Observations by Jane Harris ✔✔✔

Another Kindle book, this title has been on my Book Browse reading list for several years.
Observations is the story of a young Irish girl working as a maid in Scotland in the 19th century. She is what her "missus" describes as a low-life prostitute who has been living with her "heart's companion", but he has just died and his family, quite naturally, have kicked her out of his home. She just sort of arrives at Castle Haivers and ends up staying there, devoted to her missus, frightened and intimidated by her mother, who sold her daughter Daisy on the streets as a young child. Daisy re-names herself Bessy and tries to make a new life for herself at Castle Haivers.

The title of the book refers to the study Arabella, the "missus" is doing of maids in Victorian times, a study which has been going on for several years when Bessy arrives on the scene. The study, now in book form, the missus, her husband, the local Reverend, Nora, the former maid, plus various servants at Castle Haivers make for an interesting, vivid picture of country life in Victorian times. Bessy is the narrator and a lively one she is, with her shrewd, ironic comments on the people around her, as well as her use of language - words I'd never heard before, words which didn't appear in the Kindle dictionary, that's for sure - like "flipsight", "clootie dumpling", "dunegan", but her voice and her language are genuine, and I chuckled many times over her own observations!

Here's what Book Browse had to say:


The Observations is a brilliantly original, endlessly intriguing story of one woman’s journey from a difficult past into an even more disturbing present, narrated by one of the most vividly imagined heroines in recent fiction. This powerful story of secrets and suspicions, hidden histories and mysterious disappearances is at once compelling and heart-warming, showing the redemptive power of loyalty and friendship. A hugely assured and darkly funny debut, The Observations is certain to establish Jane Harris as a significant new literary talent.