Rhine Journey

by Ann Schlee

Like the Rhine, Charlotte Morrison was full of unsuspected depths and hidden murmurings. On the surface, she was the unmarried Victorian aunt, whose sparse, unfulfilled life echoed the expectations of those she drudged for. But, happily boating down the Rhine with her brother and his wife, the sight of a fellow traveller, Edward Newman, releases the hissing flood waters of her subconscious. Dark and dangerous, they sweep Charlotte onward towards the watershed of her life. 'The quality of the writing is so extraordinarily high that I could hardly believe it was a first novel' Margaret Forster 'I raced through Rhine Journey. Mrs Schlee's simple and direct style makes for very easy reading. This is a first novel of considerable promise.' Olivia Manning 'A journey down the Rhine in the company of Ann Schlee is the purest, simples pleasure' Sunday Telegraph

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Germany, British Literature, Summer, Literary Fiction, Classics

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Ann Schlee was born in Connecticut in 1934 and spent parts of her childhood and adolescence in Egypt, Sudan, Khartoum, and Eritrea. She went to boarding school in England and read English at Somerville College, Oxford. In 1957 she married artist Nick Schlee, brought up their four children, and wrote five children’s novels, including The Vandal, which won the 1980 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Rhine Journey, the first of her novels for adults, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1981. Subsequently she combined her writing with teaching, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997.

Reviews

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

It is the summer of 1851. Charlotte Morrison has gone with her brother, Charles, his wife, Marion and their daughter, Ellie, on a trip to Germany. Charlotte is in her early 40’s. She has been a housekeeper for the past 20 plus years. Her patron has died and has left her an inheritance. So, monetarily, she is self sufficient, but where and what to do next are the questions confronting her.

When she was 15, Charlotte had an encounter with a young man for whom she developed feelings. Her brother, who is a clergyman, did not approve and sent her away. On this trip, she sees a man who initially resembles her past love. It isn’t but this awakens an emotional turmoil within Charlotte.

As the trip progresses, Charlotte must deal with her past feelings and she must decide on her future. Does she want to live with her brother and his wife and be at their beck and call? This is 1851- what options does she have- the spinster sister/ sister in law.

This novel has a dream like feel- besides Charlotte’s vivid dreams ( which were dreams and what was the reality?), there is a dream like quality to the writing.

“Why feel a bleakness at this sudden settling of her life, without bells, without flowers, without the sharp pattern of rice.”

“…can it possibly matter that we allow two young people to imagine that they love one another when in two days’ time they will in any event be parted?”

A beautiful book that cast a spell over me as I was reading. The ending was absolutely sublime!

Published: 1980
Reissued by both Daunt Books and McNally Books in 2024.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll read anything McNally Editions puts out and anything Lost Ladies of Lit discusses and this ticks both those boxes. LLL described it as a Bavarian A Room with a View and it is a little, but there’s so much more going on. I loved that the main character is early middle aged, that there’s romantic baggage, that she’s questioning her place in her little family unit (brother, SIL, and niece). The descriptions of Germany in 1851 are beautiful. The ending was perfect though I kind of want to see the fall out. I disagree with the introduction as it didn’t feel contemporary to the time to me, but it was really well done.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreamy as a pastel postcard, 'Rhine Journey' meanders its short course to a genteel crisis. As readers we spend much of the time imprisoned in Charlotte's mind in a series of imagined fantasy conversations with Edward, whose face changes from that of misattributed lost-love, to pursuer.

The whole works to effectively evoke the suffocating subservience of mid-Victorian spinsterhood, where freedom was confined to the tiny gasping flights into the realms of thought. This is a long way from 'The Yellow Wallpaper', but tells a similar story on the straightjacket imposed by social conformity, and desire for a 'room of one's own'. The most poignant scenes were the plainest: in particular, Charlotte's thought that a prison-like but personal cell of whitewashed walls could represent a improvement, if it could only be hers.

An oft-trod path for fiction is done well here. Time will tell whether the elegant Rhenish scenes will stick with me, but it's among the better examples I've read to date.

[Elizabeth]

Interesting! I wasn’t really enjoying this until the last three chapters. And now I think I need to reread it to understand what was really happening. The narrative is multi-layered in a fascinating way. My edition had an introduction by Lauren Groff that also helped when I went back and read it after I finished. The historical context of this novel is very specific and comes into play in an interesting way. I hope to write more because I have more thoughts, including about Charlotte as a narrator and how reliable she is.

[Buchdoktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der britische Reverend Charles Morrison ist 1851 mit Frau Marion, der 17-jährigen Tochter Ellie und seiner Schwester Charlotte unterwegs auf einer Reise per Schaufelraddampfer auf dem Rhein. Die „leidende“ Marion soll zu dieser Gelegenheit zu einem Kuraufenthalt abgeliefert werden. Die Beziehungen innerhalb des Grüppchens wirken gespannt, weil einerseits die heiratsfähige Ellie unbedingt vom unziemlichen Kontakt zu jungen Männern ferngehalten werden soll und noch ungeklärt ist, ob die circa 40-jährige Charlotte ihr restliches Leben als alte Jungfer/unverheiratete Tante im Haushalt ihres Bruders verbringen wird. Außerdem tritt Charles als unerträglich pharisäerhafter Typ auf, der jede Kultur und jede Religion außer seiner eigenen zu finsterem Aberglauben erklärt. Den Kölner Dom wird er jedenfalls nicht besuchen. Als Charlotte meint, zwischen Kutschfahrten, Eselsritten und Flusspassagen jenen Desmond Fermer zu erblicken, dessen Heiratsantrag sie vor 20 Jahren unter Charles Zwang ablehnen musste, brechen alte Konflikte zwischen den drei Erwachsenen wieder auf. Dass der mittelalte Herr Newman nicht der inzwischen 60-jährige Fermer sein kann, ist Charlotte jedoch völlig klar. Als Leser zweifelt man zugleich an der Lebenstüchtigkeit von Bruder und Schwester, die damals offenbar verdrängten, dass ein Mühlenbesitzer von einer Ehefrau Mitgift und Mitarbeit erwarten wird, die einer noch jungen Pfarrhaushälterin (bei einem älteren Kollegen von Charles) eher nicht zuzutrauen waren. Charlotte wird heute noch wie ein Dienstmädchen behandelt und auch der Ton der Eltern gegenüber Ellie wirkt alles andere als christlich.

Vor der Kulisse eines paranoiden Preußen kurz nach den Ereignissen von 1848, so Lauren Groff in ihrem informativen Nachwort, entwickelt Ann Schlee ein scharfsinniges, präzise beobachtetes Sittengemälde einer Zeit, in der unverheiratete Frauen praktisch zu Leibeigenen eines männlichen Verwandten erklärt wurden. Kein Wunder, dass unter diesen Umständen Marion wie Charlotte so verwirrt wie manipulativ wirken, so dass man stets damit rechnen muss, in ihre Alpträume entführt zu werden. Die Folgen einer Begegnung mit einer Deutschland-erfahrenen britischen Familie mit halbwüchsigen Söhnen blättern schließlich eine Überraschung auf, die die Ereignisse in völlig anderem Licht erscheinen lässt.

Fazit
Auf nur 240 Seiten entfaltet Ann Schlee (1981 zuerst veröffentlicht) ein bemerkenswertes Psychogramm der Familie Morrison, das mir durch die Kürze des Textes, den historischen Hintergrund und die Charakterisierung der exzentrischen Figuren als Lektüre in einem Lesekreis Vergnügen bereiten würde.

[Lucia Nieto Navarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela ambientada en 1851 en plena era victoriana. La historia sigue a Charlotte, una mujer de 45 años que ya es considerada “la solterona” que viaja por el Rin en un barco con su hermano Charles (un pastor anglicano), su esposa Marion y la hija de estos Elli, de 17 años.
El viaje esta pensado para mejorar la salud de Marion, pero finalmente se convierte es una experiencia “transformadora” para Charlotte.
Durante el trayecto cree reconocer a un hombre del que estuvo enamorada, despertando recuerdos, frustraciones y sueños reprimidos, y además Ellie se siente atraída por un soldado prusiano, lo que reflejara la tensión entre las normas sociales del momento.
Un libro muy bien escrito, que no parece que sea de 1981, además la historia proporciona un periodo de la historia prusiana como telón de fondo del que poco sabia y que me ha gustado, añadiendo el Rin como un personaje más de la historia.
Te encontraras esa represión victoriana del momento, un contraste entre la realidad y lo que Charlotte desea, muchas tensiones familiares y sociales y además un viaje transformador ya que despierta en los protagonistas recuerdos, fantasías y preguntas sobre la libertad y la identidad.
Una historia muy cortita, muy bien escrita, sin giros, pero de las que te mantienen con ganas de saber que pasa y como acaba.

[WndyJW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exceptional “forgotten gem” from McNally Editions. This novel was nominated for the Booker in 1981.

Charlotte Morrison has always been defined by her relationship to others-sister to the Reverend Charles Morrison, sister-in-law to Marion Morrison, and aunt to Charles and Marion’s daughter Ellie, and until recently the live-in caretaker of Mr. Ransome, who left Charlotte his fortune allowing her an independent life. This newly acquired freedom has created a sense of being unmoored for Charlotte who now has no job and no home. Will she make her home with her brother’s family and be a help to the often ill Marion and a companion/governess to her niece, and be under her brother’s supervision? These questions are on her mind as Charlotte embarks on a trip to Baden Baden with her family.

At the start of the journey, while boarding the ship, Charlotte thinks she sees a lost love, and although she immediately realizes her mistake this sudden, painful memory throws Charlotte into an existential crisis and puts her at odds with her brother and sister-in-law who sent her away when they discovered her feelings for the man they felt was unsuitable for Charlotte. That the mistaken man is taking the same trip with this family, forcing him often into Charlotte’s company sparks dreams and fantasies of a relationship with this married man.

This story of a repressed Victorian “spinster” weighing the risk of loneliness against a life of her own choosing reminded me of Lolly Willowes and All Passion Spent, however, this story is more dreamlike at times and more psychologically probing.

Setting the story in the dramatic beauty of Rhineland with crumbling castles and the churning river, and the political dangers of 1850s created a sense of anxious anticipation that mirrors the inner turmoil experienced by Charlotte.

The language and societal, cultural mores of this beautifully written novel feel very much like it was written in the 1920s, with the Victorian era a recent memory, and not in 1980. Highly recommended!

[Annalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very well written little book, with characters that become increasingly annoying as the book progresses. I have little patience for those 19th century British women with their headaches and hang-ups!

[Kubi]

Really an internal recalibration masquerading as a travelogue. Middle-aged spinster (throwing these labels around) Charlotte is on vacation with her reverend brother and his family in Germany, but she spends most of her time processing a change in her circumstances and reckoning with the regrets of her past. When the perspective eventually expands to regard the backdrop of a fractured state, the change is a refreshing shock - yes, the world goes on in spite of us.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhine Journey is a marvelous work of historical fiction, exquisitely focused on its economical cast of characters. I haven't enjoyed a book with this many dream sequences since A Double Life by Karolina Pavlova. Really a marvelous work of interior landscape, perception, and ideation.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across references to Rhine Journey a few times, including at least one identifying it as an all time favorite. I also acquired a lovely illustrated first edition that was an additional pleasure to read. It is a short book and the story is beautifully, delicately written, although beneath its circumspect outward appearance (the story takes place in 1851), there seethes tremendous emotion: desire, manipulation, for-your-own-good-ism.

The story is about a Reverend Morrison, his sister Charlotte, his wife and teenage daughter who are taking a paddle boat journey along the Rhine. They meet another family and attract the attention of a young Prussian soldier, encounters which stir thing up to put it mildly.

Rhine Journey was published in 1980 but as you read it is easy to imagine it were written nearer the time it portrays. That is a credit to Ann Schlee’s writing. Also to her credit is the marvelous, imaginative way she portrays the inner life of the main character, Charlotte. The way Charlotte’s waking experiences transform into dreams and how she deals with her brother and sister-in-law’s hypocrisies and comme il faut approach to life—her life!—is exceedingly well done. I do hope Charlotte kicked over the traces!!

[Colin Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a very Victorian sensibility to this delicately-told story of Charlotte, the chronically timid spinster aunt, haunted during an 1850 cruise down the Rhine by a stranger who reminds her of a man with whom she had briefest romantic moment some years before.
Schlee avoids the temptation to become too censorious of her stiff-necked clergyman brother, someone whose first concern with a dying man is to ascertain his religion, but who neverthless risks his life to offer the last rites.
The story is slight, but there is a lightly touched-upon background of political troubles, which when expanded leads to Charlotte's own liberation of spirit.

[Thomas Rose-Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligent and psychologically quite astute. Set in the 1850s, the book captures in painstaking detail quite emblematic of the era the inner journey of an unmarried woman in her late thirties, paralleled with the progress she and her family make along the Rhine river. It's as if Jane Austin and Anita Brookner had joined forces to produce a mature, contemplative and ultimately moving read.

[Shazza Hoppsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of Anne Schlee's grandson -
"The novel is an explosive device. And it is a shock to realise that your grandmother is a bomb maker"
- Sam Johnson-Schlee, on Rhine Journey
Could not put it down.

[Mahika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me of Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes, which at first stages the familiar realist Victorian plot--with Lolly in her brother's home where she must fulfill the role of spinster aunt--in an attempt to transform it. Charlotte Morrison's story is somewhat like Lolly's: assessed for her domestic value, she is (prior to the start of the novel) sent away by her family to be a housekeeper in another home, a position which ultimately leaves her independently wealthy when her employer wills her an inheritance.

That inheritance brings with it an existential question: surely she can't take the money and live, selfishly, by herself? Her brother, Charles, and his wife, Marion, suggest that she instead move in with them and use the inheritance to cover the inevitable costs they will incur in hosting her. Charlotte serves an important function for her brother's family: to his wife, she is a kind of maidservant; to his daughter, she is like a governess... But there she doesn't really have a "place" of her own. Her identity has always been tied to other people: "Without the weight of those other personalities pressed against her she felt limitless, unreal..."

Who is she as an individual? At first it seems selfish-- indeed, those around her work to confirm this fear-- to even ask the question. She needs a place in which to discover herself: "All her adult life she had lived in houses built of deep accretions of other people's lives... here, she herself might extend to the very walls and they would reflect back upon her, her plant, her sampler, things that were herself..." She imagines the opportunity to "quietly extend herself... moving from room to room (to) meet and recognize herself in forms unaltered by the pressures of others upon her..."

So this apparent travelogue frames a inner journey, mediated by a doppelgänger. It is Edward Newman, uncannily mistaken for a past love, who probes a reconsideration of Charlotte's beliefs. The symbolism is striking: he appears first as a "dark shape" against the water, and like with the Mekong River of The Lover, parallels are made between the currents of the Rhine and Charlotte's own "inner currents," and the pervasive fear of being dragged underwater.

Artful, stirring, hauntingly beautiful... "Her trespass was invisible. There were no footsteps discernible in the dew..."

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. When I first started this my heart sank a little as it read a bit too much like our last book group read (Brontë) which I’m ashamed to say I didn’t love. However Schlee has performed quite the feat (for me) of writing a Victorian era novel that not only cuts out the bits I hate from novels of the period (the melodrama, the unnecessary length!) but also the bits I hate from modern historical fiction (mainly the anachronistic motivations assigned to female characters who would never in a million years have thought or behaved in a way similar to women today). And she does it all within a tight, sparse, understated novel where nary a word is out of place.

I loved the (are they real or aren’t they?) dream sequences. I loved her use of the romance of the Rhine to underline Charlotte’s torment and I loved the background the book gave to a period in Prussian history that I feel I should know more about. It’s probably still too close to a Victorian novel for me to love it whole-heartedly (the prejudice runs deep) but still this is a quiet, restrained little gem that is well worth a read - and that ending is just absolutely perfect.

[Rine Bekkelund · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Litt kjedelig, men den var bra skrevet så ville fått dårlig samvittighet dersom jeg ga den mindre

[Connor Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty fantastic short read. So much in this little book. Period writing rooted in its moment, but also offering a timeless exploration of deeply personal themes. Dreamy.

I like Schlee’s prose too. The jagged and undulating rhythm of the words and sentences feels as much a reflection of the main character’s confused, uncertain personhood as the narrative itself puts forward.

[Charlotte Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a tense, propulsive read! The writing is spectacular and Charlotte is a character that I won’t soon forget.

It is 1851 and she is an unmarried spinster on a summer trip down the Rhine in Germany with her brother, sister-in-law and 17 year old niece. Her brother Charles (ok their names did bother me because they’re the same name in female/male form and would a family really do that? I guess in 1851 they did.) is more like a father figure and their relationship power dynamic fascinated me. He’s a country pastor while also being an English snob. He loves living on the moral high ground of his own making and mostly sees Charlotte as a dependent under his thumb. Somehow through their conversations, it’s apparent that there is still love between them, though, and neither seems to be fully comfortable with the dynamic that their circumstances have placed them in.

Charlotte has recently inherited some money from a man she kept house for and this fact looms in the background of these last few days of the trip, almost like an escape hatch. She also sees a man whose face reminds her of a lost love from when she was 15. The memories of their brief courtship begin to haunt and overtake her.

While there is not exactly a plot, several events happen that Charlotte reacts to which keep the pages turning. The real action happens internally as she struggles with what she wants for herself and how she fits into her family.

I loved it! High 4 stars! The writing is so very good and it’s a book that prompts discussion and analysis, which I always love. The characters are richly developed and the time period is written so well that it’s hard to believe the book was actually published in 1981.

[Liz Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the latest offering from McNally Editions, you might think it’s a reissue of a slim Victorian classic. It’s actually a historical novel that was shortlisted for the 1981 Booker Prize. Schlee not only sets her story in 1851; she seems to transform herself into a lady scribbler of that era. She allows no anachronisms of ideology or tone, understanding that she only has to record women’s daily lives and her modern readers will feel her feminist points more powerfully for having been shown and not told. Even her sly humor is exactly what you would expect a snarky spinster to indulge in with plausible deniability. Schlee’s writing is precisely calibrated to convey the nuances that carry so much meaning in a repressive atmosphere and her characters - both women and men - are believably (de)formed by the strictures of their times. And she so shrewdly dropped hints to convince me I knew how the story would end, that I was doubly wowed for having been misled.

[Dunja Brala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich hab ja irgendwie ein Herz für Reiseberichte. Die dürfen ruhig der Nachkriegszeit entspringen und einen gewissen Heimatfilm Esprit verbreiten. Moselreise und Berlinreise von Hanns-Josef Ortheil waren für mich tatsächlich Highlights. Da hab ich bei diesem Titel direkt zugegriffen. Eine Rheinreise möchte ich wenn ich 90 bin unbedingt auch noch machen.

Wir sind im Jahr 1851 als Charlotte Morrison ihren Bruder Charles, einen protestantischen Gottesmann mit dessen Familie auf einer Reise in ein Deutschland begleitet, welche sich gerade politisch im Umbruch befindet. Die Briten besteigen einen Schaufelraddampfer und schippern von Baden-Baden bis Köln, als Charlotte auf dem Halt in Koblenz einen jungen Mann entdeckt, der ihrem verflossenen Liebhaber sehr ähnlich sieht. Doch Edward Newman hat nur optisch etwas mit der alten Liebe zu tun. Charlotte flüchtet sich trotzdem in Erinnerungen und stellt dem Mitreisenden regelrecht nach. Sie bewegt sich zwischen Traum und Wirklichkeit, was zu einigen Verwicklungen führt. Ihre Schwägerin Marion und die Nichte Elli bieten nebenher die perfekte Unterhaltung. In Köln kommt es dann schlussendlich zum großen Finale.

Dieser Roman erschien bereits 1981 und wurde regelrecht wieder entdeckt. Die Autorin hat die Sprache des 19. Jahrhunderts perfekt imitiert und gibt ein authentisches Bild der viktorianischen Gesellschaft mit all ihren Konventionen wieder. Besonders das Miteinander von Mann und Frau zeigt, wie eng das Korsett der Umgangsregeln geschnürt war.

Schlees Ausdrucksweise war nicht immer leicht zugänglich. Ich fühlte mich vom Text mehrfach herausgefordert, weil er trotz der linearen Erzählform wie zerfasert wirkt. Der Lokalkolorit wurde mir anfangs zu wenig eingearbeitet. Erst ab Bonn war ich so richtig im Rheintal des 19. Jahrhunderts. Und das Köln dann doch so eine exponierte Stelle einnimmt, hat mich natürlich sehr gefreut. Sogar Altenberg hier ganz in meiner Nähe wird einmal erwähnt. Allerdings stand doch mehr die britische Familie mit ihren Unzulänglichkeiten im Mittelpunkt, so dass die Kulisse zwar nettes Beiwerk war, aber nicht eine weitere Protagonistin. Das fand ich zwar ein bisschen schade, ist aber ja nicht schuld der Autorin.

Der Plot an sich hat mich nicht besonders gepackt und dass ich das Buch trotzdem relativ zügig bis zum Ende gelesen habe, lag dann doch mehr am Aufenthaltsort, denn am Familiendrama. Das Nachwort von Lauren Groff wiederholte zwar viel aus dem Gelesenen, gibt aber trotzdem Aufschluss über den literarischen Rahmen, und ist somit eine bereichernde Ergänzung

Ich empfehle das Buch allen, die sich ebenfalls auf ein kleines Abenteuer mitten in Deutschland in einer anderen Zeit begeben möchten und sich nicht davor scheuen, eine etwas antiquiert wirkende Sprache zu entdecken. Es ist ein gutes Buch für ruhige Stunden unter der Decke, auf dem Sofa, in einem sonnigen Herbst.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Im Jahr 1851 reist der britische Reverend mit seiner Frau Marion, seiner 17jährigen Tochter Ellie und seiner unverheirateten Schwester Charlotte per Schaufelraddampfer auf dem Rhein durch Deutschland. Marion soll zu einem Kuraufenthalt begleitet werden und ihr "Leiden", dessen Symptome an Migräne erinnern, tritt nur dann auf, wenn es für sie gerade passend erscheint. Ellie ist im "heiratsfähigen" Alter, soll allerdings wie schon damals ihre Tante unbedingt von unziemlichen Verehrern ferngehalten werden - eine Aufgabe, die vor allem Charlotte zufällt, die mit ihren 38 Jahren eine klassische alte Jungfer ist. Als Charlotte auf dem Schiff einen Passagier entdeckt, der sie vom Aussehen her an ihren einzigen Verehrer erinnert, verfängt sie sich zunächst in Phantasien und ihre Gefühle überwältigen sie. Bald wird klar, die Familie ist alles andere als harmonisch und die Konflikte und Spannungen zwischen Charlotte und ihrem Bruder sowie zwischen Charlotte und ihrer Schwägerin werden deutlich sichtbar.
Die Geschichte ist ruhig erzählt und der Spannungsbogen sehr langsam ansteigend. Es gibt einen seltsamen Vorfall, der die Reisenden beschäftigen wird (und überraschend aufgeklärt wird am Ende der Geschichte). Dieser steht jedoch nur für die Protagonisten vermeintlich im Vordergrund. Die Leser der Geschichte werden viel mehr von den immer deutlicher auftretenden negativen Seiten der Protagonisten fasziniert sein und davon, wie sich die Personen miteinander verhalten.
Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt ist, wie sich Charlotte mit ihrer Vergangenheit auseinander setzt, ihre verpassten Chancen und Lebensentscheidungen neu bewertet und am Ende des Romans eine Entscheidung über ihre Zukunft trifft. Ihre Phantasien und Träume haben mich sehr berührt und nicht zum ersten Mal war ich schockiert darüber, wie unverheiratete Frauen im 19. Jahrhundert behandelt wurden!
Ich kann "Die Rheinreise" absolut weiterempfehlen und die Neuauflage von 2025 ist zudem wirklich sehr ansprechend gestaltet!

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is a complex psychological study of an unmarried woman who is treated as a child by her brother and his wife, Marion. Charlotte’s desire for agency and for being a self, not an appendage, bubbles forth on this Rhine Journey, where she has been transported from her subservient role as existing solely to please/aid/assist others to the possibilities that other environments might give. There is a clear feminist point of view and of course the reader wants for Charlotte to fight against the strangulating constrictions of her place in the male-dominated world of her brother’s home.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1981 Booker shortlist book is about Charlotte Morrison as she travels down the Rhine with her controlling and boring brother and sister in law, and her 17 year old niece who she loves. At 45, Charlotte’s spinsterhood is a “burden” and we see her interior struggles and feelings of isolation and regret. Some really beautifully written turns of phrases and imagery. I really enjoyed this, though it’s definitely a no plot all vibes book.

[Carmen Liffengren · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Rhine Journey is an interior journey for Charlotte as she navigates her place among her brother, sister-in-law, and beloved niece. It's stifling and Victorian, but also atmospheric and meandering. With echoes of Persuasion, I love a novel that bubbles with intensity just below the surface.

Read for Spinster September.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is somewhere between Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day and Forster’s A Room with a View. The work is even more astonishing as it was written in the 1980s and yet is pitch perfect Victorian.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Oorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the ending really brought this book up to 3.5 stars for me but my god i hated this family so much

[Catherine Goodrich]

Remains Of The Day on the Victorian pleasure cruise, anchors away mama!

[Fabienne Quennet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagination unleashed: dreams, fantasies, subconsciousness interwoven. If you like realistic novels, this is not for you. Wonderful settings, atmosphere, and historical background. A memorable and somewhat tragic mid-19th heroine, full of yearning, sentiment, striving for empowerment.