Small Gains

Gains #1

by K.M. Peyton

A tragic saga set at the turn of the 18th century; a poverty-stricken family struggles to survive against unimaginable odds. Set just after the Napoleonic wars, Small Gains is the story of Clara, a true heroine who struggles to keep her head above water in a time of poverty and prejudice. Nat, the cruel but incredibly attractive son of the local rich family, turns both Clara and her family's lives upside down, both in the world of racing and in the flushes of first love. And with the threat of tuberculosis hanging over them all, Clara faces up to her extraordinary life and loves with certainty and passion. This is a powerful novel—the story that Jane Austen never told.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

363 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton MBE, who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults

Reviews

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, it was well written and realistic. The plot went in directions I wasn’t expecting and explored a few interesting themes – refreshing! I like the way K.M. Peyton writes, she has an honest and insightful way with words and her characters are complex and flawed.

However as usual I have complaints, because I’m picky. (SPOILERS AHEAD)

1. I can’t stand it when the narrator portends in a vague, usually gloomy way about the future of the plot, e.g. “If only I knew, then, what trouble was in store for me… looking back, those were the last happy times…” etc. Just let me be surprised and shocked when I get to the conflict, can’t you? It’s so much more powerful if I’m NOT expecting it.

2. I do not accept the idea that babies are immediately recognisable as someone’s child at birth. Nonsense! Newborns look like newborns, little squashed red things with slitty eyes that are normally closed. There’s no way you can look at it hours after it’s born and say: “YES that is definitely Nat Grover’s child, no question about it, it is identical to him!” as they all did with Margaret’s baby. I mean why did they even need that confirmation that it was his child? It’s not like she’d been gadding about the country with numerous other swains. UNLIKE some others I could mention, *cough* Clara.

3. Everyone in the village seemed remarkably relaxed about morals, scarcely batted an eye over both Clara and Margaret producing children left right & centre with no prospect of engagement let alone marriage. Clara’s parents didn’t seem particularly upset over Nat’s ‘deal’ or the fact that she didn’t know who the baby’s father was due to sleeping with two different men in as many nights. I suppose it was a small rural village and they were poor farming folk not gentry, so they didn’t care as much about social niceties? Clara talked a bit at the start of the book about how that sort of thing happens all the time and that she fully expected to get married very young ‘before or shortly after’ getting pregnant by some farm lad! I don’t know, I just felt like her family and the rest of the village were a little TOO accepting and non-judgmental. They barely even gossiped about it. Seemed a little unrealistic for that era – I’m thinking The Mill on the Floss, which had a similar setting but a few decades later. I guess Maggie was from a slightly higher social class but the results of her spending one night in the same hotel as a guy she wasn’t married to were catastrophic (even though nothing actually happened!) Her reputation was shredded to the point where she struggled to find someone willing to rent her a house or give her a job, let alone marry. Whereas in this, Reverend Whatsisname was happy for his only son to marry Clara (on his deathbed) so that her child “wouldn’t be a bastard”?? Apparently THAT would have been a big problem, but being well known to be conceived out of wedlock to another man would be totally fine and have no implications on her future. The whole thing was odd.

But yeah, apart from those issues, a good read!

[Cal Speet · Rating 5 out of 5]

this almost turned me into a horse girl

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly picked this up at the library, thinking I'd heard of the name K.M. Peyton, and I'd give it a go. I ended up really enjoying it! Clara has a great voice, and the characters are all very well drawn. The antagonism of the Grovers is deliciously nasty, but it is clear that Nat struggles against his powerful father, and would be a better man if he weren't under his parents' bad influence. I really liked that Clara both hated and yet was attracted to him, and how confused this made her. I confess I was thinking the storyline would be fairly tame, yet rather a lot goes on, especially towards the latter end of the book! I found it very, very readable, and have already got my hands on the sequel. I'm also going to track down 'Flambards' by the author too!



Upon re-reading this, I still enjoyed it, but found the way the point of view changed a bit weird, especially as it wasn’t even precluded by a chapter break as the novel wore on. I also noticed the discrepancy in Nat’s age; in the first chapter he is 18, and Clara 11, but further in in the book, when Clara is 14, Nat is said to be 19?? Tut-tut!!

[Isabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book very well written. A good insight on what life was like at the end of the 19th Century England for farm families. The book depicts really well the poor living condition and the huge discrepancy between rich and poor family. It also shows well how women were treated and how young people were considered adults... And finally a very good description of character developing through their lives.
Clara is the narrator, she is the second daughter of Garlands, a widower who lost his wife to tuberculosis. The eldest daughter, Margaret also suffers from the condition. Clara loves horses an her whole life is dedicated to looking after horses - and doing other chores in the family. Margaret falls in love with the Dark and ambiguous character Nat Grover, from the tyrannical Grover rich family. There are also Clara's brother, Jack, and his friend Martin as well as the Vicar's son Nicolas, who also suffers from consumption...
Life takes Clara on unexpected 'journeys' where she discovers that there are contradictions in every one: the dark/light side of Nat Grover, the attraction/repulsion she feels for him and other men... I was left a little wanting to know more at the end of the book (I was really wondering who the father of the child to be would be), but I guess that encourages me to get the second book of the series to see how the characters develop.

[Junior Bodden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small gains is about a tragic saga set at the turn. In the 18th century, a poverty family struggles to survive against unimaginable odds.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this book. The story was excellent but the style of writing was a bit too simple for my taste. It was in the 15 plus section in the library but really a ten year old wouldn't have any trouble reading this! It was too simple! The descriptions were great but lacked more discriptive words, 'harder word'. It wouldn't be suitable for a ten year old to read though as there were parts in the book which talked about lovers and such.
I love horses and this book would be great for horse people. It's about Clara and her life which is full of tragedies, and how she fares with them. She looks after the horses brillantly and they thrive with her care and it's great how they improve so much and help the farm. I'll not say too much else about the story as the blurb is excellent on this book.
This book doesn't seem to be popular on Goodreads but this book is a 'good read'. It's not an excellent read but it's a 'good read'.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nearly deserves a 5! How I love K.M. Peyton!

[Elvina Meme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely 18th century love tale.. (:

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard book to put down.