The Observations

Abandoned by her sugar daddy, a ruffled Bessy Buckley hastens out of Victorian Glasgow with nothing but a fancy dress! Mischievous and wry, brazen but naive, you will be flung immediately into her intriguing head-space.

After escaping her not so innocent past, Bessy, takes a job as maid to the beautiful Arabella, mistress of Castle Haivers. While intrigued by her new employer, Bessy is puzzled by her increasingly strange requests and insistence that she keep a journal of her most intimate thoughts. And is seems that Arabella has a few secrets of her own - including her near-obsessive affection for Nora, a former maid who died in mysterious circumstances.

This powerful story of secrets and suspicions, hidden histories and mysterious disappearances is at once compelling and heart-warming, showing the redemptive power of love, loyalty and friendship. An enrapturing narrative, combined with Bessy's bawdy 19th Century street language, will have you turning the pages well into the early hours.

A hugely assured and darkly comic debut, The Observations, is certain to establish Jane Harris as a significant new literary talent, reminiscent of Sarah Waters, Rose Tremain and Michel Faber.

Allen & Unwin
Author: Jane Harris
ISBN: 057123108X
RRP: $29.95