is quickly dispelled, but Arabella Reids's greatest concern is whether Bessy is able to read and write, and when our heroine demonstrates her abilities to Arabella's satisfaction, she is taken on as hired help. When she asks for permission to read, her mistress agrees and hands her a book: "it was called Bleak House, I hoped it wasn't an omen", says our girl. By Bessy's own admission, she is a terrible maid, and knows not the first thing about housekeeping, but this doesn't seem to concern her employer. Mrs Reid's main interest is in reading her new maid's daily entries in a journal she has instructed her to keep, encouraging her to describe her days in great detail and relate all her feelings and impressions. Then there are strange tasks to perform and tests to submit to, such as sitting and standing repeatedly on her mistresses command and being subjected to having detailed measurements taken of her body and facial features. Both mistress and maid have plenty to hide, and when Bessy discover's Arabella's secret she is deeply hurt by it, which sets her on a course of action which will eventually lead to a complete mental breakdown and the intervention of a doctor intent on using the latest techniques and drugs available in these Victorian times, to restore his hysterical patient to health. Bessy is a highly amusing narrator, who uses colourful language and imagery and doesn't shrink from disclosing to us the details of a sordid past which helps to explains the strange attachment she has formed for her employer. My conclusion: Jane Harris's debut makes for a riveting read. ( )

This book was okay. It took a few pages to get use to the language, but once I did I really liked it. The book kept my interest until the end, which came as a complete surprise. ( )