One Poor Scruple

by Josephine Mary Ward, Julia Meszaros (Introduction), Bonnie Lander Johnson (Introduction)

The Catholic University of America Press is pleased to continue to present new volumes in our Catholic Women Writers series, which will shed new light on prose work of Catholic women writers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Josephine Ward is one of Catholicism's greatest literary treasures and a foremost contributor to English literary history – except that she has all but completely fallen from the historical record. She spent her life in close companionship with the most active minds working in the late 19th century to restore to the Catholic Church in England the intellectual, sacramental and theological integrity it had once enjoyed before three hundred years of persecution. All seven of her novels are out of print, despite their once high acclaim in the fin de siècle literary world.

First published in 1899, One Poor Scruple follows the recusant Riversdale family who have survived the long penal years by observing a quiet aristocratic life of sport and agriculture, never stepping into the public sphere from which Catholics in Britain had been barred for so long. But at the start of the twentieth century, a new generation has emerged. The novel's younger characters are now legally able to go to Oxford and Cambridge and to enter the public life of letters. Emboldened by the confident work of John Henry Newman, this younger generation of Catholics are nonetheless cautioned not to trust the Protestant establishment. One Poor Scruple is a coming-of-age story in which the new generation of more worldly Catholics search for love, friendship and intellectual emancipation in the decadent social world of Edwardian London. Decades before Evelyn Waugh examined in Brideshead Revisited the human struggle to distinguish between true and false beauty, Ward's novel examined the challenge of discerning between conflicting desires and of living a life that is as truthful and good as it is beautiful.

Genres: Fiction

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

On The Literary Life podcast, I heard Jason Baxter say this: "You read a book the first time to see if it's worth reading, the second time to see what it was about, and the third time is when you read it for real."

My expectation when I started this novel was 'Yes! This book is worth reading.' For the next 275 pages, I thought: "Oh no! I don't know if this book is worth reading." For the last 75 pages, I thought: "Okay, this book is worth reading."

So I've met Jason Baxter's first level. Now I need to go back and re-read it to figure out what the book's about. I think being Protestant made this book harder to 'get' on a first read. The central conflict has to do with a particularly Catholic moral quandary that is even harder for a postmodern person to understand. (I'm not sure how that dilemma would hit a postmodern Catholic person; I'd love to know.) For that and for several other reasons, it was an odd reading experience, sometimes even offputting. The ending, though, has real emotional weight and was beautifully written. I really do think that a re-read of this book would put it in a new light for me personally.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily my favourite read of 2024, this book is, at times, soul-achingly beautiful with characters that felt so real and I cared for deeply. Reading this book felt as if Elizabeth von Arnim or Elizabeth Gaskell had written Brideshead Revisited.

Madge, a young widow, is the central character as well as her husband's sister Mary, their paternal cousin Hilda and maternal cousin Marmaduke. (I had to draft a bit of a family tree when I started reading because at first it was hard to parse out the relationships between all the different key players!) The novel opens with Madge deciding to make a visit to her in-laws estate at Skipton-le-grange to try to repair a relationship that has been tense since her marriage and non-existent since the death of her husband and infant daughter.

At the heart of this story is a group of young adults coming of age and grappling with the desires of the human will versus the divine will. The characters' faith, or lack there of, becomes central to the choices they make, in a way that felt very unique among other classics that I have read. As Catholics, living in a majority Anglican society, their beliefs are often misunderstood or looked down upon by other characters. As a result the impact and influences of friendships, both good and bad, becomes another key element to the plot.

I have a hard time putting into words just how much I enjoyed this book, and I feel like I will need a reread sooner rather than later to be able to fully appreciate it.

[Lucy’s reading corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this a while ago, but never reviewed it! I loved it. Especially the second half. It can be kind of confusing to get into all of those characters, but since I read it as part of a Literature course, I understood all of it.
Such a deep, rich novel with such beautiful Catholic symbolism and values!

And sweet Marmaduke, I love him.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book set in England in the late 1800s. Faith was a character in itself and present throughout the story. The glimpse into the public's view of the Catholic faith at that time was eye-opening. The struggle of the characters who practice the faith to be in the world and to remain faithful was very real and compelling.

[Laura Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aug 2025: (Firstly how did I manage to read this at the exact same time of year) Again I say to you this is so wonderfully written. The cadence of the paragraphs is unique; multiple times I would read a paragraph, get near the end of it and catch my breath because I expected the flow of it to end with that sentence but instead the next sentence actually carried it on (?? idk if that even makes sense to me). Anyway really subtle character studies and insights into the multiple ways of seeing the world at the turn of the century. Attention to subjective experience, within an objective reality.

Aug 2024: I know Virginia Woolf says you should wait a while before reviewing a book but I can't wait, because this was wonderful and I wish these books were what I was able to read in high school. This one is encouraging even in its darkness. It is like if Henry James was a based woman and wrote so more people could follow along. Profound and simple at the same time.

[Erin! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of Jane Austen will likely adore this book as much as I did. It has flawed characters, memorable settings, and a fun, entertaining story to tie it all together. I did a presentation on One Poor Scruple and learned so much about Josephine Ward, Catholic writing, and good literature in the process. I recommend this book to anyone who can find it!