Customer Reviews

The Observations

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3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The voice of Bessy Buckley is what makes "The Observations." Tart, scrappy, plain-spoken, and a liar, she is a teenaged Irish girl stumbling across Scotland on her way to Edinburgh and whatever that city may hold. She turns in the direction of a sign marked `Castle Haivers' to get rid of an annoying Scottish boy, and is taken on there by the Castle's strange mistress. She is asked to do a number of unusual tasks by beautiful Arabella Reid, on whom she develops rather a crush. Bessy's ability to read is both her blessing and her curse when she discovers Arabella's journal recording the obedience of servants, one in which Bessy does not receive the highest marks. Never one to take a slight in stride, Bessy uses Arabella's weaknesses against her, resulting in a tragedy that may fulfill Bessy's greatest hope.

First-novelist Jane Harris has created a terrific character is Bessy, a girl whose tender-hearted nature is revealed in the way she guards her protector's last act--pooping a tiny turd--in a silk bag. It would take a girl from the bowels of Glasgow to consider this a homage, but that's the kind of thing that makes Bessy so appealing. Less successful are Arabella and the whole supernatural element of the story. Victorian ghost stories spiced with 19th century hypocrisy/perversion are just not as interesting as Bessy Buckley scrubbing floors or snooping in drawers.

Harris's ability to create character and spin a good story is beyond doubt. She doesn't need to rely on ghostly gimmicks to make her story work, and I hope that she goes for a straight historical novel next time. She writes a great sense of place, time and character, and I look forward to her next concoction.

An Irish lass in 1860's Scotland, Bessy Buckley is down on her luck, her former "employer" having left this mortal coil. With nothing to her name but the dress on her back, Bessy takes to the road, hoping to find work somewhere along the way. By happenstance, while coming to the aid of a local man's wife, Arabella Reid, Bessy lies her way into employment, but her duplicity is exposed when she fails to milk a cow, one of her new duties; Reid calls Bessy back and takes her gladly into her home when she realizes that the girl can read and write. One of Bessy's new duties will entail keeping a detailed journal, although she must be taught how to properly assemble her thoughts into a coherent form on the pages. Happy enough in her new role, Bessy has clean clothes and a room for sleeping, although she must endure extremely odd orders from her new employer.

While snooping in Arabella's room, Bessy discovers the woman is writing a book, Observations on the Habits and Nature of the Domestic Class in My Home; some of the remarks written about Bessy are none too kind. Miffed, her feelings hurt, Bessy nurtures a grudge that will fester the longer she works for Mrs. Reid. Over time, Bessy learns there have been other girls, one of whom, Nora, disappeared and was later found dead near the railroad tracks, causing much grief to Arabella. Growing attached to Arabella in spite of her critical comments, Bessy's jealousy is pricked by the very mention of Nora and the effect the girls name has on Mrs. Reid. Bessy craves a small revenge. Unfortunately, her petty machinations result in the unraveling of the Reid household, uncovering the troubling events surrounding Nora's demise.

Grimly atmospheric and steeped in mystery, Arabella's journals call to Bessy, who rather ingeniously seeks to learn the nature of the Reid's marriage, the cause of Nora's untimely disappearance and Arabella's floundering mental condition, although the answers are a bit anticlimactic. Her quirky humor is a constant, a running commentary on the habits of the better class, their pretensions and distractions. In a strange brew of social convention, the despair of a lonely, half-mad woman and the restrictions of a patriarchal society, Bessy is bent on her own survival, yet blind-sided by unexpected affection for Arabella, a Byzantine maze of hopes denied and fortunes run amok. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

Fifteen-year-old Bessy Buckley "had reason to leave Glasgow," but that reason she'll tell you later on. First, she wants to start at the beginning of her story. In her journey along the Great Road toward Edinburgh --- which she made on foot, for this is 1863 and the automobile is a ways off yet --- she encounters a lady chasing a pig, which she thinks looks like tremendous fun. She stops to see if she can help. This woman turns out to be the mistress of Castle Haivers, a grand manor that is a little the worse for wear by the time Bessy gets there, but the offer of work as a maid is a far cry better than what she left in Glasgow.

A strange but electric kind of relationship builds between the maid and the lady of the house. Even a bold and bawdy young Irish girl fleeing a questionable past needs someone to love and care for. Bessy forms a fierce attraction for her mistress, with an almost desperate desire to please. Unfortunately, lady Arabella exhibits some unique behavior, eccentric at best. Right off, Bessy notes "...there was something queer about all this...you could have sensed it a mile off downwind with your eyes blindfolded your nose blocked your ears stopped up and a cork in your hole."

Well, Bessy can read and write, to Arabella's delight, and the lady takes it upon herself to teach her more proper ways. She asks her, as she has all her previous maids, to keep a journal of her daily doings. Bessy writes freestyle, without the bother of commas and periods, which she deems about as understandable as goat droppings. As Arabella gets her to pay more attention, more punctuation finds its way into Bessy's story. If currying favor with missus means learning how to use those funny dots and squiggles, so be it.

Bessy is about as honest a person as you'll meet, taking responsibility and all its repercussions without a flinch, whether she deserves to or not. She doesn't care one bit what others think of her --- except, that is, for missus. As she goes about her duties, Bessy (not exactly nosy but let's call her unusually curious) makes some disturbing observations of her own about her mistress and Castle Haivers. Lady Arabella's odd requests leave Bessy flummoxed, to say the very least, a state she does not handle well, and it prompts her to probe deeper to make sense of what's going on. What she finds out is heartbreaking.

Bessy's is the freshest voice to come along in a long time. Totally unpretentious, plainspoken, blunt and highly observant, Bessy tells it like it is, and a bit like it isn't, if the truth be told. It is sometimes hard to tell whether she is making up words and phrases or whether they are Irish colloquialisms, but they are all hilarious. Case in point: Pig's pizzle, one of my favorites. And she has many, many more.

THE OBSERVATIONS will make you laugh and it will make you cry, and it will be remembered for a long time to come. Told by the highly entertaining narrator, Bessy Buckley, it is utterly unputdownable.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

What a wonderful book! Having just slogged through a few books which were named "best of 2006," I found this funny historical novel to be especially refreshing and delightful. A good book does not have to be ponderous and depressing, despite what book critics often seem to think.

I finished _The Observations_ in just two days because both the narrator and her strange story were so thoroughly compelling. I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to future books by this author.

This is another of those great novels published this year that I just couldn't put down, right up there with The Ghost Orchid and the Girl in the Green Glass Mirror. The book is like driving one of those Connecticut back roads at night, every few yards a new twist or turn, but you follow it, not knowing where it's leading you because you want to find out. In 1860s Scotland, an Irish girl named Bessy Buckley comes to Castle Haivers to work as the new maid. We soon find out that isn't her real name, the castle is not a castle at all, and the inhabitants are a whole lot stranger than they first appear. "Bessy" herself is running away from an awful situation. Because she can read, the lady of the house, Arabella Reid, gives her Dickens novels with apt titles for this book, like Bleak House and Great Expectations. When Bessy starts telling her own childhood story, it is one that would have made Mr. Dickens shudder. More and more questions are raised. What happened to the former maid, Nora? Is she dead or alive? Is she haunting the house? Is Arabella delusional or is she seeing actual people that are a threat to the household? There is surprise after surprise right up to the end. The story is told by Bessy, a likeable character with sincerely good intentions who had a bad early life through no fault of her own. Bessy's sense of humor and irreverent remarks about the other characters will leave you laughing and firmly on her side. I couldn't recommend this book more highly for well-researched entertainment and originality of writing.

I seem to be reading a lot of novels set in the Victorian era lately, and I've found the defining characteristic of the times (besides increased prudity) was the uptake in how much domestic help wealthy people had. Maids, ladies maids, footmen, butlers, cooks (and undercooks, scullery maids, pantry boys) gardeners, coachman....it's a long list. And all these people did was serve the needs of one family. It's fascinating-like a whole town living under one roof, revolving around the needs of five or six people.

"The observations" is partly about servant/master relations, partly a memoir of a terrible childhood and exploitation at the hands of a parent, partly a mystery, partly a tale of madness-and even more. It has a lot of things going on. But it all meshes even though it would be very easy to let the plot get out on control and become unrealistic and silly. But it did not and for that I commend the author.

Narrated by Bess a young Irish girl on the run from a mostly undisclosed past, our story takes us to an isolated manor house on the moors of Scotland inhabited by one woman looking for a maid. Enter Bess who soon finds her self enthralled (and a little crushing on) Arabella Reid, who is kind, smart and seems to care about Bess. And then she stumbles upon the book.

Turns out Arabella is as fascinated with servants as I am, only her interest rests in what makes an obedient servant and how to identify this with physical characteristics, behavioral testing and written diaries. And she's writing it all down in a book in which Bess is the latest subject. And Arabella it seems knows the truth about Bess's murky past.

Feeling betrayed Bess strikes back with a practical joke she knows will hit Arabella's weak spot. But it hits a little too well and soon Bess realizes she's ending up opening up a bigger can of worms then she realized.

I really enjoyed this book. Bess is a hilarious narrator and her voice is as clear as if she's with you. Arabella is tragic and odd and keeps you guessing. The story line is fascinating and draws you in, refusing to let go until the surprising conclusion. I highly recommend this to fans of historical fiction.

Four point five stars.

A rousing romp of a read. Engages all of the emtions. Well said Ms. Harris!!! I enjoyed it very much, and would reommend to others without hesitation.

I loved the story and couldn't put the book down until I was done. As I was reading I keep thinking of all these different things that would happen and even different ways it would end. So with all these ideas running through my head you can imagine how disappointed I was at the ending. It was weird because the rest of the story was great, its almost like she just hurried up and finished it. The ending ruined the whole book for me. Just because the ending was bad I would not suggest it for someone to read. Which is sad because overall its a good story.

It's a funny thing about reading someone's diary - it feels a little naughty but it's rarely worth the effort. "The Observations," fortunately, is the exception to that rule.

A smart and suspenseful story told in a unique voice, "The Observations" is sometimes spooky and sometimes serious, with funny moments that reach right off the page to slap you unexpectedly in the face. The narrator, an Irish servant of Scottish masters in the 19th Century, tells both her own story and that of those she serves in parallel, as she reveals pieces of her own past and how they tie into her subsequent actions.

I love a good ghost story, and there are enough of those elements here to hold my interest alone, including a few parts that gave me the chills. It's hard not to give too much away here - the line between what's known and what's unknown can be a fine one, but Jane Harris rides it like an expert here.

What pushes this one past the standard ghost story is Bessy's narrative voice, a sarcastic yet heartfelt thread that runs from beginning to end. Her introduction is abrupt and without preamble - she tells her story in her own time but she doesn't waste time. It sets the tone for the rest of the book. I enjoyed some parts of the book simply for the way Bessy seemed to speak to me from the pages, making me laugh or making me gasp or making me feel with her. Her voice is genuine and simply put, she kept me reading.

I enjoyed "The Observations" more than I expected I would - it's a slow burn of a story told cleverly, with a steady hand and an unforgettable narrative voice. Can't ask for much more than that!

The year is 1863 in Scotland. Bessy is fifteen years old. Or maybe she's sixteen. She's not sure; her mother's recollection of when and where she had given birth is vague, to put it mildly. Bessy's previous employer has died, and suddenly she has nowhere to go, so she thought she'd try her luck in Edinburgh. On her way there, she meets the mistress of the Castle Haivers, a run-down manor near a small village. Desperate for employment, she lies about her job qualifications. She has never milked a cow or has done any sort of menial labor. Still, she does possess a skill the "missus" could use -- she could write. So, under Mrs. Arabella Reid's orders, Bessy keeps a diary of her daily activities. But when Bessy discovers that her mistress has been writing about her in some bizarre research project about the "domestic class," she is angry and gets even with Arabella. Little had she known the horrible events that unfold after her rather childish pranks, events that force Bessy to look back into her own sordid past. There are many twists and turns throughout this novel.

The Observations is a dark, literary novel that is at times a Victorian gothic similar to a Dickens novel and other times she sounds satirical and full of social commentary, which reminded me a little of Jane Austen. As the cover jacket says, the heroine and narrator of this novel is "irresistible" and "one of the most delightful heroines in recent fiction." She narrates the story as if writing it for some "gentlemen" who require details of the events that occur after her arrival at Castle Haivers. She is young and Irish -- raised under the worst conditions imaginable -- yet she is both wise and perceptive, with a naiveté quality that endeared her to me. She is also very loyal; I loved that she would do anything for her "missus." The story gets long-winded at times, and the plot is too complex to put into a brief review with no spoilers, but it kept me intrigued throughout the whole thing. Jane Harris's dark humor does remind me a little of Michael Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White, a favorite book of mine, but Harris is a great treat and talent all her own and The Observations is one of the best historical novels I have read throughout the year. I think only Vertigo by Lauren Baratz-Logsted outdoes the brilliancy of this novel. I do recommend this book. I can't believe it had been on my TBR for so long (over a year! I own the hardback copy).