Life-changing experiences that shaped a literary giant

Fiction: A Country Road, A Tree, Jo Baker, Doubleday, pbk, 400 pages, €17.99

Early life: Jo Baker's novel focuses on Beckett as a struggling young man.

Rowena Walsh

At first glance, a connection between Jane Austen and Samuel Beckett isn't immediately obvious. However, both writers have provided literary inspiration for author Jo Baker. Her 2013 novel, Longbourn, an original reworking of Austen's Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of the Bennets' servants, is a critically acclaimed bestseller, while her latest work, A Country Road, A Tree, is inspired by Beckett's experiences in wartime France.

It's a brave writer who takes on a novel as beloved as Pride and Prejudice, but as the glowing reviews of the engrossing Longbourn proved, Baker's confidence was justified.