- Post
- #1588167
- Topic
- What are you reading?
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1588167/action/topic#1588167
- Time
Towers, Frances - Tea With Mr Rochester
“Mr. Revell and Jane smiled at each other as though they shared a secret. And his smile, always like a falling star, seemed to drop through Jane’s eyes into her heart.”
At first blush, a slim assortment of parlor dramas.
Nevertheless, every story here is a pearl, delivering an emotional punch.
“Violet” is the new maid in the household. She is not a witch, nor is she magical, yet she can “see”. Meaning, when so inclined, Violet can predict, can foretell, long before others.
Lisby is the quiet sister, pale beside sister Charlotte’s flashy ways, opinionated manners, and swarm of suitors. In “The Little Willow”, Lisby encounters a kindred spirit, one whom Charlotte decides to add to her conquests because – well – because Charlotte gets what Charlotte wants.
A sensitive sort, Gerard is shipped to Penorth to plant new conifers. An outsider, distant, he catches the eyes of several local females. Chloe seems beguiled, he seems smitten by her beauty, possibly they could make an agreeable pair. Carlotta, however, thoughtful, intellectually curious Carlotta, is more his match, and both Gerard and Carlotta recognize each other deeply. Fate in this one, “What Must Be, Shall Be”, proves a ruthless force.
Many of these stories read like late Jane Austen. Female protagonists akin to Anne Elliot (“Persuasion”), silently observing and navigating amid narcissists.
A delightful find that Janeites should investigate.