The Observations [Paperback]

"'Funny and original.' Peter Parker, Sunday Times 'Recounted in gutsy, vibrant prose, this is guaranteed to keep you gripped.' Eve Magazine"

'Bessy Buckley is gloriously gobby . . . An ebullient antidote to
all those po-faced historical sagas.'

'Bessy is an irrepressible heroine with a ribald eye for the
ridiculous . . . Her voice is the book's triumph.'

'A mesmerising story about suspicion and redemption.'

A darkly humorous and intriguing story of one woman's journey from a difficult past into an even more disturbing present ...

'I wept at the end of this brilliant first novel' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'a page-turning narrative' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'her voice will hold you in thrall for the next 400 pages' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'it is not the flawless plot that leaves the reader rapt but instead, Bessy’s comic observations.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'Harris’s voice is an original one, and her rollicking yet delicate narrative pitch sets the book apart' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Scotland, 1863. In an attempt to escape her not-so-innocent past in Glasgow, Bessy Buckley - the wide-eyed Irish heroine of The Observations - takes a job as a maid in a big house outside Edinburgh working for the beautiful Arabella. Bessy is intrigued by her new employer, but puzzled by her increasingly strange requests and her insistence that Bessy keep a journal of her most intimate thoughts. And it 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.

Jane Harris was born in Belfast and brought up in Glasgow. Her short stories have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and she has also written several award-winng short films. In 2000 she received a Writer's Award from the Arts Council of England. She lives in London with her husband Tom.