Jessamine

by Marion Harland

Jessamine is a novel written by Marion Harland, which tells the story of a young woman named Jessamine Barry. The book is set in the mid-19th century and revolves around the life of Jessamine, who is the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner in Virginia. Jessamine is a headstrong and independent woman who is determined to live life on her own terms. She rebels against the traditional expectations of women in her society and seeks to pursue her own interests and passions. The novel follows Jessamine as she navigates the challenges of life on the plantation, including the complex relationships between slaves and their owners. She also struggles with her own feelings for a young man named Ned, who is the son of one of her father's slaves. As the story unfolds, Jessamine must make difficult decisions about her future and confront the realities of the world around her. She learns about love, loss, and the importance of standing up for what she believes in. Overall, Jessamine is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of race, class, and gender in a complex and nuanced way. It is a must-read for anyone interested in historical fiction and the struggles of women in the 19th century.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

388 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1873

About the author

Mary Virginia Terhune (née Hawes), also known by her penname Marion Harland, was an American author. At age twenty-three she won a $50 prize from the Southern Era periodical for her article on temperance. Encouraged, she published her first novel, Alone, to great acclaim. Despite giving birth to six children and running a household, she never stopped writing, eventually publishing twenty-five novels and three volumes of short stories, as well as numerous books on travel, biography, colonial history, and domestic guidance.

Despite her successful career, Terhune was generally unsupportive of the nascent feminism of her day. Ironically, according to Susan Koppelman in the Old Maids anthology (the source of this biographical note):

She has long been dismissed as an unimportant writer, partly because of her phenomenal output (I think many critics assume that such quantity can't be of high quality) and partly because of the fact that those who cherish the ideals she advocated do not ordinarily go looking for forgotten women writers.

Terhune's three surviving children also became authors.

Reviews

[Rhys-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Victorian novel was not exactly what I was expecting. The plot centers around Jessamine Kirke and her relationships with two men, her loyal fiance Roy Fordham and his deceptive, suave cousin, Orrin Wyllys. Jessie was not at all the character I though she would be. At first she seems to be the rather common Victorian character, the winsome, mirthful girl. But she also suffers severe bouts of depression.
The other two central characters are Mr. Wyllys and Mr. Fordham. Mr. Wyllys was asked by his cousin, Jessie's fiance, to be a friend to Jessie during Mr. Fordham's sojourn in Europe. But Mr. Fordham has no idea of his cousin's true character. Wyllys is a careless ladies' man who schemes to entangle Jessie's affections.
Roy Fordham may have been the most likable character in the novel, though at one point he made a decision I didn't like, but he later realized his mistake and felt remorse. Of the minor characters, my favorite was Mrs. Baxter.
The writing style was good but didn't stand out to me. And I expected there to be more Christian content in this book. In that respect, it was nothing like the stories of, for example, contemporary writers like Augusta Evans Wilson or E. P. Roe. But at least there were plenty of flowers.