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Mistress And Maid
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Kindle Edition
First published July 20, 2014
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About the author
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
333 books67 followersDinah Maria Craik (born Dinah Maria Mulock, also often credited as Miss Mulock or Mrs. Craik) was an English novelist and poet. She was born at Stoke-on-Trent and brought up in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.
After the death of her mother in 1845, Dinah Maria Mulock settled in London about 1846. She was determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily until placed in the front rank of the women novelists of her day. She is best known for the novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). She followed this with A Life for a Life (1859), which she considered to be the best of her novels, and several other works. She also published some poetry, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, and A Woman's Thoughts about Women (1858).
She married George Lillie Craik a partner with Alexander Macmillan in the publishing house of Macmillan & Company, and nephew of George Lillie Craik, in 1864. They adopted a foundling baby girl, Dorothy, in 1869.
At Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, while in a period of preparation for Dorothy's wedding, she died of heart failure on 12 October 1887, aged 61. Her last words were reported to have been: "Oh, if I could live four weeks longer! but no matter, no matter!" Her final book, An Unknown Country, was published by Macmillan in 1887, the year of her death.
After the death of her mother in 1845, Dinah Maria Mulock settled in London about 1846. She was determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily until placed in the front rank of the women novelists of her day. She is best known for the novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). She followed this with A Life for a Life (1859), which she considered to be the best of her novels, and several other works. She also published some poetry, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, and A Woman's Thoughts about Women (1858).
She married George Lillie Craik a partner with Alexander Macmillan in the publishing house of Macmillan & Company, and nephew of George Lillie Craik, in 1864. They adopted a foundling baby girl, Dorothy, in 1869.
At Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, while in a period of preparation for Dorothy's wedding, she died of heart failure on 12 October 1887, aged 61. Her last words were reported to have been: "Oh, if I could live four weeks longer! but no matter, no matter!" Her final book, An Unknown Country, was published by Macmillan in 1887, the year of her death.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 11, 2016
Despite their poverty the three Misses Leaf, Joanna, Selina and Hilary, school-mistresses to a waning class of pupils in the small rural town of Stowbury, have no option but to hire a maid to assist with all their domestic duties.
At the low cost of £3 per annum they acquire the services of Elizabeth Hand, an awkward and sullen but willing young girl of fifteen.
Elizabeth comes to view Hilary Leaf as her true mistress. Though the youngest, Hilary engendered affection, 'there was a liveliness and even briskness about her, as if the every day wine of her life had a spice of Champagniness, not frothiness but natural effervescence of spirit, meant to "cheer but not inebriate" a household.'
Of the other two sisters, Johanna Leaf, the eldest, is in declining health, yet her personality remains sweetness itself, 'the unruffled peace of a soul which no worldly storms could disturb overmuch, for it had long since cast anchor in the world unseen.'
Selina, nearing forty, once considered the beauty, is highly-strung and given to 'fits' and periods of bedridden illnesses. She alone treats Elizabeth with condescension and distance, though she calls on her aid to a greater degree than her siblings.
Elizabeth becomes akin to a 'bower-maiden' of olden times for the admirable Hilary, who educates and improves her throughout a modest novel centered principally upon 'the great gulf that lies and ever must lie—not so much between mistress and servant, in their abstract relation—(and yet that is right, for the relation and authority are ordained of God)—but between the educated and the ignorant, the coarse and the refined.'
Mistress and Maid is an unassuming domestic tale from the 19th century, not nearly as awash in piety and sentimentality as either I or the quotations I have used may appear to make it sound.
Sure, there's some tears, but generally speaking the sisters and their charge are an earthy and entertaining group, despite the smallness of their world. Tensions arise through a feckless nephew and assorted love interests.
Craik is fully aware of the slightness of her story, addressing the reader with several references to it along the way, e.g.:
'I misdoubt many will say I am writing about small, ridiculously small, things. Yet is not the whole of life made up of infinitesimally small things?'
Yet the narrative voice is so soft and generous, so warm and welcoming that the chapters sailed on like a light craft on still waters. It's far from exciting, but I enjoyed its simple spell for the most part and will look to read another of the writer's works.
p.s. the online version I read is riddled with spelling mistakes in virtually every chapter e.g. 'cut' instead of 'out', 'new' instead of 'now', and my favorite 'oven' for 'even'.
At the low cost of £3 per annum they acquire the services of Elizabeth Hand, an awkward and sullen but willing young girl of fifteen.
Elizabeth comes to view Hilary Leaf as her true mistress. Though the youngest, Hilary engendered affection, 'there was a liveliness and even briskness about her, as if the every day wine of her life had a spice of Champagniness, not frothiness but natural effervescence of spirit, meant to "cheer but not inebriate" a household.'
Of the other two sisters, Johanna Leaf, the eldest, is in declining health, yet her personality remains sweetness itself, 'the unruffled peace of a soul which no worldly storms could disturb overmuch, for it had long since cast anchor in the world unseen.'
Selina, nearing forty, once considered the beauty, is highly-strung and given to 'fits' and periods of bedridden illnesses. She alone treats Elizabeth with condescension and distance, though she calls on her aid to a greater degree than her siblings.
Elizabeth becomes akin to a 'bower-maiden' of olden times for the admirable Hilary, who educates and improves her throughout a modest novel centered principally upon 'the great gulf that lies and ever must lie—not so much between mistress and servant, in their abstract relation—(and yet that is right, for the relation and authority are ordained of God)—but between the educated and the ignorant, the coarse and the refined.'
Mistress and Maid is an unassuming domestic tale from the 19th century, not nearly as awash in piety and sentimentality as either I or the quotations I have used may appear to make it sound.
Sure, there's some tears, but generally speaking the sisters and their charge are an earthy and entertaining group, despite the smallness of their world. Tensions arise through a feckless nephew and assorted love interests.
Craik is fully aware of the slightness of her story, addressing the reader with several references to it along the way, e.g.:
'I misdoubt many will say I am writing about small, ridiculously small, things. Yet is not the whole of life made up of infinitesimally small things?'
Yet the narrative voice is so soft and generous, so warm and welcoming that the chapters sailed on like a light craft on still waters. It's far from exciting, but I enjoyed its simple spell for the most part and will look to read another of the writer's works.
p.s. the online version I read is riddled with spelling mistakes in virtually every chapter e.g. 'cut' instead of 'out', 'new' instead of 'now', and my favorite 'oven' for 'even'.
July 31, 2013
Although not compelling in the way that you absolutely must read the next page, this story is a touching and insightful tale of perseverance and sacrifice. The characters are truly human, albeit old fashioned in their values and roles, and we genuinely feel for them as they toil and triumph. A little gem of a story - highly recommend! :)
September 30, 2012
This was such a darling piece of past literature. Certainly not flashy, nor was the story catching, but the characters were compelling and very Victorian. I enjoyed sinking for a few hours into a simpler but no less trying age.
May 4, 2013
I really liked this book. I had to skim a little bit over the saddest parts, but after reading the end, I went back to read them. It was very realistic, and made me count my blessings. It resolved things in a very satisfying way.
November 1, 2011
Buying a Kindle has enabled me to indulge my passion for Victorian novels and Mrs Craik wrote some of the very best.
November 10, 2013
If you are a romantic at heart and are looking for a realistic but sweet story, you have found the right book.
March 21, 2015
Fascinating, given its wild popularity among Civil War soldiers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews