Maud Melville's Marriage

by Evelyn Everett-Green

This is a story of the author's own ancestors, set in the seventeenth century. The author's chapters are interspersed smoothly with chapters from Maud's own diary.

324 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

Born in 1856, Evelyn Everett-Green was the daughter of noted Victorian historian Mary Anne Everett Green, and her husband, artist George Pycock Green. She was educated at home when young, before attending Bedford College (1872-73), during which time she wrote her first novel, and the Royal Academy of Music. Her plans to keep house for her brother in India were forestalled by his death in 1876, and she turned to social service, nursing, and Sunday School teaching.

Everett-Green's first novel to be published, Tom Tempest's Victory, appeared in 1880, followed by more than 300 other books over the next fifty years, ranging from stories for young girls, to romantic fiction for older readers. She moved from London to Albury, Surrey in 1883, setting up house with her friend, Catherine Mainwaring Sladen. In 1911, the two moved abroad, eventually settling in Madeira. Evelyn Everett-Green died in 1932.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is always in the box that goes in my car when I move!!! It's one of those immensely touching stories that can't ever quite be forgotten. I loved Maud, and it makes it all the better to think that she's an actual person that one could have met in the old days.

Maud's mother, foreseeing troubled times for old England, allows her daughter to be married to Rupert Melville, a dear friend and neighbor of hers, when Maud is yet only a child. The king himself attends the wedding; soon after, the boy-bridegroom goes to France to finish his schooling.

Sure enough, the civil unrest erupts. It is the days of Jacobites and brother against brother. As Maud grows up, her mother dies young, and her father develops dementia. Her sister and brother-in-law take her in to their home. Continually they urge her to have her marriage annulled; in the unrest, she has not heard from Rupert in many years, and she is now a young woman, eligible to make an advantageous match.

But Maud can't believe her first love faithless, despite having been too young at the time of her marriage to even know the meaning of romantic love. He was her best friend, and she knew he was a child of God and an honorable man. Regardless of his long silence, she determined to find him. Leaving her sister's, she moves in with some family members near Newgate.

Here we see her faith in action. Despite her own sorrow, she reaches out to the wretched prisoners, freely spending her own tiny nest-egg to alleviate their suffering. She goes into the prison, with her faithful helper Gowrie, and does what she can—long before the days of such reformers as Mrs. Fry.

By this time, of course, we're fully rooting for such a courageous leading lady. But her sister and brother-in-law and an unwanted suitor begin to intrude again, and her time of freedom to search and serve is nearing an end. And, when she finally hears of Rupert, it is in the worst possible circumstances.

How will she and faithful Gowrie cope? Will her worst fears come true, or can she honestly hope for a miracle? Ah...find your own copy. You must!

[Erika Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Godly character exemplified in a thrilling story with so many ups and downs. Deep emotion, loyalty, adventure, and walking quietly in the path God sets before us...

I would highly recommend this book.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a darling, darling story! Full of the kind of romantic heroism that novels are made of--except that it's a true story, which just makes it all the more wonderful!

I loved the way Maud's mother worked to deepen her daughter's understanding of love and marriage and paved the way for a childhood attachment to become a deeply loving and committed marriage. Maud's loyalty in the face of all the pressures that were brought to bear against her was so stirring and beautiful. Rupert--clamping my mouth tightly shut so I don't spoil the story. Maud's aunt and uncle and cousin were all so sweet and wonderful and charming. And Oliver!!! Brother of the century award, anyone? <3<3<3

I was amazed at how seamlessly the chapters of Maud's first-person reflections were integrated with the chapters of third-person narration. It's hard to tell whether the author adapted the first-person bits into her own style or just matched her narrative voice to the existing style of Maud's reflections, but the transitions never jarred. And I'm amazed at how little artistic license seems to have been taken with the true story. Minor characters, motivations, connections, and histories are all borne out in Maud's own narrative with little if any fictionalization required.

Finally, I really loved how Maud's faith in God and obedience to His Word and her mother's careful training carried her through this extremely difficult time in her life. I especially appreciated the way her prayers were answered through her obedience to the call to help "the least of these." Lovely, lovely book!

Content--mentions of prison conditions, sick prisoners, and brutal treatment by jailers; talk of political upheaval including executions; some instances of deception and law-breaking; child marriage and pressures to renounce it