Daughters and Sons

by Ivy Compton-Burnett

Sabine Ponsonby presides over her large household with despotic force, rivalled only by her imperious daughter, Hetta. As her needling cruelties cause one governess after another to flee, the family’s younger generation begins to stir in revolt, and the seeds for a reckoning are sown.

Written in Ivy Compton-Burnett’s iconic style, where dialogue seethes with veiled insults and manipulations, Daughters and Sons is an acidic comedy of cold deceptions, mistaken identities and family struggles for dominance.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, 20th Century, British Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1937

About the author

Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, DBE was an English novelist, published (in the original hardback editions) as I. Compton-Burnett. Her works consist mainly of dialogue and focus on family life among the late Victorian or Edwardian upper middle class. She was awarded the 1955 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for her novel Mother and Son.

Reviews

[Jonathan]

Absolutely masterful - and up there with her best. Read it twice. Loved it even more the second time. Just brilliant.

[David]

At one point a character says "You are too fond of shutting yourselves up in your own little world and tossing about your own little speeches." It's a fair summary of the people in this novel. The humour, dry as ever, makes the Sahara resemble a rain forest, and the families involved are possessed of similar weaknesses. One feels that 12-year-old Muriel is the most refreshingly honest of all of them, but one also feels that Muriel will be inevitably educated to resemble all her elders--if a governess can be kept in the house.

[Zohrab Getikian]

This was really hard one to get through. The entire time I felt like I was at a dinner party hosted by dysfunctional family with many family members, all of whom just would not stop talking.

There were too many characters and I couldn't remember who was who. The entire book was dialogue and half of the time I couldn't figure out who was talking or that the scene was changing. For example I am reading a conversation happening at the dinner table and all of a sudden I realize they are in the garden.

The store (if summarized) was not a bad one with very interesting twist at the end but I would appreciate it more if I didn't have to read through the constant yapping.

But I guess, in a way, Burnett made me feel exactly what she intended to make me feel.

[Bill FromPA]

This seems a slightly more relaxed novel by Compton-Burnett; she temporarily detoured from the increasing severity she had been progressively imposing on her her style, allowing for a bit more novelistic insertion of explanation and commentary. Though all her novels provide pungently amusing dialogue, in this case it is in service of a plot driven by mistaken identity and misdirected self-interest, rather than forming the icy surface over a story out of Greek tragedy or the criminal courts. Her first true comedy since the early Pastors and Masters
A full plot summary follows:
1. 1894 Sabine Ponsonby (84) is a tyrannical matriarch dominating her grandchildren Clare (25), Frances (24), Chilton (18), Victor (17), and Muriel (11). Miss Bunyan, governess of the last named, is also a member of the household. The boys' tutor has recently left due to conflicts with Sabine.
2. We meet the remaining members of the family, Sabine's son John (early 50s), a successful author, and his sister Henrietta (48), who dominates John but cannot compete with her mother for control of the household. Miss Bunyan suddenly quits due to Sabine's verbal abuse; she moves in with her uncle, the vicar, Rev. Dr. Chaucer. Dr, Chaucer later visits the Ponsonbys in an unspoken gesture of reconciliation between the households.
3. Secondary characters are introduced. Stephen Marcon (57), physician, his twin sister Charity, a writer of biographies, and their orphaned nephew Alfred (30), who has just been hired as the new Ponsonby tutor. The town gentry, Jane Seymor (50), her brother Sir Rowland (56), and his son Evelyn (34), who is hinted to be homosexual.
4. A play attended by all the characters is put on by choirboys at the church. John admires the play and it is revealed to be taken from a novel written by his daughter Frances. That night he reads the novel and the next morning suggests (or commands, as it is understood) that she not consider publishing until he has retired from writing.
5. Muriel's new governess, Edith Hallam (46) arrives; she seems capable of holding her own with Sabine. Frances is secretly negotiating by mail with a publisher. In a discussion about the difficulty of keeping her authorship from the elders, Edith suggests Frances use her name as a nom de plume. John tells the family that his income will be significantly reduced for the foreseeable future and that his annual stays in London with his sister will be eliminated.
6. At a gathering of the characters at the Ponsonby's, John announces that he has received a check for £1000, signed Robert Seaton, from "a grateful reader". Dr. Chaucer starts to propose to Edith Hallam, but is rejected before he can fully ask the question.
7. Frances' book, "by Edith Hallam" has won a £2000 prize. Sabine steams open a letter for Edith from the publisher, learning of the deposit of the prize money into the account of Robert Seaton, who is later revealed to be Edith's uncle. Sabine counsels John to marry Edith; he proposes and is accepted. Henrietta reacts with bitterness.
8. While John and Edith are still on their honeymoon, Miss Blake (38, the characters are now a year older), the new governess arrives. She is immediately ranked as being between Bunyan and Hallam on the governess scale. Henrietta now adopts the pose of having encouraged her brother's marriage. Dr. Chaucer, after a first meeting, is contemplating his proposal to Miss Blake.
9. John and Edith return home; John immediately alludes to the family's financial straits. Another £1000 check is received, in the same manner as before, and henrietta, noticing Sabine and John's attitude toward Edith on the occasion, realizes their understanding. However, she then purchases the book by "Edith Hallam" and, recognizing the material from Frances' play, realizes the true situation. Miss Blake leaves suddenly after rejecting Chaucer's proposal, in the making of which he somehow behaved indecorously. She explains this in private to Edith, but Henrietta does not believe the story.
10. Henrietta does not appear for breakfast one morning, and John discovers a note implying that she has left the house to commit suicide. The men rush to the river, while Sabine berates the household and herself for her daughter's actions. No trace or word of Henrietta is heard; the Ponsonby's friends have heard of the circumstance and they are visited by Charity and Sir Rowland. The next morning, as the family sits down to breakfast, Henrietta appears, having, she believes, "taught them a lesson". What she has succeeded in doing is bringing John and Edith closer together in opposition to her and causing a deterioration in her mother's physical and mental health.
11. The Ponsonbys hold a party attended by all the characters. As tensions rise between Henrietta and her brother over dinner, she finally bursts out with a speech revealing the truth about Frances' book, the mistaken motivation for her brother's marriage, and Sabine's spying which led to the false assumptions about Edith's authorship. Sometime during this speech, Sabine dies quietly. The fact of Sabine's death overshadows Henrietta's behavior; in its aftermath Chaucer, offstage, proposes to Henrietta and is accepted. It is mentioned that Miss Bunyan might return as governess.
12. Rumor has it that in her will Sabine has left her entire fortune to Alfred Macron who, throughout the novel, has been shown being far more attentive to her than to his nominal charges. Alfred confronts the family with this news and tells them he intends to keep half, haughtily indicating that he would be well within his rights to keep all. He proposes to Clare and is accepted. At the actual reading of the will, it turns out that Alfred and John are co-executors and Alfred has been left only a legacy of £500. Clare is free and immediately accepts the proposal of Sir Rowland. The group returns to the Ponsonby's for the funeral dinner, where Miss Bunyan is again governess.
Previous: A House and Its Head
Next: A Family and a Fortune

[Judith]

An intriguing book which feels like a situation comedy, with a really unexpected a twist at the end. It is nearly all conversation, but not always easy to work out who’s speaking - Compton-Burnett doesn’t always bother telling you who’s talking; also what one person has just said the next person echos, which makes it a bit stilted. Not an easy read, but well worth the effort.

[lauren]

It was pretty compelling but it felt like a lot of characters appeared and I couldn't keep track of who was related to who - probably my problem more than the books. I wouldn't read it again but wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it, the story was good! I enjoyed most of the characters but some were a bit dry and I found it hard to keep reading when they showed up

[Blaire in Ashland]

Beautifully written and performed, this piece of work is both poisonous and delightful. The dialog is brilliant as are the characterizations. This is what happens when a family held under tight control by a tyrannical matriarch begins to fracture. It is quite dark, but very droll.

[Grier]

3.5 stars