This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I picked it up several months ago with Death Comes to Pemberley (which I found "meh"--watch the BBC version--much better than the book). Baker eschewed a faux Austen voice for her own authentic one resulting in a literary tour-de-force that, although set in Austen's world, is uniquely her own. This book has been described as the "downstairs" to Austen's "upstairs" because it deals with the lives of the serving staff at Longbourn, the fictional Bennet family estate from Pride and Prejudice, but it is so much more. The opening scene, where a young orphaned serving girl named Sarah is up at dawn to do the back-breaking chore of laundry, sets the tone of the book. The small service staff cling to one another, keeping each other's secrets, covering for lapses, comforting each other during times of stress and grief; all while working continually to keep the Bennet family in the comfort to which they were accustomed. Along the way is romance, treachery (our favorite bad-boy Wickham sows his poison below stairs as well as up stairs), and a long kept Bennet secret which effects the lives of the housekeeper and Sarah. I thoroughly enjoyed this one; highly recommended. 
 Note: Austen fans beware--the Bennet family doesn't not come off well in this one. They are not deliberately cruel, just oblivious to the those below their station.