Persephone

by Lucy M. Boston

In spite of the modernity carefully but quietly emphasized, and unfortunately, in spite of the author's skillful writing, this is still an unabashedly romantic woman's novel following the misadventures of one Persephone. She is an innocent dreamer, living out an uncommunicative existence on the farm until her mother's lover tries to rape her and she leaves home to find work. Which she does in a convent where she takes care of the cows and gets religion. . . in an overwhelming way as the Reverend Mother tries to stamp out Persephone's natural sensuality and a certain pagan streak that makes her long for the sea. Persephone is finally forced to leave, ending up in a mental hospital as one of its more sensitive patients. There she has an affair, becomes pregnant and again leaves to be taken care of by a friendly housekeeper and is the model for an infatuated artist's major work. She eventually loses the baby but finds love. . . . If the author could have confined her excesses to the nuns, who are marvelous characters, perhaps this would have been more appealing.

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Lucy M. Boston (1892–1990), born Lucy Maria Wood, was an English novelist who wrote for children and adults, publishing her work entirely after the age of 60. She is best known for her "Green Knowe" series: six low fantasy children's novels published by Faber between 1954 and 1976. The setting is Green Knowe, an old country manor house based on Boston's Cambridgeshire home at Hemingford Grey. For the fourth book in the series, A Stranger at Green Knowe (1961), she won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.[1]

During her long life, she distinguished herself as a writer, mainly of children’s books, and as the creator of a magical garden. She was also an accomplished artist who had studied drawing and painting in Vienna, and a needlewoman who produced a series of patchworks.