This is Persephone number 65 – and not the happiest of stories – but rather a fascinating one .
In this 1937 novel Rachel Ferguson examines the fate of Victorian gentlewomen who failed to marry, and whose families failed to leave them adequetly provided for. In the first chapter we are introduced to the GP (the Gentlefolks Protective Association) in1936, and the question posed by a shocked young actress at the opening of a bazaar raising money for the GP – “who does this happen?” is then examined in detain through the rest of this 460 + page novel.
Grace Scrimgeour is born in 1870, the eight child of a middle aged woman, whose eldest daughter at 23 is also having a child (her first) Grace is one seven daughters and one son (born two years after Grace) only three of these daughters marry. This places huge finacial stresses on the family in their later years. Grace eventually has to become a governess and later a companion. In between jobs, she lives in near penury – in terribly sad circumstances, or is forced to be put up by one of her elder sisters, or her neice, who don’t always do so very graciously. For one short period during her governess years she finds real happiness.
A very poignant novel, but very readable, and enjoyable.
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