But who is really responsible for what happened to her predecessor Nora? As her past threatens to catch up with her and complicate matters even further, Bessy begins to realise that she has not quite landed on her feet. A powerful story of secrets and suspicions, hidden histories and mysterious disappearances set in Victorian Scotland. Caught up in a tangle of madness, ghosts, sex and lies, she remains devoted to Arabella. Then, a childish prank has drastic consequences, which throw into jeopardy all that Bessy has come to hold dear. 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. Preview The Observationsby Jane Harris The Observations Quotes Showing 1-1 of 1 You see that one man will give a reward for the recovery of his tup, while another will only give thanks for the rescue of his wife. The Observations is a hugely assured and darkly funny debut set in nineteenth-century Scotland. 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. The Observations by Jane Harris is a darkly humorous and intriguing story of one womans journey from a difficult past into an even more disturbing present. Buy a cheap copy of The Observations book by Jane Harris. 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. Jane Harris is the author of the award-winning novel The Observations. Except as it turned out it wasn't quite the end. See Jane Harriss selection of books & audiobooks on Scribd. SynopsisSo there I was with two pens, my two titties, Charles Dickens, two slice of bread and a blank book at the end of my first day in the middle of nowhere.