What do you think?
Rate this book
The Young Clementina
Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte's world turns topsy-turvy. Beloved author D.E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heart-breaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touching tale of love, loss, and redemption through friendship.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1935
82 people are currently reading
795 people want to read
About the author
D.E. Stevenson
67 books628 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish author. She published more than 40 romantic novels over a period of more than 40 years. Her father was a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson.
D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States. Like E.F. Benson, Ann Bridge, O. Douglas or Dorothy L. Sayers (to name but a few) her books are funny, intensely readable, engaging and dependable.
Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish author. She published more than 40 romantic novels over a period of more than 40 years. Her father was a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson.
D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States. Like E.F. Benson, Ann Bridge, O. Douglas or Dorothy L. Sayers (to name but a few) her books are funny, intensely readable, engaging and dependable.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
August 10, 2016
Oh, this is lovely!
A good, old fashioned romance, nicely plotted and smartly executed. It was published in the thirties and as I would love to think that my grandmother, then the young mother of three children, read this book. She loved a good romance, and she would have so enjoyed meeting Miss Charlotte Dean and learning her story.
Charlotte was an impoverished gentlewoman, living a solitary life in a small London flat, working in a small private library and losing herself in her books. And she was at a turning point in her life. She had been asked to do something, something that she knew she ought to do, but something that she didn’t want to do, something that she knew would cause her heartache. She decided to write, addressing an imaginary friend, in the hope that the act of writing would lead her to a firm decision.
She wrote the story of her life.
Charlotte was a vicar’s daughter, and she had grown up in a lovely country parish. She had an idyllic childhood, and it was illuminated by her friendship with Garth, the son and heir of the manor. It was a friendship that grew into love. But then the Great War came: Garth went and Charlotte stayed. He survived, but when he came home something quite inexplicable happened. Garth married someone else. Charlotte’s younger sister, Kitty.
Charlotte was bewildered she was heartbroken, and so was I. she had pulled me right into her story, and my heart rose and fell with hers, I saw the world as she did.
When her beloved parents died Charlotte decided that she had to move away, that she couldn’t bear to watch her sister living the life that she had thought would be hers, with the man she still loved. And once she had left she stayed away, because she knew that the pain of going back would be too great. She visited just once, because she knew that she couldn’t refuse the invitation to be the godmother of her niece, Clementina.
It was the collapse of Kitty and Garth’s marriage that inspired Charlotte to begin to write to her imaginary friend. Kitty pulled her in, but she didn’t tell her everything. I’d love to explain exactly what happened, but I mustn’t because you need to experience it first hand, as I did alongside Charlotte.
When the dust had settled, and when she finished telling her story to her imaginary friend, Charlotte accepted that she that she had to go home, that she had to help raise Clementina.
It wasn’t easy. She had to manage the house and the staff. She had to build a relationship with a reserved, troubled child. And she had to deal with neighbours shocked at what had happened at the manor. No it wasn’t easy but Charlotte had a good heart, a wise head, and she had been raised by good people with Christian values. It wasn’t plain sailing, not by any means, but I think it’s fair to say that Charlotte succeeded.
Then she had to become the keeper of the flame, and it seemed her future was settled. She had found her place in the world, and her role in life.
But there was a final twist in the tail – the ending was absolutely perfect!
I was so sorry to have to say goodbye to Charlotte and her world, after being caught up in her life and her world from start to finish. That points to very clever writing and plotting. Charlotte’s world, the people in it, all of the things she lived through were painted richly and beautifully. Her story lived and breathed.
There were a few little niggles, but nothing really jarred. Except the imaginary friend – she was given rather too much substance and it really didn’t work; I do wish she had remained completely imaginary.
But this isn’t a book I can analyse and pick apart, because I responded to it with my heart and not my head. It came along just when I needed it, and it was a very fine romance …
I’m so glad that The Young Clementina is coming back into print, and I hope that more of D E Stevenson’s books are following along behind.
A good, old fashioned romance, nicely plotted and smartly executed. It was published in the thirties and as I would love to think that my grandmother, then the young mother of three children, read this book. She loved a good romance, and she would have so enjoyed meeting Miss Charlotte Dean and learning her story.
Charlotte was an impoverished gentlewoman, living a solitary life in a small London flat, working in a small private library and losing herself in her books. And she was at a turning point in her life. She had been asked to do something, something that she knew she ought to do, but something that she didn’t want to do, something that she knew would cause her heartache. She decided to write, addressing an imaginary friend, in the hope that the act of writing would lead her to a firm decision.
She wrote the story of her life.
Charlotte was a vicar’s daughter, and she had grown up in a lovely country parish. She had an idyllic childhood, and it was illuminated by her friendship with Garth, the son and heir of the manor. It was a friendship that grew into love. But then the Great War came: Garth went and Charlotte stayed. He survived, but when he came home something quite inexplicable happened. Garth married someone else. Charlotte’s younger sister, Kitty.
Charlotte was bewildered she was heartbroken, and so was I. she had pulled me right into her story, and my heart rose and fell with hers, I saw the world as she did.
When her beloved parents died Charlotte decided that she had to move away, that she couldn’t bear to watch her sister living the life that she had thought would be hers, with the man she still loved. And once she had left she stayed away, because she knew that the pain of going back would be too great. She visited just once, because she knew that she couldn’t refuse the invitation to be the godmother of her niece, Clementina.
It was the collapse of Kitty and Garth’s marriage that inspired Charlotte to begin to write to her imaginary friend. Kitty pulled her in, but she didn’t tell her everything. I’d love to explain exactly what happened, but I mustn’t because you need to experience it first hand, as I did alongside Charlotte.
When the dust had settled, and when she finished telling her story to her imaginary friend, Charlotte accepted that she that she had to go home, that she had to help raise Clementina.
It wasn’t easy. She had to manage the house and the staff. She had to build a relationship with a reserved, troubled child. And she had to deal with neighbours shocked at what had happened at the manor. No it wasn’t easy but Charlotte had a good heart, a wise head, and she had been raised by good people with Christian values. It wasn’t plain sailing, not by any means, but I think it’s fair to say that Charlotte succeeded.
Then she had to become the keeper of the flame, and it seemed her future was settled. She had found her place in the world, and her role in life.
But there was a final twist in the tail – the ending was absolutely perfect!
I was so sorry to have to say goodbye to Charlotte and her world, after being caught up in her life and her world from start to finish. That points to very clever writing and plotting. Charlotte’s world, the people in it, all of the things she lived through were painted richly and beautifully. Her story lived and breathed.
There were a few little niggles, but nothing really jarred. Except the imaginary friend – she was given rather too much substance and it really didn’t work; I do wish she had remained completely imaginary.
But this isn’t a book I can analyse and pick apart, because I responded to it with my heart and not my head. It came along just when I needed it, and it was a very fine romance …
I’m so glad that The Young Clementina is coming back into print, and I hope that more of D E Stevenson’s books are following along behind.
November 20, 2022
I find myself delighting in the writing of Ms. Stevenson. She is by turns amusing, gentle, and ruthless. This story reminded me of both Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. The first because of the failed marriage, I think, and the second because Charlotte’s attempt to accept the upset of her future plans reminds me of Elinor in S&S. At any rate, Dorothy Stevenson proves that her relative Robert Louis Stevenson was not the only good writer in the family.
Now, if you're like me, you've got a pretty shrewd idea of where the problem lies between Charlotte and Garth. Charlotte chalks it up to Garth's WWI experience, not an unreasonable conclusion. She's pretty sure that Garth asked her to wait for him, which she did, only to watch, heartbroken, as he marries her shallow, pleasure-seeking younger sister, Kitty. Charlotte lives in a shabby flat in London, works at a dead end job in a bookstore, and tries to forget that she ever had any dreams of her own. She has mostly managed to tamp down her disappointment (she does, after all, really love books) until her manipulative sister arrives on her doorstep, demanding her assistance to fight a divorce from Garth. Char feels the responsibility to family of a Victorian heroine, despite the more modern setting.
Needless to say, things do not work out to Kitty's liking and she disappears from Char's life once again. But Garth needs a responsible adult to look out for his daughter, Clementine, while he adventures in Africa. He is bound and determined that Char, Clementine’s godmother, will be that adult. Char is uncertain that a childless spinster is a good choice for the self-possessed young woman or for running a country house ecosystem. She also wonders why her brother-in-law, who has been dismissive and cruel to her, has suddenly decided that she is his choice of guardian.
Love is the answer to most childrearing issues. Love and honesty bring aunt and niece together. They share horseback adventures and school lessons, plus they run the gauntlet of disapproving neighbours who feel the need to separate themselves from a home tainted by divorce. They lean on each other as they learn of the deaths of Clementine's parents.
I saw the book's conclusion coming from a mile away, but I found myself unable to hold that against the author. It was a good ending, despite its predictability. I will definitely read more titles by D.E. Stevenson.
Now, if you're like me, you've got a pretty shrewd idea of where the problem lies between Charlotte and Garth. Charlotte chalks it up to Garth's WWI experience, not an unreasonable conclusion. She's pretty sure that Garth asked her to wait for him, which she did, only to watch, heartbroken, as he marries her shallow, pleasure-seeking younger sister, Kitty. Charlotte lives in a shabby flat in London, works at a dead end job in a bookstore, and tries to forget that she ever had any dreams of her own. She has mostly managed to tamp down her disappointment (she does, after all, really love books) until her manipulative sister arrives on her doorstep, demanding her assistance to fight a divorce from Garth. Char feels the responsibility to family of a Victorian heroine, despite the more modern setting.
Needless to say, things do not work out to Kitty's liking and she disappears from Char's life once again. But Garth needs a responsible adult to look out for his daughter, Clementine, while he adventures in Africa. He is bound and determined that Char, Clementine’s godmother, will be that adult. Char is uncertain that a childless spinster is a good choice for the self-possessed young woman or for running a country house ecosystem. She also wonders why her brother-in-law, who has been dismissive and cruel to her, has suddenly decided that she is his choice of guardian.
Love is the answer to most childrearing issues. Love and honesty bring aunt and niece together. They share horseback adventures and school lessons, plus they run the gauntlet of disapproving neighbours who feel the need to separate themselves from a home tainted by divorce. They lean on each other as they learn of the deaths of Clementine's parents.
I saw the book's conclusion coming from a mile away, but I found myself unable to hold that against the author. It was a good ending, despite its predictability. I will definitely read more titles by D.E. Stevenson.
May 31, 2018
I admit, I've been on a D.E. Stevenson track lately! Once I pick one up, I enjoy it so much (and they are, by and large, light and easy reads... perfect for the ending to a busy day), that I start another one.
"The Young Clementina" is another re-read for me. This used to be my favorite D.E. S. novel of all. For some reason though, it didn't quite hit me the same this time (one good reason to re-read our old favorites!)
Charlotte is a librarian in London. She doesn't earn a lot, and has to scrape to make ends meet. Her life is vastly different than what she initially expected and so part of the book is addressing Char's concerns about her life and the decisions she has to make.
"From nine-thirty in the morning until six o'clock at night I work in a library, docketing the books, reading them through and recommending them to those people I think they will suit... I make a point of reading all the books that come into the library - or at least glancing through them - and because this is my job and I have been at it for twelve years. Twelve years is a long time to spend amongst books about Borneo and Canada and the Antarctic... Twelve years I have been there, with kind little Mr. Wentworth and his books. I was twenty-three when I went, and now I am thirty-five. The twelve best years of my womanhood have been given to Wentworth's."
Like most (if not all) of us, Char has a protaganist, and in this book, it just happens to be someone from her own family; her sister, Kitty. Kitty and Charlotte; two sisters from the same family, and as different as night and day! Kitty is beautiful, selfish, and self-seeking. She is always out for her own comforts and interests. Charlotte seems to be cut from a different cloth; she is unassuming, modest, and gracious (even when wronged).
The book is written in a form similar to a diary, and the reader's sympathies are immediately caught up as Char falls in love with their neighbor's son, Garth Wisdon. Marriage bells are ringing... but then all of a sudden, Char is pushed aside and Garth marries Kitty!
"People always hate those they have wronged." Did Kitty hate me? Had she wronged me? I could find no answer to the questions. Kitty had married Garth, but he was lost to me before that. He was lost to me when he came home from the war. Kitty had not taken him from me any more than any other woman who might have married him. I always felt - perhaps not unreasonably - that Kitty was in the place which really belonged to me, but it was not Kitty's fault."
The marriage however, is a very unhappy one, and Char finds herself called upon when help is needed. Now, put yourself in her shoes; if you were the wronged party, would you answer the call to help? It is a testament to Char's character that she actually is able to put her own feelings aside and give the help that is needed.
I am going to stop here as the plot is much more involved, and a lot more happens! One very intriguing twist is when Char is sent Garth's diaries... and she begins to understand his motivations and choices better.
"I read until the light grew too dim to see any more, and then I sat on, beside the little window, with the books piled round me. The light lingered for a while amongst the trees; the tops of them were still bright when there was nothing but darkness and shadow on the ground. Then the light faded swiftly, and only the sky was faintly grey.
Nanny came up and found me sitting there.
'Miss Char!' she said, coming over and touching me in the darkness. 'I've been looking for you everywhere, and then I remembered about the diaries. Miss Char, are you ill? You are all wet, my dear!'
'Tears, Nanny. Just tears.'
I hope I have piqued your interest. For a while, I have to admit, I didn't have the same admiration for this book that I used to. I read it at a difficult time, when I was dealing with some health issues, and it almost depressed me. I began to wonder if Charlotte was too irritating, too 'wishy-washy' of a character! Why doesn't she stand up for herself? Why doesn't she question Garth's choice, and confront him? Is in fact, Charlotte Dean actually an 'enabler' (in today's vernacular)?
And Garth himself seems so rude and tramples on everyone's feelings... why isn't anyone keeping him in check?
But as the days passed I found myself thinking more and more about the book and the characters, and realized that Char's character is what makes her so loveable.
There are good things in this book also... Charlotte does find some solace in her circumstances, and she eventually finds peace on the road to forgiveness.
As I thought more and more on this novel, I realized that that is actually what it is... a story about forgiveness within the hardest of circumstances.
"At first I felt very bitter against Kitty. I told myself that she had always wanted Hinkleton Manor and the position and luxury that would be the portion of Garth's wife. It was not Garth she wanted, just to be Lady of the Manor....
I could forgive her now, and I wanted to forgive her... I wanted to sweep all the bitterness away and go forward feeling free and clean. It was easier to forgive Kitty when I remembered that she had ruined her own life, too."
"The Young Clementina" is another re-read for me. This used to be my favorite D.E. S. novel of all. For some reason though, it didn't quite hit me the same this time (one good reason to re-read our old favorites!)
Charlotte is a librarian in London. She doesn't earn a lot, and has to scrape to make ends meet. Her life is vastly different than what she initially expected and so part of the book is addressing Char's concerns about her life and the decisions she has to make.
"From nine-thirty in the morning until six o'clock at night I work in a library, docketing the books, reading them through and recommending them to those people I think they will suit... I make a point of reading all the books that come into the library - or at least glancing through them - and because this is my job and I have been at it for twelve years. Twelve years is a long time to spend amongst books about Borneo and Canada and the Antarctic... Twelve years I have been there, with kind little Mr. Wentworth and his books. I was twenty-three when I went, and now I am thirty-five. The twelve best years of my womanhood have been given to Wentworth's."
Like most (if not all) of us, Char has a protaganist, and in this book, it just happens to be someone from her own family; her sister, Kitty. Kitty and Charlotte; two sisters from the same family, and as different as night and day! Kitty is beautiful, selfish, and self-seeking. She is always out for her own comforts and interests. Charlotte seems to be cut from a different cloth; she is unassuming, modest, and gracious (even when wronged).
The book is written in a form similar to a diary, and the reader's sympathies are immediately caught up as Char falls in love with their neighbor's son, Garth Wisdon. Marriage bells are ringing... but then all of a sudden, Char is pushed aside and Garth marries Kitty!
"People always hate those they have wronged." Did Kitty hate me? Had she wronged me? I could find no answer to the questions. Kitty had married Garth, but he was lost to me before that. He was lost to me when he came home from the war. Kitty had not taken him from me any more than any other woman who might have married him. I always felt - perhaps not unreasonably - that Kitty was in the place which really belonged to me, but it was not Kitty's fault."
The marriage however, is a very unhappy one, and Char finds herself called upon when help is needed. Now, put yourself in her shoes; if you were the wronged party, would you answer the call to help? It is a testament to Char's character that she actually is able to put her own feelings aside and give the help that is needed.
I am going to stop here as the plot is much more involved, and a lot more happens! One very intriguing twist is when Char is sent Garth's diaries... and she begins to understand his motivations and choices better.
"I read until the light grew too dim to see any more, and then I sat on, beside the little window, with the books piled round me. The light lingered for a while amongst the trees; the tops of them were still bright when there was nothing but darkness and shadow on the ground. Then the light faded swiftly, and only the sky was faintly grey.
Nanny came up and found me sitting there.
'Miss Char!' she said, coming over and touching me in the darkness. 'I've been looking for you everywhere, and then I remembered about the diaries. Miss Char, are you ill? You are all wet, my dear!'
'Tears, Nanny. Just tears.'
I hope I have piqued your interest. For a while, I have to admit, I didn't have the same admiration for this book that I used to. I read it at a difficult time, when I was dealing with some health issues, and it almost depressed me. I began to wonder if Charlotte was too irritating, too 'wishy-washy' of a character! Why doesn't she stand up for herself? Why doesn't she question Garth's choice, and confront him? Is in fact, Charlotte Dean actually an 'enabler' (in today's vernacular)?
And Garth himself seems so rude and tramples on everyone's feelings... why isn't anyone keeping him in check?
But as the days passed I found myself thinking more and more about the book and the characters, and realized that Char's character is what makes her so loveable.
There are good things in this book also... Charlotte does find some solace in her circumstances, and she eventually finds peace on the road to forgiveness.
As I thought more and more on this novel, I realized that that is actually what it is... a story about forgiveness within the hardest of circumstances.
"At first I felt very bitter against Kitty. I told myself that she had always wanted Hinkleton Manor and the position and luxury that would be the portion of Garth's wife. It was not Garth she wanted, just to be Lady of the Manor....
I could forgive her now, and I wanted to forgive her... I wanted to sweep all the bitterness away and go forward feeling free and clean. It was easier to forgive Kitty when I remembered that she had ruined her own life, too."
August 13, 2013
I enjoyed reading this book. It was easy to read and the character's voice was easy to inhabit. However there are several things that really bugged me and makes me hesitate to read anymore of her books.
Spoilers ahead:
1. The heroine is a doormat. She is not very pro-active in her life, things just happen to her and she reacts. Her sister is terrible to her and she just accepts it. The hero is terrible to her and she just accepts it. There's a fine line between being the bigger person and being a Mary Sue doormat and the heroine is the latter.
2. The hero is a self-centered and possessive jerk. The heroine is a toy he does not want to share. He believes a lie and never even confronts the heroine about whether or not it is true. He instead marries the shallow younger sister. They deserve each other and all the unhappiness they get. After he learns the truth and divorces his wife he has the temerity to ask the heroine to take care of his daughter while he gallivants in Africa. Seriously, he did that.
3. And the most ick thing of all in this book. The daughter starts off at about 11-12 years old when we meet her. During one of the rides/hunts the heroine meets and old university friend of the hero. He was at the party where the hero and heroine fall in love. It is stated that he is old enough to be the daughter's father. She is about 13 years old when the heroine decides that she needs to spend time with other girls her own age. The friend of the family is upset because he is in love with the daughter and doesn't want to be separated from her. The heroine is okay with this and tells him to come back in four years. What the ever loving fuck. Dear heroine, you are wrong in the head.
So yeah.
Spoilers ahead:
1. The heroine is a doormat. She is not very pro-active in her life, things just happen to her and she reacts. Her sister is terrible to her and she just accepts it. The hero is terrible to her and she just accepts it. There's a fine line between being the bigger person and being a Mary Sue doormat and the heroine is the latter.
2. The hero is a self-centered and possessive jerk. The heroine is a toy he does not want to share. He believes a lie and never even confronts the heroine about whether or not it is true. He instead marries the shallow younger sister. They deserve each other and all the unhappiness they get. After he learns the truth and divorces his wife he has the temerity to ask the heroine to take care of his daughter while he gallivants in Africa. Seriously, he did that.
3. And the most ick thing of all in this book. The daughter starts off at about 11-12 years old when we meet her. During one of the rides/hunts the heroine meets and old university friend of the hero. He was at the party where the hero and heroine fall in love. It is stated that he is old enough to be the daughter's father. She is about 13 years old when the heroine decides that she needs to spend time with other girls her own age. The friend of the family is upset because he is in love with the daughter and doesn't want to be separated from her. The heroine is okay with this and tells him to come back in four years. What the ever loving fuck. Dear heroine, you are wrong in the head.
So yeah.
October 7, 2018
Charlotte Dean and Garth Wisdon grew up together and fell in love!! But when Garth returns from the Great War in 1919, he rebuffs her and marries her sister. Char, heartbroken, moves to London, returning to Hinkleton only for the christening of her niece, Clementina, and for the funeral of Garth's father. Then, 12 years later, Char gets drawn into the drama of her sister's messy divorce before she is invited to live at Hinkleton to care for Clementina while Garth galavants off to Africa to look for Bracelet Men. Can there ever be a happy ever after for all these dire, cranky people??
Only because going into my complaints is hella hard without CONTEXT, here lie some SPOILERS:
1. The first three parts of this are semi-epistolary format addressed to a woman Char had a brief conversation with once. It's a little fantastical and strange; I think it's meant to set the framework for Char being a lonely loner on a lonely road, but it doesn't quite land as we're also meant to read Char as this semi-blunt, truthful woman who doesn't do well with flights of fancy or what-have-you. The contrast just doesn't gel, for me.
2. Char is, ultimately, a hard heroine to root for. She doesn't really push for things: she lets things happen to her. She avoids confrontation. She lets a lot of people tell her how to live her life and doesn't challenge them. It's kind of...frustrating, really. Because you want to root for this woman who has lost love and is just trying to do her best, but it doesn't really ever build to anything.
3. Garth: Y-I-K-E. He's meant to be this idealized friend-slash-lover who looms large over Char's life in multiple ways (the four sections are entitled (1) Charlotte's Friend; (2) Kitty's Husband; (3) Clementina's Father; (4) Charlotte's Dream) but he's really just a tantrum-throwing misogynist. QUOTES, FOR HER PLEASURE:
And this is all vile and horrible, but the thing that really really really truly deeply grinds my gears is the fact that this is all handwaved away later in the novel.
4. YES THIS THING IS IN FIRST PERSON.
5. So Clementina is 12-13 when she is introduced. She is an awkward, strange girl who has developed some tics to deal with her toxic, shitty parental units. Her aunt, Char, takes her hunting frequently as a way to connect with her and while doing so they meet with an old school friend OF CLEM'S FATHER. Later in the book, this FRIEND OF CLEM'S FATHER, throws a goddamned tantrum when he learns Clem is to be sent to school because it will, AND I QUOTE, "RUIN HER".
(An aside: WHY THE FUCK IS THIS A THING. WHY THE FUCK IS THE GLORIFICATION OF IGNORANCE AND UNTOUCHED AND UNDEVELOPED WOMANHOOD—OR IN THIS FUCKING CASE GIRLHOOD —SUCH A PROMINENT LODESTONE? I HATE IT. IT'S FUCKING DISGUSTING.)
SO THEN CHAR TELLS HIM TO COME BACK IN FOUR YEARS WHEN CLEM'S 17 BECAUSE THAT WILL MAKE EVERYTHING FINE
(Another aside: NO IT FUCKING WILL NOT.)
6. The thing is: there's a certain between-the-wars charm to this novel (like many of Stevenson's novels) that kind of hooks you and reels you in: the delta of the old guard falling away under the new societal movements; the grand old manors and the encroaching technology; the sense of Country Life and Town Life. And it is absolutely engaging! But there is just too much wrong with this book for me to feel good about having read it.
Only because going into my complaints is hella hard without CONTEXT, here lie some SPOILERS:
1. The first three parts of this are semi-epistolary format addressed to a woman Char had a brief conversation with once. It's a little fantastical and strange; I think it's meant to set the framework for Char being a lonely loner on a lonely road, but it doesn't quite land as we're also meant to read Char as this semi-blunt, truthful woman who doesn't do well with flights of fancy or what-have-you. The contrast just doesn't gel, for me.
2. Char is, ultimately, a hard heroine to root for. She doesn't really push for things: she lets things happen to her. She avoids confrontation. She lets a lot of people tell her how to live her life and doesn't challenge them. It's kind of...frustrating, really. Because you want to root for this woman who has lost love and is just trying to do her best, but it doesn't really ever build to anything.
3. Garth: Y-I-K-E. He's meant to be this idealized friend-slash-lover who looms large over Char's life in multiple ways (the four sections are entitled (1) Charlotte's Friend; (2) Kitty's Husband; (3) Clementina's Father; (4) Charlotte's Dream) but he's really just a tantrum-throwing misogynist. QUOTES, FOR HER PLEASURE:
"You used to be—nice," [Char] said with difficulty.WHAT A MAN.
"Phsaw! That was long ago when I was young and ignorant. I thought the world was a marvelous place. I know better now, I know what hell life can be, and I know women. Women will always lie to gain their ends, they are made crooked. [...] Thank God I shall be free from women for a year—you don't find women in the desert. For a whole year I shall live with men, reasonable beings who say what they mean and tell the truth. I'm sick of women, of their lies and subterfuges. Women clog the wheels of life—they take an unfair advantage of their reputed weakness. There is little weakness about a woman when she has a purpose to gain."
And this is all vile and horrible, but the thing that really really really truly deeply grinds my gears is the fact that this is all handwaved away later in the novel.
4. YES THIS THING IS IN FIRST PERSON.
5. So Clementina is 12-13 when she is introduced. She is an awkward, strange girl who has developed some tics to deal with her toxic, shitty parental units. Her aunt, Char, takes her hunting frequently as a way to connect with her and while doing so they meet with an old school friend OF CLEM'S FATHER. Later in the book, this FRIEND OF CLEM'S FATHER, throws a goddamned tantrum when he learns Clem is to be sent to school because it will, AND I QUOTE, "RUIN HER".
(An aside: WHY THE FUCK IS THIS A THING. WHY THE FUCK IS THE GLORIFICATION OF IGNORANCE AND UNTOUCHED AND UNDEVELOPED WOMANHOOD—OR IN THIS FUCKING CASE GIRLHOOD —SUCH A PROMINENT LODESTONE? I HATE IT. IT'S FUCKING DISGUSTING.)
SO THEN CHAR TELLS HIM TO COME BACK IN FOUR YEARS WHEN CLEM'S 17 BECAUSE THAT WILL MAKE EVERYTHING FINE
(Another aside: NO IT FUCKING WILL NOT.)
6. The thing is: there's a certain between-the-wars charm to this novel (like many of Stevenson's novels) that kind of hooks you and reels you in: the delta of the old guard falling away under the new societal movements; the grand old manors and the encroaching technology; the sense of Country Life and Town Life. And it is absolutely engaging! But there is just too much wrong with this book for me to feel good about having read it.
June 8, 2019
This was one of those wonderful, serendipitous perfect-book-at-just-the-right-time kind of books for me. When I'd finished I could only clasp the book to my heart and marvel that this story found me at this particular time in my life.
The story's main character is Charlotte Dean, whose disappointments in love and life pile up until she finds herself in a sort of self-imposed exile. Having a deep love of her country home and its surrounding beauty, she finds living in a shabby flat in London not only grey and soul-stealing, but necessary. To ease her loneliness Charlotte begins writing to a fictional friend. Making the best of the situation she manages to find a semblance of contentment in her job at a small private library even though it means she must shut down much in her heart to bear the isolation of the kind of life left to her.
When circumstances compel her to return home to care for her niece she does so only with fear and trepidation--fearful she may not be equal to the tasks required and of what it will mean to open her heart again. There she meets the challenges and slowly finds herself healing from the long years of empty bleakness as she builds a life for both herself and young Clementina.
Eventually Charlotte, and the reader, come to comprehend the truth of what caused such heartache and bitterness. D.E. Stevenson masterfully brings us full-circle to a place of understanding, forgiveness and finally redemption. A tale of loss, of courage, and most of all hope.
One of Stevenson's best, this one earns a place on my favorites shelf. Highest recommendation.
5 stars and a ❤️!
The story's main character is Charlotte Dean, whose disappointments in love and life pile up until she finds herself in a sort of self-imposed exile. Having a deep love of her country home and its surrounding beauty, she finds living in a shabby flat in London not only grey and soul-stealing, but necessary. To ease her loneliness Charlotte begins writing to a fictional friend. Making the best of the situation she manages to find a semblance of contentment in her job at a small private library even though it means she must shut down much in her heart to bear the isolation of the kind of life left to her.
When circumstances compel her to return home to care for her niece she does so only with fear and trepidation--fearful she may not be equal to the tasks required and of what it will mean to open her heart again. There she meets the challenges and slowly finds herself healing from the long years of empty bleakness as she builds a life for both herself and young Clementina.
Eventually Charlotte, and the reader, come to comprehend the truth of what caused such heartache and bitterness. D.E. Stevenson masterfully brings us full-circle to a place of understanding, forgiveness and finally redemption. A tale of loss, of courage, and most of all hope.
One of Stevenson's best, this one earns a place on my favorites shelf. Highest recommendation.
5 stars and a ❤️!
September 12, 2021
It was old fashioned - odd and lovely. Bordering on gothic. Introspective. Emotional.
It was absolutely lovely, and I adored it.
It was absolutely lovely, and I adored it.
April 17, 2020
D.E. Stevenson is a master of human emotions. Her comedy of manners books (like the Miss Buncle trilogy) somehow make the whole world feel cozy and good. Alas, with The Young Clementina she goes more Brontë than Gaskell, and the end result whips from excruciatingly depressing to predictably trite.
Much like Miss Buncle, the heroine of the book is an old maid in her mid-thirties faced with poverty and a life devoid of love and friendship. But unlike Miss Buncle, she once experienced love. And now her former fiance has asked her to take care of his daughter while he travels to Africa. Will she choose the monotony she knows or take on the challenge of healing a hurt child?
Okay, so that description, while at the heart of the story, really doesn't kick in till halfway. First we get to relive the heroine's childhood, her experience with WW1, and the tragic break with her fiance. And despite how depressed it made me, I still low-key loved it. I felt moody and depressed reading it, but I also felt like it summarized how war changed people. I read into it a bigger analysis about dreams and hope and lost youth.
Turns out, I was too ambitious in my interpretation. I still held hope for an alternate love interest to pop up and change the path the story was heading towards. It, ah, did not turn the way I expected.
The story shoulders on with some rambling paragraphs that don't hide the very obvious, sappy conclusion. Characters generally get their comeuppance. I think I still would have rated this book 4 stars because I did love the tragic nature of the beginning, but the ending killed that.
If you like melodrama that feels vaguely Gothic without being so, you might enjoy this one. But personally, I found the heart-aching beginning undercut by the expected ending.
Much like Miss Buncle, the heroine of the book is an old maid in her mid-thirties faced with poverty and a life devoid of love and friendship. But unlike Miss Buncle, she once experienced love. And now her former fiance has asked her to take care of his daughter while he travels to Africa. Will she choose the monotony she knows or take on the challenge of healing a hurt child?
Okay, so that description, while at the heart of the story, really doesn't kick in till halfway. First we get to relive the heroine's childhood, her experience with WW1, and the tragic break with her fiance. And despite how depressed it made me, I still low-key loved it. I felt moody and depressed reading it, but I also felt like it summarized how war changed people. I read into it a bigger analysis about dreams and hope and lost youth.
Turns out, I was too ambitious in my interpretation. I still held hope for an alternate love interest to pop up and change the path the story was heading towards. It, ah, did not turn the way I expected.
The story shoulders on with some rambling paragraphs that don't hide the very obvious, sappy conclusion. Characters generally get their comeuppance. I think I still would have rated this book 4 stars because I did love the tragic nature of the beginning, but the ending killed that.
If you like melodrama that feels vaguely Gothic without being so, you might enjoy this one. But personally, I found the heart-aching beginning undercut by the expected ending.
May 2, 2012
I own nearly all of the novels by D.E. Stevenson. I read them over and over, whenever I'm in the mood for an old-fashioned but suspenseful story set in the British Isles. The Young Clementina is one of my favorites. Every single time, I get a lump in my throat when I read the last page, and she writes "but it wasn't too late for that, either."
June 7, 2014
A novel about a woman who is heartbroken when the love of her life unexpectedly marries her sister; years later, when they divorce, she’s asked to look after their daughter. 1935.
Full review (and other recommendations!) at Another look book
So far, my favorite DES is still The Blue Sapphire, but this is a close second. I loved the use of the 1st person narration and really connected with the main character. I think the quality of writing is a level higher than the other DES books I've read--and those are already very well-written! It's a captivating, beautiful story. Reminded me a lot of James Hilton's Random Harvest: similar time period, setting, tone, an ongoing sense of mystery, and the memory/reflection theme. Absolutely, beyond any doubt recommended.
Full review (and other recommendations!) at Another look book
So far, my favorite DES is still The Blue Sapphire, but this is a close second. I loved the use of the 1st person narration and really connected with the main character. I think the quality of writing is a level higher than the other DES books I've read--and those are already very well-written! It's a captivating, beautiful story. Reminded me a lot of James Hilton's Random Harvest: similar time period, setting, tone, an ongoing sense of mystery, and the memory/reflection theme. Absolutely, beyond any doubt recommended.
October 25, 2020
Stevenson usually writes cozy village novels, but this one had a melancholy twist. A character close to the protagonist does an evil thing, breaks faith in a wicked way. There is a familial mess that Charlotte helps to mop up.
The story highlights how difficult it would be for a solitary unattached young adult female in London to live safely. Charlotte copes by isolating herself with books in her tiny room.
The bulk of the book focuses on Charlotte's relationship with her niece and godchild Clementina. I loved the development of trust in an adult figure after trauma.
It's not great literature, and not exactly light reading, but Stevenson comes through with a good story.
Two quotes illustrate the tenor of the tale, and resonated with my own experience:
Death is not the saddest way to lose somebody you love.
It is a terrible thing to be angry with the dead.
The story highlights how difficult it would be for a solitary unattached young adult female in London to live safely. Charlotte copes by isolating herself with books in her tiny room.
The bulk of the book focuses on Charlotte's relationship with her niece and godchild Clementina. I loved the development of trust in an adult figure after trauma.
It's not great literature, and not exactly light reading, but Stevenson comes through with a good story.
Two quotes illustrate the tenor of the tale, and resonated with my own experience:
Death is not the saddest way to lose somebody you love.
It is a terrible thing to be angry with the dead.
June 6, 2020
I found this book less humorous than Miss Buncle's Book but still very satisfying to the romantic in me.
August 24, 2021
Even though I was expecting a lighthearted and amusing read, The Young Clementina did not disappoint. But I have to say that the content certainly was a surprise!
I am not quite sure who the publishers are trying to market this book to. The cover is totally misleading, as is the name of the book. Look at it! The cover leads one to believe that this will be a light, frothy romp, (in the vein of her Miss Buncle series) and it absolutely is NOT. Someone looking for a more mature, thoughtful story is not going to pick up this book. And there will be many disappointed readers when they don’t get the fun, perky book they are expecting. Why in the world do publishers do this? (Big sigh!)
[NOTE: My copy had the cover with the young lady holding an umbrella.]
This poor book must suffer from an identity disorder. It was formerly published as ‘Divorced From Reality’; then ‘Miss Dean’s Dilemma’; until lastly, it was reprinted as ‘The Young Clementina’. Hmmmm... I don’t think this novel has much to do with the young Clememtina at all. It is all about the aging spinster Miss Dean! A spinster who is bereft of happiness, living in penury, denied of love, and fading away into nothingness. (Sound “’perky’ enough for you?)
The book opens with Miss Dean pondering her life, and the twists and turns which have occurred along the way. She needs to make a life altering decision, and decides to revisit some key times in her life to try and make sense of everything that has happened, and has brought her to where she is today. (It is not nearly as depressing as I am making it out to be. I just needed to make my point contrasting book cover with content.)
This author obviously has a wide range, as she writes both comedy and drama with ease. This was one of her more mature, dramatic books. It was beautifully written, and I enjoyed it very much. I wonder what the next D.E. Stevenson book will be like. And believe me, there WILL be a next one! I’m hooked on this author.
I am not quite sure who the publishers are trying to market this book to. The cover is totally misleading, as is the name of the book. Look at it! The cover leads one to believe that this will be a light, frothy romp, (in the vein of her Miss Buncle series) and it absolutely is NOT. Someone looking for a more mature, thoughtful story is not going to pick up this book. And there will be many disappointed readers when they don’t get the fun, perky book they are expecting. Why in the world do publishers do this? (Big sigh!)
[NOTE: My copy had the cover with the young lady holding an umbrella.]
This poor book must suffer from an identity disorder. It was formerly published as ‘Divorced From Reality’; then ‘Miss Dean’s Dilemma’; until lastly, it was reprinted as ‘The Young Clementina’. Hmmmm... I don’t think this novel has much to do with the young Clememtina at all. It is all about the aging spinster Miss Dean! A spinster who is bereft of happiness, living in penury, denied of love, and fading away into nothingness. (Sound “’perky’ enough for you?)
The book opens with Miss Dean pondering her life, and the twists and turns which have occurred along the way. She needs to make a life altering decision, and decides to revisit some key times in her life to try and make sense of everything that has happened, and has brought her to where she is today. (It is not nearly as depressing as I am making it out to be. I just needed to make my point contrasting book cover with content.)
This author obviously has a wide range, as she writes both comedy and drama with ease. This was one of her more mature, dramatic books. It was beautifully written, and I enjoyed it very much. I wonder what the next D.E. Stevenson book will be like. And believe me, there WILL be a next one! I’m hooked on this author.
October 16, 2019
This is one of Stevenson’s darker stories. I didn’t like it that much on my first read as it starts out a bit weird. I liked it better the second time around as the story has a very satisfying ending but, it’s still not one of my favorites so I don’t think I’ll be reading it again.
August 7, 2019
Excellent. The more books of hers I read the more I want to read.
October 2, 2023
I tried. Most others found this story enchanting. I found Charlotte, the voice, difficult to enjoy. She's lacks what we used to call gumption. She reacts, rarely initiates, if ever. Even her best friend is an imaginary construct that she has envisioned as her listener. I forced myself to finish this book, starting and stopping between others about 4 or 5 times. It's not the period here, it is the people. And the overly cloying sweetness of the telling by this author 3/4th of the way through set my teeth on edge. Finally I decided, I don't like the writer's style of introspections at all. Young Clementina and Charlotte- with all their servants, Nanny, surrounding structure? All of that, and they seem to pine and sigh as a pair in passive circular thought patterns, way too much. It's more Charlotte than Clementina, but overall it becomes milksop to the max. Just not my kind of inspiration or aspiration of thoughts are visible or conceived. This doesn't seem, IMHO, like accurate historical fiction either. I've never been one for stories that revolve around people believing obvious lies in those closest to them. All of these people seem bordering stupid in this regard and way, way too accepting of their own punishments.
December 24, 2021
Charlotte Dean es una mujer solitaria que no tiene a nadie con quien desahogarse hasta que un día conoce a una mujer un autobús y tiene una especie de flechazo platónico. No vuelven a verse, pero Charlotte la elige como confidente, la bautiza como Clare y comienza a narrarle toda su historia. Clare es su amiga invisible y es el medio que Stevenson utiliza para desgranar esta novela: está narrada en primera persona en un estilo a medio camino entre un diario y una carta.
“The Young Clementina” está dividida en cuatro partes según la autora, pero en mi opinion es una novela doble, son dos partes bien diferenciadas: en la primera parte Charlotte cuenta toda su infancia y su relación con su hermana menor, Kitty, y con su amigo de la infancia, Garth. Esa historia tiene un ritmo muy rápido, las páginas vuelan porque no es posible parar de leer, constantemente suceden cosas muy importantes para lo que viene después, pero suceden sin descanso, una detrás de otra. En la segunda historia Charlotte queda al cuidado de su sobrina, la Clementina del título, una niña extraña y retraída que se queda sola por los problemas y el egoísmo de sus padres.
Charlotte Dean era la hija mayor de un entrañable reverendo. De niña tuvo en Garth, hijo del aristócrata local, a un amigo inseparable. Garth y ella lo hacían todo juntos, crecieron juntos y juntos bailaron el día del 21 cumpleaños de Garth, teniendo ella 18. Por entonces ya sentían algo el uno por el otro pero estalló la Gran Guerra y Garth tuvo que alistarse, nunca fue posible un romance entre ellos. Al acabar la guerra Garth ya no era el muchacho amable y considerado que fue; en su lugar hay un hombre cruel, cínico y despiadado que suelta toda su mala baba sobre Charlotte, quien no entiende nada. El golpe definitivo llega cuando Garth se casa con Kitty, quien desde niña ambicionó tener una gran casa. Clementina nace al año siguiente y su madrina es Charlotte, pero esta se muda a Londres en busca de una vida tranquila y sin sobresaltos. Durante 12 años Kitty y Charlotte apenas se ven, pero el matrimonio tiene serios problemas y estos acaban afectando a la niña.
Suceden muchas cosas que no revelaré pero el caso es que Garth le pide a Charlotte que cuide de su hija durante un año. Tia y sobrina apenas se conocen…
Como decía es una novela que tiene dos ritmos y dos historias. Pero por supuesto la relación de Garth y Kitty tiene un fuerte impacto sobre la hija y forma su caracter, por eso la segunda parte ralentiza el ritmo: simboliza las dificultades que Charlotte va a ir encontrando en su intento por conseguir que Clementina se abra a ella. Solo cuando la niña se da cuenta de que su tía no va a abandonarla, que la escucha y la quiere es cuando se construyen unos lazos irrompibles entre ellas, esta es la mejor parte del libro porque es muy entrañable. También es la parte en la que Charlotte hace retrospección sobre su vida y reflexiona sobre su pasado con el Garth a quien ella amó y que ya no existe. El tono es menos ligero, menos vibrante y mucho más intimista y solitario, pero es precioso. Y es una historia invernal con un cierto toque romántico dentro de la nostalgia que lo embarga todo.
“The Young Clementina” está dividida en cuatro partes según la autora, pero en mi opinion es una novela doble, son dos partes bien diferenciadas: en la primera parte Charlotte cuenta toda su infancia y su relación con su hermana menor, Kitty, y con su amigo de la infancia, Garth. Esa historia tiene un ritmo muy rápido, las páginas vuelan porque no es posible parar de leer, constantemente suceden cosas muy importantes para lo que viene después, pero suceden sin descanso, una detrás de otra. En la segunda historia Charlotte queda al cuidado de su sobrina, la Clementina del título, una niña extraña y retraída que se queda sola por los problemas y el egoísmo de sus padres.
Charlotte Dean era la hija mayor de un entrañable reverendo. De niña tuvo en Garth, hijo del aristócrata local, a un amigo inseparable. Garth y ella lo hacían todo juntos, crecieron juntos y juntos bailaron el día del 21 cumpleaños de Garth, teniendo ella 18. Por entonces ya sentían algo el uno por el otro pero estalló la Gran Guerra y Garth tuvo que alistarse, nunca fue posible un romance entre ellos. Al acabar la guerra Garth ya no era el muchacho amable y considerado que fue; en su lugar hay un hombre cruel, cínico y despiadado que suelta toda su mala baba sobre Charlotte, quien no entiende nada. El golpe definitivo llega cuando Garth se casa con Kitty, quien desde niña ambicionó tener una gran casa. Clementina nace al año siguiente y su madrina es Charlotte, pero esta se muda a Londres en busca de una vida tranquila y sin sobresaltos. Durante 12 años Kitty y Charlotte apenas se ven, pero el matrimonio tiene serios problemas y estos acaban afectando a la niña.
Suceden muchas cosas que no revelaré pero el caso es que Garth le pide a Charlotte que cuide de su hija durante un año. Tia y sobrina apenas se conocen…
Como decía es una novela que tiene dos ritmos y dos historias. Pero por supuesto la relación de Garth y Kitty tiene un fuerte impacto sobre la hija y forma su caracter, por eso la segunda parte ralentiza el ritmo: simboliza las dificultades que Charlotte va a ir encontrando en su intento por conseguir que Clementina se abra a ella. Solo cuando la niña se da cuenta de que su tía no va a abandonarla, que la escucha y la quiere es cuando se construyen unos lazos irrompibles entre ellas, esta es la mejor parte del libro porque es muy entrañable. También es la parte en la que Charlotte hace retrospección sobre su vida y reflexiona sobre su pasado con el Garth a quien ella amó y que ya no existe. El tono es menos ligero, menos vibrante y mucho más intimista y solitario, pero es precioso. Y es una historia invernal con un cierto toque romántico dentro de la nostalgia que lo embarga todo.
September 7, 2013
I really enjoy D.E. Stevenson's books and writing style. I love the time period and locations that she writes about, and I find her characters to be believable and endearing. Some favorites quotes from this particular book:
"Prayer did not come easily to me for I always feel that prayer is a silent thing, an opening of the heart. To ask for earthly benefits, to reel out a list of requirements and expect them to be supplied is not prayer. It is putting God in the same category as an intelligent grocer. But that day at Hinkleton Church I felt that something was listening to the speaking of my heart. The spirit of my earthly father and the Spirit of my Heavenly Father blessed me in my new life. I was sure that the road I had chosen was the right road, and I went on my way strengthened."
"Death is not the saddest way to lose somebody you love."
"Prayer did not come easily to me for I always feel that prayer is a silent thing, an opening of the heart. To ask for earthly benefits, to reel out a list of requirements and expect them to be supplied is not prayer. It is putting God in the same category as an intelligent grocer. But that day at Hinkleton Church I felt that something was listening to the speaking of my heart. The spirit of my earthly father and the Spirit of my Heavenly Father blessed me in my new life. I was sure that the road I had chosen was the right road, and I went on my way strengthened."
"Death is not the saddest way to lose somebody you love."
June 23, 2014
Had its good points but also had its low points. D.E Stevenson can do lovely, straightforward romances sometimes, but she can also get all modern and divorce-y, and in this story there was a fair amount of stupidity going around. Will probably vet my future Stevenson choices a little more carefully, have run into a couple of duds lately.
May 14, 2018
I adore this author. This is a bittersweet novel about love, lies and misunderstandings.
Clementina is not really the main character, but she is vital to the story.
Clementina is not really the main character, but she is vital to the story.
December 2, 2022
What a great book! I just finished it and it was so sad and sweet. Another reviewer had guessed the ending and I guess I had too but I thought things would have happened sooner. Just a lovely book.
July 10, 2014
Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec The Young Clementina?
"J'ai commencé ma découverte de l'univers et de la plume de D.E. Stevenson avec la série des Miss Buncle qui m'avait déjà charmée et j'avais envie d'explorer une autre de ses histoires. Comme Sourcebooks est justement en train de rééditer son oeuvre avec un choix de couvertures sublimes, je n'ai pas hésité beaucoup plus longtemps à me laisser convaincre (par moi-même d'ailleurs).
Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"L'histoire se déroule autour des années 30. Charlotte Dean, vit une vie sans intérêt ni saveur, seule dans un petit appartement de Londres et se rendant chaque jour au travail consciencieusement. Mais ne croyez pas qu'il en a toujours été ainsi, cette vie d'ermite est un choix et petit à petit, nous allons découvrir pourquoi et quels sont les évènements qui aujourd'hui la pousse à changer de nouveau cela."
Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous?
"Ce livre est poignant. Comme toujours, D.E. Stevenson nous dépeint des personnages extrêmement attachants et dès les premières pages, on se prend d'une grande affection pour Charlotte. Le début de son récit est quelque peu pathétique, elle est si seule qu'elle s'invente une amie imaginaire d'une femme croisée une fois dans le bus. Puis on découvre son histoire si triste et sa résignation courageuse et c'est un vrai crève coeur. Impossible alors de se détacher de ces pages qui vont tour à tour nous redonner un peu d'espoir et nous le ravir aussi vite et réserver encore bien des surprises et des découvertes à cette pauvre Charlotte Dean. C'est vraiment une réussite en ce qui concerne les personnages et la palette des émotions que l'on traverse, le tout sur fond de campagne anglaise. Que demander de plus?"
Et comment cela s'est-il fini?
"C'est quand même le genre de livres on l'on s'énerve un peu tout le long contre les uns et les autres et leur manque de communication, sur toutes ces souffrances qui auraient pu être évitées sans la fierté mal placée de certains et la naïveté des autres alors bien sûr, pour rétablir l'équilibre, on a besoin d'une fin vraiment heureuse, de sentir que les personnages n'ont pas traversé tout cela pour rien. Et de ce côté-là, j'ai été un peu déçu par la rapidité du dénouement. Un peu plus de scènes de bonheur, voire un épilogue, n'auraient pas été de trop à mon goût."
http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...
"J'ai commencé ma découverte de l'univers et de la plume de D.E. Stevenson avec la série des Miss Buncle qui m'avait déjà charmée et j'avais envie d'explorer une autre de ses histoires. Comme Sourcebooks est justement en train de rééditer son oeuvre avec un choix de couvertures sublimes, je n'ai pas hésité beaucoup plus longtemps à me laisser convaincre (par moi-même d'ailleurs).
Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"L'histoire se déroule autour des années 30. Charlotte Dean, vit une vie sans intérêt ni saveur, seule dans un petit appartement de Londres et se rendant chaque jour au travail consciencieusement. Mais ne croyez pas qu'il en a toujours été ainsi, cette vie d'ermite est un choix et petit à petit, nous allons découvrir pourquoi et quels sont les évènements qui aujourd'hui la pousse à changer de nouveau cela."
Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous?
"Ce livre est poignant. Comme toujours, D.E. Stevenson nous dépeint des personnages extrêmement attachants et dès les premières pages, on se prend d'une grande affection pour Charlotte. Le début de son récit est quelque peu pathétique, elle est si seule qu'elle s'invente une amie imaginaire d'une femme croisée une fois dans le bus. Puis on découvre son histoire si triste et sa résignation courageuse et c'est un vrai crève coeur. Impossible alors de se détacher de ces pages qui vont tour à tour nous redonner un peu d'espoir et nous le ravir aussi vite et réserver encore bien des surprises et des découvertes à cette pauvre Charlotte Dean. C'est vraiment une réussite en ce qui concerne les personnages et la palette des émotions que l'on traverse, le tout sur fond de campagne anglaise. Que demander de plus?"
Et comment cela s'est-il fini?
"C'est quand même le genre de livres on l'on s'énerve un peu tout le long contre les uns et les autres et leur manque de communication, sur toutes ces souffrances qui auraient pu être évitées sans la fierté mal placée de certains et la naïveté des autres alors bien sûr, pour rétablir l'équilibre, on a besoin d'une fin vraiment heureuse, de sentir que les personnages n'ont pas traversé tout cela pour rien. Et de ce côté-là, j'ai été un peu déçu par la rapidité du dénouement. Un peu plus de scènes de bonheur, voire un épilogue, n'auraient pas été de trop à mon goût."
http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...
May 23, 2013
May not be the most "amazing" read, but I do love these early-/mid-twentieth century adventure romances, especially with the reliable quality of D.E. Stevenson's writing. Light and easy to digest, and still the focus is on plot and character development. Her books so often feel like time spent with a solid and trustworthy friend, with a few surprises along the way.
The Young Clementina practically screams romance, old-fashioned romance. All wrapped up in a story of infidelity, divorce, loneliness, lies, and then coming to a satisfying ending. It doesn't hurt that the setting is an old country estate in England where fox hunting, tea, and an array of servants are everyday fare.
It all depends on your expectations, and this one meets mine!
The Young Clementina practically screams romance, old-fashioned romance. All wrapped up in a story of infidelity, divorce, loneliness, lies, and then coming to a satisfying ending. It doesn't hurt that the setting is an old country estate in England where fox hunting, tea, and an array of servants are everyday fare.
It all depends on your expectations, and this one meets mine!
June 22, 2022
The Young Clementina is very different from DES’s sweet, comforting village tales. While her books often contain some sadness, this one is bleak and heart-rending almost throughout. It also deals with some un-wholesome themes more candidly than her other books. (No violence, but some sordid life choices.)
When the book gets to more familiar Stevenson territory, it’s nearly at the end. Personally, I was exhausted (and sad) by that point.
If you read DES for the warm hug feeling or for cozy cottagecore, this might be a pass. I’m not sorry I read it, but I’m looking forward to more human goodness and familiar themes as I read through her other work.
When the book gets to more familiar Stevenson territory, it’s nearly at the end. Personally, I was exhausted (and sad) by that point.
If you read DES for the warm hug feeling or for cozy cottagecore, this might be a pass. I’m not sorry I read it, but I’m looking forward to more human goodness and familiar themes as I read through her other work.
November 24, 2021
10 STARS!!!! Love love love! Best book I’ve read all year I think!! 💜💜💜I could hardly put it down.
March 11, 2025
Charlotte Dean lives alone in a small flat in London where she works in a library. She has never got over being jilted by Garth, the man she loved, who married her younger sister instead. In spite of everything she still loves Garth, whom she has known since they were both children, and longs for her old home in the country. Then one day Charlotte’s younger sister Kitty turns up wanting her help, which is the start of a strange new phase in her life.
I quite enjoyed this,but the trouble is,the most exciting part is rather near the beginning. The court case was by far the most interesting part for me, and once it is over nothing quite so absorbing happens in the rest of the book. Charlotte’s relationship with Clem is quite interesting, but some very odd things happen. The revelation of what actually happened to make Garth reject Charlotte is so ridiculous, I couldn’t really believe anyone could be so silly, even in a romance novel. I thought Garth such a fool I couldn’t really care about him after that.
I quite enjoyed this,but the trouble is,the most exciting part is rather near the beginning. The court case was by far the most interesting part for me, and once it is over nothing quite so absorbing happens in the rest of the book. Charlotte’s relationship with Clem is quite interesting, but some very odd things happen. The revelation of what actually happened to make Garth reject Charlotte is so ridiculous, I couldn’t really believe anyone could be so silly, even in a romance novel. I thought Garth such a fool I couldn’t really care about him after that.
March 20, 2022
This is the best yet of the Stevenson I've read in recent months. It helps that the whole thing is told first person from one character's perpective—no whiplashing around from protagonist to protagonist. It was all pretty predictable, but I like the comfort of predictability. I would like to get hold of the person who wrote this publisher's description, though. "A light, comic touch" my fanny. The story deals with some very dark deeds. It's gentle, but it's not light or comic. I think a lot of Stevenson readers keep hoping to find another Miss Buncle among her books, but this sure ain't it.
Oh, and why does every book I pick up lately seem to have some measure of racial vainglory? Darwinism stinks.
Reader was good. Audio files were bad—almost every chapter lopped off a little bit at the end.
Oh, and why does every book I pick up lately seem to have some measure of racial vainglory? Darwinism stinks.
Reader was good. Audio files were bad—almost every chapter lopped off a little bit at the end.
December 16, 2025
4 / 5 stars
Obsessed !
I love quaint and simple and touching stories such as these. Sure, at a certain point it did get rather predictable but moving nonetheless. The ending felt more abrupt than what I would have liked, but alas …
Charlotte reminds me quite of other heroines such as Anne, Sara, Miss Pettigrew etc. Bearing without complaint, being kind of heart, forgiving (where I NEVER could have) and having good things come to them in turn. It’s a rather enchanting little book.
The one gripe I have is with the father’s friend being interested in his 13-year-old daughter and going away for 4 years and come back to marry her when she turns 17 ???? Alas, different times and it didn’t spoil the story for me as it also wasn’t very central to it.
Obsessed !
I love quaint and simple and touching stories such as these. Sure, at a certain point it did get rather predictable but moving nonetheless. The ending felt more abrupt than what I would have liked, but alas …
Charlotte reminds me quite of other heroines such as Anne, Sara, Miss Pettigrew etc. Bearing without complaint, being kind of heart, forgiving (where I NEVER could have) and having good things come to them in turn. It’s a rather enchanting little book.
The one gripe I have is with the father’s friend being interested in his 13-year-old daughter and going away for 4 years and come back to marry her when she turns 17 ???? Alas, different times and it didn’t spoil the story for me as it also wasn’t very central to it.
May 22, 2023
DES is one of the few authors I can enjoy even when the plot choices are not my favorite. She is just so easy to read. I found myself needing to know how the story would end. I really wish this story had been given a sequel, or at least a decent epilogue!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews