None So Pretty

by Margaret Irwin

None So Pretty describes, with a sensibility and conviction unusual in historical fiction, the life of a young girl brought up in a large, aristocratic, but impecunious family, and married off at an early age to a neighbouring squire who nightly drinks himself under the table. It is not long before the young wife discovers that her sottish husband keeps a mistress at his lodge gates, and that he does not propose to consummate his marriage. Relief from a life of intolerable loneliness comes in the form of a young cavalier who stumbles into her bedroom one night after a hearty carouse downstairs, and the acquaintance thus started swiftly ripens into a deeper affection. To disclose the final sequence of events in this curious drama would be to spoil the story for a prospective reader; one must be content to conclude that by commending Miss Irwin's fascinatingly life-like and original characters, and her gift for creating vivid, unforgettable mental pictures.

Hardcover

First published December 1, 1953

About the author

Born in 1899 and educated at Oxford, Irwin was recognized as a novelist of well-researched and occasionally heart-breaking historical fiction. She is best known for her trilogy about Elizabeth I: Young Bess, Elizabeth Captive Princess, and Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain. Young Bess was made into a movie starring Jean Simmons.

Irwin also wrote passionately about the English Civil War, causing generations to fall in love with the ill-fated but charismatic Earl of Montrose.

Reviews

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Nan Ingleby's family expected to be back in favor once Charles II regained his throne, but that never came about and as one of 14 children she was lucky to find a husband, even if she met him for the first time on their wedding day. It is not long before she learns her drunken and loutish husband keeps a mistress at his lodge gatehouse and does not plan to consummate the marriage. Relief from a life of intolerable loneliness comes in the form of a young cavalier who stumbles into her bedroom one night after a hearty carouse below, and the acquaintance thus started quickly ripens into deeper affection.

As always, Ms. Irwin's fascinatingly life-like and original characters, and her gift for creating vivid, unforgettable mental pictures makes a memorable novel.