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Notwithstanding
An
Annette leaned against the low parapet and looked steadfastly at the water, so steadfastly that all the brilliant, newly-washed, tree-besprinkled city of Paris, lying spread before her, cleft by the wide river with its many bridges, was invisible to her. She saw nothing but the Seine, so tranquil yesterday, and to-day chafing beneath its bridges and licking ominously round their great stone supports--because there had been rain the day before.
The Seine was the only angry, sinister element in the suave September sunshine, and perhaps that was why Annette's eyes had been first drawn to it. She also was angry, with the deep, still anger which invades once or twice in a lifetime placid, gentle-tempered people.
Her dark eyes under their long curled lashes looked down over the stone bastion of the Pont Neuf at a yellow eddy just below her. They were beautiful eyes, limpid, deep, with a certain tranquil mystery in them. But there was no mystery in them at this moment. They were fixed, dilated, desperate.
Annette leaned against the low parapet and looked steadfastly at the water, so steadfastly that all the brilliant, newly-washed, tree-besprinkled city of Paris, lying spread before her, cleft by the wide river with its many bridges, was invisible to her. She saw nothing but the Seine, so tranquil yesterday, and to-day chafing beneath its bridges and licking ominously round their great stone supports--because there had been rain the day before.
The Seine was the only angry, sinister element in the suave September sunshine, and perhaps that was why Annette's eyes had been first drawn to it. She also was angry, with the deep, still anger which invades once or twice in a lifetime placid, gentle-tempered people.
Her dark eyes under their long curled lashes looked down over the stone bastion of the Pont Neuf at a yellow eddy just below her. They were beautiful eyes, limpid, deep, with a certain tranquil mystery in them. But there was no mystery in them at this moment. They were fixed, dilated, desperate.
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1913
2 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Mary Cholmondeley
101 books16 followersMary Cholmondeley was an English novelist.
The daughter of the vicar at St Luke's Church in the village of Hodnet, Market Drayton, Shropshire, England, where she was born, Cholmondeley spent much of the first thirty years of her life taking care of her sickly mother.
Selected writings
* The Danvers Jewels (1886)
* Sir Charles Danvers (1889)
* Let Loose (1890)
* Diana Tempest (1893)
* Devotee: An Episode in the Life of a Butterfly (1897)
* Red Pottage (1899)
* Prisoners (1906)
* The Lowest Rung (1908)
* Moth and Rust (1912)
* After All (1913)
* Notwithstanding (1913)
* Under One Roof (1917)
The daughter of the vicar at St Luke's Church in the village of Hodnet, Market Drayton, Shropshire, England, where she was born, Cholmondeley spent much of the first thirty years of her life taking care of her sickly mother.
Selected writings
* The Danvers Jewels (1886)
* Sir Charles Danvers (1889)
* Let Loose (1890)
* Diana Tempest (1893)
* Devotee: An Episode in the Life of a Butterfly (1897)
* Red Pottage (1899)
* Prisoners (1906)
* The Lowest Rung (1908)
* Moth and Rust (1912)
* After All (1913)
* Notwithstanding (1913)
* Under One Roof (1917)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 20, 2023
post-Victorian, yet oh so Victorian in its themes: landownership and inheritance, morality and reputation. The themes are - of course - developed around a love story, but somehow the author is not overly interested in the lovers' characters and the development of the relationship.
Some nice secondary characters and a village playing its role - a nod to Cranford; but the village's role as the main character is disputed by conventional story-telling.
The novel does not change my ranking of Cholmondeley's work, with Diana Tempest first and Red Pottage second.
Some nice secondary characters and a village playing its role - a nod to Cranford; but the village's role as the main character is disputed by conventional story-telling.
The novel does not change my ranking of Cholmondeley's work, with Diana Tempest first and Red Pottage second.
September 23, 2025
The best part of this was definitely the character writing, with the aunts being some of the most entertaining with their complete lack of self awareness.
April 22, 2019
Sì, lo confermo: amo questa autrice, e questo romanzo (che, dopo un drammatico inizio a Parigi, si svolge in un piccolo villaggio della campagna inglese) la vede al top, in uno stretto 'testa a testa' con la Elizabeth Gaskell di Cranford. In più, un minore impegno religioso porta spesso Mary Cholmondeley a mettere in discussione (come in questo caso) la rigidità di talune visioni morali del tempo, giustificando le fragilità umane e offrendo loro il suo sguardo comprensivo.
February 24, 2019
As there isn't a synopsis above: the story starts with Annette Georges choosing between two evil fates. She is rescued by a kind woman, who looks after her until she can go to live with her aunts in a village in "little England" complete with vicar and afternoon tea. There she meets and makes friends with various people, and her Past appears to have some relevance to the lives of those she makes closest friends with.
I think that's vague enough to not give the game away! It's a comedy of manners with more grave overtones than much of Jane Austen.
Excellent. Some sad moments, and you really care about the characters, but also some hilarious descriptions and occasionally a very acid and funny description. And, thank goodness, a miraculous ending that was highly necessary to save everyone from their own nobility.
I think that's vague enough to not give the game away! It's a comedy of manners with more grave overtones than much of Jane Austen.
Excellent. Some sad moments, and you really care about the characters, but also some hilarious descriptions and occasionally a very acid and funny description. And, thank goodness, a miraculous ending that was highly necessary to save everyone from their own nobility.
October 4, 2020
The problems at the heart of the plot of Notwithstanding, written in 1913 and dealing with events several years earlier, can seem very remote, centring as they do on the preservation of a woman's reputation following a brief escapade with a disreputable young man. The abuse she suffers before meeting him is seen shockingly only in terms of her 'honour'. The plot is clumsy, and the central relationship unconvincing, but she depicts village life perceptively, and her descriptions of the natural environment of rural Suffolk before the First World War are accurate, detailed and poignant.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews