Miss Marjoribanks (Penguin Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
Returning home to tend her widowed father Dr Marjoribanks, Lucilla soon launches herself into Carlingford society, aiming to raise the tone with her select Thursday evening parties. Optimistic, resourceful and blithely unimpeded by self-doubt, Lucilla is a superior being in every way, not least in relation to men. 'A tour de force...full of wit, surprises and intrigue...We can imagine Jane Austen reading MISS MARJORIBANKS with enjoyment and approval in the Elysian Fields' - Q. D. Leavis. Leavisdeclared Oliphant's heroine Lucilla to be the missing link in Victorian literature between Jane Austen's Emma and George Eliot's Dorothea Brook and 'more entertaining, more impressive and more likeable than either'.
About the Author
Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) was a prolific Scots writer, author of over 100 books and innumerable articles. Early widowed, she was compelled to write for a living. She is best remembered for her 'Chronicles of Carlingford' series, which is set in a quiet country town near London. Religious themes predominate but the books are sharp and humorous.
Elisabeth Jay has written a critical 'Biography of Margaret Oliphant' and edited Gaskell's 'Life of Charlotte Bronte' for Penguin Classics.
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First Sentence
Miss Marjoribanks lost her mother when she was only fifteen, and when, to add to the misfortune, she was absent at school, and could not have it in her power to soothe her dear mamma's last moments, as she herself said. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Miss Marjoribanks lost her mother when she was only fifteen, and when, to add to the misfortune, she was absent at school, and could not have it in her power to soothe her dear mamma's last moments, as she herself said. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The indomitable Lucilla Marjoribanks is one of the best nineteenth century heroines you're ever likely to encounter. This humane and humorous book is Middlemarch meets Cold Comfort Farm as Lucilla, whose object in life is 'to be a comfort to poor papa' sorts out the lives of all and sundry while manoeuvering herself into position as Queen of Carlingford, the local neighbourhood. The young Lucilla promises Papa ten years before she hits thirty and 'begins to go off'. In her firm but benevolent reign she fends off suitors, arranges marriages, appoints suitable political candidates helping them win elections, with no other motive than her awareness that she's the only one with any ability to get things done properly. Oliphant's characters are all well drawn, from Nancy, the cook, famous for her sauces, to Mrs Woodburn, who 'takes off' her neighbours. Her clerics are funny and poignant and her Carlingford series, of which this is a part, gives Trollope more than a run for his money. This forgotten classic (revived periodically to no avail) should be read by anyone whose ever enjoyed a nineteenth century novel. Lucilla is a character to live in your head for the rest of your life. Wonderful stuff.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a great find, and refreshing as it lacks much of the high melodrama so common in most 19th century literature. Miss Lucilla Marjoribanks comes home from school determined to be a comfort to dear papa and sets the good doctor and the entire town on their ears, with her brilliant manipulations.
The characters are wonderful, the story has lots of ups and downs that Lucilla is always capable of meeting with great ingenuiuty and fortitude. There are many wonderful moments and lots of laughter along with a few tears. Highly recommended, particularly for anyone who enjoys 19th century English literature.
The characters are wonderful, the story has lots of ups and downs that Lucilla is always capable of meeting with great ingenuiuty and fortitude. There are many wonderful moments and lots of laughter along with a few tears. Highly recommended, particularly for anyone who enjoys 19th century English literature.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Miss Marjoribanks is a brilliantly written, classic novel, undeservedly overlooked by readers and critics for a long time. Its protagonist, Lucilla Marjoribanks, deserves to be mentioned in line with the best comic heroines, Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse among them.
Miss Marjoribanks, armed with a natural born good sense and the useful knowledge of political economy acquired in the school Mount Pleasant, sets forth for her hometown, Carlingford. Her aim is "to be a comfort to poor papa", the widowed doctor and to conquer and reform society with perfect goodwill, good intentions and with much talent, with well-wishers and antagonists, expected or unexpected suitors, & etc on the way.
The story is told with a most delightful irony capturing society and the different characters with subtlety and insight. Mrs Oliphant is more than a match to Anthony Trollope, George Elliot or Charles Dickens and it is a shame she should go unmerited.
Miss Marjoribanks, armed with a natural born good sense and the useful knowledge of political economy acquired in the school Mount Pleasant, sets forth for her hometown, Carlingford. Her aim is "to be a comfort to poor papa", the widowed doctor and to conquer and reform society with perfect goodwill, good intentions and with much talent, with well-wishers and antagonists, expected or unexpected suitors, & etc on the way.
The story is told with a most delightful irony capturing society and the different characters with subtlety and insight. Mrs Oliphant is more than a match to Anthony Trollope, George Elliot or Charles Dickens and it is a shame she should go unmerited.
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