Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Memorial Prize for Historical Fiction

A Country Road, A Tree

Jo Baker, Sunday Times bestselling author of LONGBOURN, goes behind the scenes again with the life and loves of a twentieth century literary icon.

Skilful . . . daring . . . an extraordinary story

[It is] the unexpected Beckett that is on show here. Baker pays tribute to a man who joined the French Resistance, narrowly escaped the Gestapo, fled south on foot and went into hiding, and was eventually awarded the Croix de Guerre

A fascinating fictional account of Samuel Beckett's wartime years

Beautifully written, empathetic and unflinching, it is very, very good

Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic

In this worthy successor to Longbourn, she [Baker] skillfully captures Beckett’s world, the rhythms of his bare-bones prose, and the edginess of his point of view.

Taking its title from Beckett's most famous play, Waiting for Godot, Baker's historical drama deftly explores the psyche of one of the greatest writers of the Twentieth Century.

Perfectly captures the deprivation, despair and constant creeping fear of an occupied people.

This exquisitely crafted novel re-creates the World War II peregrinations of Samuel Beckett and the volatile Frenchwoman who became his life's companion

‘Baker . . . creates a compellingly real experience out of Beckett’s work in the French underground . . .  Her writing is assured and often intense . . . enthralling.’

JO BAKER is the author of the acclaimed and bestselling LONGBOURN and A COUNTRY ROAD, A TREE.  Her latest novel, THE BODY LIES, is a thrilling contemporary novel that explores violence against women in fiction but is also a disarming story of sexual politics. Jo Baker lives with her family in Lancashire.

BY THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LONGBOURN 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2017 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE 2017 
 
'Skilful . . . daring . . . extraordinary' The Guardian 
 
'A fascinating fictional account of Samuel Beckett's wartime years' IAN RANKIN 
 
'Beautifully written, empathetic and unflinching, it is very, very good' Daily Mail 
 
'Marvellous, spare, moving' FRANCIS SPUFFORD 
 
'Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic’ The Irish Times 
 
Paris, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance... 
 
Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art. 
 
Sunday Express Book of the Month 
 
Praise for Jo Baker's LONGBOURN: 
'Intoxicating' Guardian 
'Engrossing' Sunday Times 
'Audacious' New York Times

Longbourn

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice below stairs - the story of romance, intrigue, and drama among the servants of the Bennet household. A Richard &amp; Judy Book Club pick.

Inspired...Baker has written an intoxicating love story but, also like Austen, the pleasure of her novel lies in its wit and fierce intelligence. Longbourn is a profound exploration of injustice, of poverty and dependence, of loyalty...a novel that contrives both to provoke the intellect and, ultimately, to stop the heart

Jo Baker gives us the story from the servants' perspectives and pulls off the seemingly impossible: a completely fresh take on Jane Austen. Utterly engrossing.

ONES TO WATCH Just enough Darcy to delight, as well as being a fascinating insight into the harsh working conditions of life in a grand house 200 years ago

Debut novelist Jo Baker takes the reader on a journey back to a version of Regency England that is as much about poverty and war as social comedy and romance

This clever glimpse of Austen’s universe clouded by washday steam is so compelling it leaves you wanting to read the next chapter in the lives below stairs

GREAT READS: Pride and Prejudice reimagined as a mysterious manservant stirs up passions in the Bennet household both upstairs and down

Captivating and delicious. A brilliantly imagined and lovingly told story about the wide world beyond the margins and outside the parlours of Pride and Prejudice

The much-loved Pride and Prejudice is shaken up and given the grit that Jane Austen could never include - with great success

A novelist with a gift for intimate and atmospheric storytelling

Superb... The lightest of touches by a highly accomplished young writer

Some writers let you know you're in safe hands from the start, and Jo Baker is one of  them.

Splendid...Baker’s imaginative leaps are stunningly well done both historically (the scenes set at the siege of Corunna are terrific) and  emotionally...What a great film it will make (the rights sold early); the well-loved novel  shaken up and given the grit which Jane Austen could never include.

To twist something so familiar into something quite fresh is impressive…Baker takes ownership of this world without mimicking Austen’s style, asserting instead her own distinctive, authentic voice. Longbourn is not just nicely packaged fan fiction, or an Austenian Downton Abbey; it’s an engrossing tale we neither know nor expect.

An Austen lover has the satisfaction of matching the novels chapter for chapter.  Lovely.

Longbourn is a fantastic feat of imagination, unflinching in its portrayal of war and the limitations of life for a servant – a novel you will want to shelve with the original classics you plan to read again and again.

What bravery to take Pride And Prejudice as the springboard for a new novel! Bravery or, in the wrong hands, foolishness. 
However, in relating Jane Austen’s best-loved tale from the perspective of the Bennet family’s servants, Jo Baker takes a fresh angle on a story that millions of diehard fans know inside out.

Her depiction of the brutal realities of army life - a world away from the jolly officers of Austen's novel - is particularly powerful. Indeed, a burning sense of injustice is palpable throughout the book ... Sarah's story is so compelling that I kept forgetting that one of literature's most famous love stories was happening upstairs ... moving, gripping, unsentimental

Longbourn is a really special book, and not only because its author writes like an angel

A must-read for fans of Jane Austen, this literary tribute also stands on its own as a captivating love story

Painstakingly researched, it captures the atmosphere of Austen’s England perfectly and is delivered in beautiful prose

Densely plotted and achingly romantic. This exquisitely reimagined Pride and Prejudice will appeal to Austen devotees and to anyone who finds the goings-on below stairs to be at least as compelling as the ones above

Intelligent and elegantly written ... a fitting tribute, inventing a love story all of its own

Powerful...an especially appealing, and timely, reworking of the classic. Baker’s novel goes beyond escapist fantasy, drawing subtle comparisons between  past and present

A fresh and engrossing story from below the stairs of Pride and Prejudice

Jo Baker was educated at Oxford and The Queen's University, Belfast. She lives in Lancaster with her husband, the playwright Daragh Carville, and their two children. Longbourn is due to be made into a film produced by Focus Features.

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER 
A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOKCLUB PICK 
'Utterly engrossing' Guardian 
 
It is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and raw. Domestic life below stairs, ruled with a tender heart and an iron will by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman, bearing secrets and the scent of the sea. 
 
What readers are saying: 
 
'A novel to be savoured' 
'Highly recommended' 
'Very enjoyable exploration of the background to Pride and Prejudice'

Jo Baker

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investi&shy;gating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Gripping ... with lots to say about sexual politics

This superior thriller looks at how novels represent violence through the story of a creative writing teacher who finds herself trapped between the borders of life and fiction after recognising herself in a story written by one of her students

Jo Baker’s THE BODY LIES is gripping and strange in the best possible way:  the perfect marriage of risky literary fiction and full-on thriller.

MARIA SEMPLE, bestselling author of Where d'ya go, Bernadette?

This page-turning thrilller has a sympathetic and utterly believable heroine, but it's also an examination of how women's bodies are treated, in life and in fiction.

A literary exploration of consent, entitlement and how narratives can be bent, misappropriated and wrested back. I loved it.

SARAH VAUGHAN, bestselling author of THE ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL

A shrewdly layered thriller that unflinchingly tackles the quagmire of pressure, judgement and ever-present danger women navigate in their daily lives

Powerful and moving, I read The Body Lies in one sitting. As a thriller, it grips and shocks: as a portrayal of the way women move through the world, and the way men see them, it has never been more timely. Absolutely stunning.

ERIN KELLY, bestselling author of HE SAID/SHE SAID

A story of female response to male threat, boosted by questions of literary expression... Baker's fans will enjoy the crisp descriptive writing and insightful nuances

All too plausible, Baker’s powerful tale is at times heart-rending to read—and impossible to put down.

The beauty and structure of Baker's language, the way she decided to tell this particular story, the suspense... It has stayed in my head for days.

The Body Lies is so much more than just a thriller. It's a literary analysis on the way that our social environment shapes creative writing and individual voice; a heartfelt depiction of assault-related trauma and the associated anxiety and depression; an incisive commentary on the constant, subtle ways that women's consent is invalidated. And on top of all that it's a riveting, compelling murder mystery, intensely readable.

Jo Baker makes a huge departure in style with this menacing story of a student and teacher. A young college instructor begins to see entirely too much of herself in the work of one of her writing students who claims to only "write the truth." As the threats become more overt, the stakes increase until it becomes unclear who will triumph in this game of cat and mouse. This nail biter of a novel will leave readers deeply unsettled and checking the door locks.”

Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books, Excelsior, Minnesota

Baker’s powerful tale is at times heart-rending to read—and impossible to put down.

Beyond the twists and turns of the thriller, The Body Lies also stands out for its careful examination of the role of women, both in these thriller novels and within society, making this book a powerful and unnerving read with thrills that run much deeper than your average surface shocks ... Impossible to put down.

Baker's layered and sharply observed writing feels authentic from the first . . . Moving beyond boundaries to divine the essence of what it is to be a woman navigating life in modern-day Britain.

An essential book for our times . . . this is a thrilling, gripping read

The depth and style of literary fiction [with] the thrill of a more contemporary read

The Body Lies is one of those brilliant books that gave me the rage in all the right ways . . . A raw and challenging novel that deserves to be widely read

There is tension, drama and sense of jeopardy aplenty

A compelling, uncomfortable and overwhelming read . . . absolutely brilliant.

I felt compelled to read on and find out what would happen next

A timely and powerful literary thriller which makes for a thought-provoking and unsettling read

Thought provoking and intelligent . . . I cannot recommend highly enough.

Offers a really interesting perspective on how women are represented in life

It is insidiously unnerving in such a clever way . . . had me well and truly hooked!

Dark, unforgiving, suspenseful and thought-provoking

Campus novel satire and the high drama of a thriller combine in a fiendishly readable interrogation of the allure of violent fiction

One of the most believable heroines I've seen on the page in a long time. The final chapters deliver the heart-in-mouth genre denouement we’ve been waiting for

‘A propulsive #Metoo thriller’ GUARDIAN

---A GUARDIAN BEST SUMMER READ--- 
 
'A very modern interrogation of violent fiction. Fiendishly readable' SARAH MOSS, GUARDIAN 
'Powerful and moving' ERIN KELLY, author of He Said/She Said 
______________ 
 
When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it's meant to be a fresh start. But when one of her students starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate. 
 
Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late? 
 
At once a breathless battle-of-wits and a disarming exploration of sexual politics, The Body Lies is an essential book for our times. 
___________________ 
 
'Outstanding' CLARE MACKINTOSH 
 
'A literary exploration of consent, entitlement and how narratives can be bent, misappropriated and wrested back. I loved it' SARAH VAUGHAN 
 
'A propulsive #MeToo thriller.' GUARDIAN 
 
'Gripping. The perfect marriage of risky literary fiction and full-on thriller' MARIA SEMPLE 
 
'Page-turning thriller and examination of how women's bodies are treated, in life and in fiction.' THE BOOKSELLER 
 
'A novelist with a gift for intimate and atmospheric storytelling' FINANCIAL TIMES 
 
'Baker's heroine is one of the most believable I've seen on the page in a long time...nuanced, non-linear, lifelike' TLS 
 
'Gripping and fast-paced' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Jo Baker

Praise for The Body Lies

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investigating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Build-up of tension is EXCELLENT

Packs a powerful punch on every page

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investigating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Build-up of tension is EXCELLENT

Packs a powerful punch on every page

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investigating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Build-up of tension is EXCELLENT

Packs a powerful punch on every page

Books by Jo Baker

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Praise for The Body Lies

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investi­gating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Build-up of tension is EXCELLENT

Packs a powerful punch on every page

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investi­gating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Build-up of tension is EXCELLENT

Packs a powerful punch on every page

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investi­gating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

Build-up of tension is EXCELLENT

Packs a powerful punch on every page

Books by Jo Baker

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investigating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investigating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.

A propulsive #MeToo thriller investigating consent and male entitlement as well as the borders between truth and fiction.