Primrose Past: The 1848 Journal of Young Lady Primrose

by Caroline Rose Hunt

Primrose Past recreates, with rare authenticity and engaging spirit, the diary of a young girl growing up in Victorian England -- a time of simple manners and values, when life was lived slowly and morals were passed on from generation to generation through homilies and by example. The young lady of the story -- fifteen years of age in 1848, the year of the journal -- narrates in a fresh and endearing voice a year in the life of a Victorian family, offering a window into the lifestyle of the time; along the way she even includes recipes for dishes she learns from the family cook over the course of the year (authentic 19th-century recipes the author discovered in the course of her research). But the story, deceptively simple at first, soon takes on an air of suspense, as her parents leave on a journey, and her father writes with the news that her mother has taken gravely ill; soon thereafter the little girl -- identified only by the nickname "cygnet", or young swan, in the diary -- finds a letter among her mother's belongings leading her to question her own parentage. The text of the journal is framed by a present-day narrative, in Caroline's own voice, detailing the discovery of the actual diary, and Caroline's own attempts to discover the truth behind this enigmatic story.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

250 pages, Hardcover

First published December 26, 2000

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOOD!!!! Quick read, narriative about a 15 year old English country girl. Similar to a rich, English Laura Ingles.
So would that be "Little Manor on the Prarie"?

[Cate (The Professional Fangirl) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. A quaint little story about a 15-year-old girl and her everyday life in 1848 in England. It is told through her diary entries, including the letters her father sent her.

I can easily see this as a BBC TV movie or serial.

Trivia: Caroline Rose Hunt is the grandmother of stage/film/TV actor, Stark Sands.

[Kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is sort of an advertisement for the author's cafe which is named after Lady Primrose, but I did like the characters. The book wandered a little through the main character's childhood, and I think, stopped at the best bit. I would rather know what happened next rather than what led up to the final moment in this book.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting work of fiction. I didn't like the ending, as it really leaves you hanging.

[Lori]

Wont rate, too boring to finish

[Chelsea]

Yawn.