New Novel Takes Readers Downstairs at Longbourn

Did you ever wonder as you read Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” just who was dressing the five girls in the house for the balls Or bringing those eagerly anticipated notes from Mr. Darcy or Mr. Bingley to the drawing room

And there surely must have been some dishy gossip in the kitchen of the Longbourn estate when Lydia ran off with the evil Mr. Wickham.

If you are like most readers, Longbourn’s servants never crossed your mind. But Jo Baker, a British novelist, has been paying close attention. She recently completed a book titled “Longbourn,” named after the Bennet’s home, which tells a parallel story of “Pride and Prejudice” â€" the story downstairs.

Ms. Baker’s agent, Clare Alexander, says that the relationship of “Longbourn” to “Pride and Prejudice” is analogous to that of the plays “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” and “Hamlet” â€" the servants are a jumping-off point for the tale, and then become characters in their own right.

Therehave been many attempts over the years by authors to incorporate Jane Austen’s beloved novel into their own work. Recently, the mystery writer P.D. James scored a success with “Death Comes to Pemberley” (2011) about a murder that occurs on the Darcy family manor years into the marriage of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth.

But Ms. Baker’s novel, which is already finished, set the British publishing market on fire last week when it went on auction. Ms. Alexander, her agent, said the response has been overwhelming. “I sent it out last week,” she said. “Knopf bought it Monday. On Wednesday, it was bought by Doubleday in the U.K. By Thursday the film rights had gone. By Friday we had signed up two foreign translations.”

There are now agreements for eight translations. The film will be a coproduction between Random House Studios and Focus Features. A person familiar with the bidding said that the value of the collective deals was in the high six figures.

Ms. Baker said she was dr! awn to the parallel story of Longbourn because of her own family history. “If I’d been living at the time, I wouldn’t have got to go to the ball,” she wrote in an e-mail, explaining her inspiration. “I would’ve been stuck at home, with the sewing. Just a few generations back, my family were in service (we still have some cutlery from this era. My great-aunt maintained it was a ‘gift’ from her employer; her sisters all believed that she’d nicked it). I am not a gentleman’s daughter, as Elizabeth so assuredly is. (No offense, Dad.)”

The auction of the book came at a time when there is heightened interest in the interplay between servants and the lords and ladies they serve, in part because of the popularity of the “Downton Abbey” series, currently shown on PBS. Still, Ms. Alexander says there is no way the novel would have fared so well during bidding if it hadn’t been a delightful read.

Ms. Baker is no overnight success. She is 39 and her previous novels “The Mermaid€™s Child,” “The Telling,” and “Offcomer” were not notable, popular or financial successes.

“She is trying to keep her head straight,” said Ms. Alexander. “When I told her about the film deal she went off and planted a hedge just to keep herself grounded.”