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The Chronicles of Carlingford #6
Phoebe, Junior: Enriched edition. Unveiling Social Hierarchies: A Victorian Tale of Duty and Independence
Miss Phoebe Tozer, the only daughter of the chief deacon and leading member of the Dissenting connection in Carlingford, married, shortly after his appointment to the charge of Salem Chapel, in that town, the Reverend Mr. Beecham, one of the most rising young men in the denomination. The marriage was in many ways satisfactory to the young lady's family, for Mr. Beecham was himself the son of respectable people in a good way of business, and not destitute of means; and the position was one which they had always felt most suitable for their daughter, and to which she had been almost, it may be said, brought up. It is, however, scarcely necessary to add that it was not quite so agreeable to the other leading members of the congregation.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1876
13 people are currently reading
385 people want to read
About the author
Mrs. Oliphant
1,088 books172 followersMargaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".
Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
June 3, 2024
Masterful. As i have said before, it is not just the quality of these books, or the quick, wry, daring intelligence on display, but the fact that she wrote over 100 books whilst dealing with:
By 1857, Oliphant married her cousin Frank Wilson Oliphant, an artist, but he was to die seven years later from tuberculosis. This left Oliphant as the breadwinner with three young children and a pile of debts. In addition to these burdens, she later supported her alcoholic brother, Willie, and the three children of her other brother, Frank.
And, of course, her children all died before her death at 69.
So much loss and pain and struggle.
And to produce books like this through all that? Breathtaking.
Of course, the snobbish Bloomsbury set and all the rest put us all off her for so long, as she failed to fit the mould of the “artist” devoted to her art. Woolf said she:
“sold her brain, her very admirable brain, prostituted her culture and enslaved her intellectual liberty in order that she might earn her living and educate her children…’ (Three Guineas). “
Which just sums up the problems with Woolf et al (much as I love her)
Yes she may not have written something quite to the heights of, say, Middlemarch, but there are most definitely elements in all her books I have read to date which reach those levels at times. And is it not more impressive to achieve that over and over again in countless novels somehow written in the breathless gaps between all that messy, demanding, brutal life?
Anyway. She is great. More of her should be in print. You should read her.
By 1857, Oliphant married her cousin Frank Wilson Oliphant, an artist, but he was to die seven years later from tuberculosis. This left Oliphant as the breadwinner with three young children and a pile of debts. In addition to these burdens, she later supported her alcoholic brother, Willie, and the three children of her other brother, Frank.
And, of course, her children all died before her death at 69.
So much loss and pain and struggle.
And to produce books like this through all that? Breathtaking.
Of course, the snobbish Bloomsbury set and all the rest put us all off her for so long, as she failed to fit the mould of the “artist” devoted to her art. Woolf said she:
“sold her brain, her very admirable brain, prostituted her culture and enslaved her intellectual liberty in order that she might earn her living and educate her children…’ (Three Guineas). “
Which just sums up the problems with Woolf et al (much as I love her)
Yes she may not have written something quite to the heights of, say, Middlemarch, but there are most definitely elements in all her books I have read to date which reach those levels at times. And is it not more impressive to achieve that over and over again in countless novels somehow written in the breathless gaps between all that messy, demanding, brutal life?
Anyway. She is great. More of her should be in print. You should read her.
March 3, 2022
This is the final Chronicle of Carlingford. The preceding ones were The Rector (1863 and The Doctor’s Family (1863 [from me, 3 stars]), Salem Chapel (1863 [from me, 2 stars]), The Perpetual Curate (1864 [from me, 3 stars]), and the most popular Miss Marjoribanks (1866 [from me, 4 stars]).
I think if I had started from the very beginning with these Chronicles, I would not have pursued them any further than the first two. But I started with Miss Marjoribanks, and I thought that book was really good, and knowing that it was one of several chronicles, I wanted to read the rest in the series. So now I am done. 😏
I don’t regret it, but Mrs. Oliphant’s books are tomes. But she’s not the only one who wrote tomes, right? ...e.g., Dickens, Trollope, Thackeray, George Eliot.
Her books are relatively quiet reads...there’s usually romance involved with one pair or two of the protagonists...there are curates, deacons, and rectors and labels connected with the Church of England, that were over my head history-wise...e.g., Dissenters (but that is my fault...I just wasn’t motivated enough to dig deeper).
There were a number of major protagonists and secondary characters who populated the little countryside town of Carlingford, not terribly far from London. At the beginning of the tome, it was hard to keep track of all the characters, and so I wrote down notes and that made it easier. The reason why I rated this book 3 stars rather than 2 stars is that some of the characters were interesting — although I hated Mr. Copperhead, the rich man, he was funny. Some of the things he said made my jaw drop:
• According to Copperhead, young women are “bad for the men, and they ain’t much good themselves, that I can see.
• As for sending indigent people to workhouses or almshouses: There’s your almshouses now. What’s the principle of them? I call it encouraging those old beggars to live, giving them permission to burden the community as long as they can manage it; a dead mistake, depend upon it, the greatest mistake in the world.
I also liked his quiet wife Clara and felt sorry for her and for the impoverished May children, Ursula (main character) and Janey (secondary) and their younger siblings. Phoebe, the eponymous character, was 20-year-old young women who was strong and shrewd.
The reason why I rated it 3 stars and not any higher was that at times I got bored, and overall the story lines were not terribly interesting to me. Some GR friends of mine are much more enthusiastic about this book than I am.
Penelope Fitzgerald wrote the Introduction to the novel. That’s one thing I like about Virago Classics is that many of them have short Forewords by different people who have very interesting things to say about the novel they are discussing. And of course, Penelope Fitzgerald is a well-respected British author (Man Booker Prize Winner for Offshore, 1979).
Reviews:
• https://ellenandjim.wordpress.com/200...
These three reviews are from 1876 and 1877 that I purloined from: https://www.davidalfredbywaters.com/b...
• It is “fuller than usual” of Oliphant’s “special powers,—her keen insight into a variety of feminine character—the able bourgeoise—her shrewd observation of English middle-class life, and her restrained, satirical humour. It betrays, too, what we had scarcely expected to find, a capacity for depicting scenes of almost tragical emotion without failure, and without . . . melodrama.” Spectator, June 17, 1876
• Oliphant “finds an easy amusement in bringing together by the ears men of different religious creeds and professions, and subduing them to uniformity by their weaknesses. . . . Even the mischief-makers and villains essential to the story are not so much worse than their neighbours as more uncomfortable to themselves and to the people about them.” Saturday Review, July 22, 1876
• Phoebe is “one of the finest and most finished portraits ever drawn by Mrs. Oliphant. . . . There is something exceedingly subtle about this lady’s female characters.” Contemporary Review, March 1877
I think if I had started from the very beginning with these Chronicles, I would not have pursued them any further than the first two. But I started with Miss Marjoribanks, and I thought that book was really good, and knowing that it was one of several chronicles, I wanted to read the rest in the series. So now I am done. 😏
I don’t regret it, but Mrs. Oliphant’s books are tomes. But she’s not the only one who wrote tomes, right? ...e.g., Dickens, Trollope, Thackeray, George Eliot.
Her books are relatively quiet reads...there’s usually romance involved with one pair or two of the protagonists...there are curates, deacons, and rectors and labels connected with the Church of England, that were over my head history-wise...e.g., Dissenters (but that is my fault...I just wasn’t motivated enough to dig deeper).
There were a number of major protagonists and secondary characters who populated the little countryside town of Carlingford, not terribly far from London. At the beginning of the tome, it was hard to keep track of all the characters, and so I wrote down notes and that made it easier. The reason why I rated this book 3 stars rather than 2 stars is that some of the characters were interesting — although I hated Mr. Copperhead, the rich man, he was funny. Some of the things he said made my jaw drop:
• According to Copperhead, young women are “bad for the men, and they ain’t much good themselves, that I can see.
• As for sending indigent people to workhouses or almshouses: There’s your almshouses now. What’s the principle of them? I call it encouraging those old beggars to live, giving them permission to burden the community as long as they can manage it; a dead mistake, depend upon it, the greatest mistake in the world.
I also liked his quiet wife Clara and felt sorry for her and for the impoverished May children, Ursula (main character) and Janey (secondary) and their younger siblings. Phoebe, the eponymous character, was 20-year-old young women who was strong and shrewd.
The reason why I rated it 3 stars and not any higher was that at times I got bored, and overall the story lines were not terribly interesting to me. Some GR friends of mine are much more enthusiastic about this book than I am.
Penelope Fitzgerald wrote the Introduction to the novel. That’s one thing I like about Virago Classics is that many of them have short Forewords by different people who have very interesting things to say about the novel they are discussing. And of course, Penelope Fitzgerald is a well-respected British author (Man Booker Prize Winner for Offshore, 1979).
Reviews:
• https://ellenandjim.wordpress.com/200...
These three reviews are from 1876 and 1877 that I purloined from: https://www.davidalfredbywaters.com/b...
• It is “fuller than usual” of Oliphant’s “special powers,—her keen insight into a variety of feminine character—the able bourgeoise—her shrewd observation of English middle-class life, and her restrained, satirical humour. It betrays, too, what we had scarcely expected to find, a capacity for depicting scenes of almost tragical emotion without failure, and without . . . melodrama.” Spectator, June 17, 1876
• Oliphant “finds an easy amusement in bringing together by the ears men of different religious creeds and professions, and subduing them to uniformity by their weaknesses. . . . Even the mischief-makers and villains essential to the story are not so much worse than their neighbours as more uncomfortable to themselves and to the people about them.” Saturday Review, July 22, 1876
• Phoebe is “one of the finest and most finished portraits ever drawn by Mrs. Oliphant. . . . There is something exceedingly subtle about this lady’s female characters.” Contemporary Review, March 1877
October 20, 2024
The main topic of the book was snobbishness and class prejudice in the middle class (or more precisely among classes in the middle class). Because of it, I felt awful numerous times. Yet, Mrs. Oliphant wrote the story wonderfully, with wit and understanding that made it, at the same time, real, and enjoyable.
Moreover, the author's study of characters was brilliant. It was only the second book by Mrs. Oliphant I have read so far, but I understand why some readers call her a brilliant though neglected Victorian novelist.
Moreover, the author's study of characters was brilliant. It was only the second book by Mrs. Oliphant I have read so far, but I understand why some readers call her a brilliant though neglected Victorian novelist.
June 14, 2015
Phoebe was a very likeable character indeed- very mature for her years and yet, human enough for one to identify and sympathise with. I enjoyed this book as a whole but the end was a tad disappointing for me. I'd have preferred a storybook ending to the more realistic one that Oliphant wrote.
April 4, 2020
This is sort of a strange book, probably because stories like Pride and Prejudice dominate our discussions of nineteenth century literature. P&P-type stories are about main characters who are determined to marry for love, and that works out well for them, because their husband will turn out to be rich enough anyway. Phoebe Junior is a bit less romantic than that.
It's not that Phoebe can marry a poor man that she loves or a rich man that she doesn't love. It's that she doesn't love either man, but is somewhat fond of both. The poor man really loves her, and is smarter and more romantic and generally more attractive to the modern reader; but the rich man... is rich. And Phoebe would very much like to rise in society. She's smart and ambitious and wants to be the wife of a parliament man and write his speeches and such.
In many other books, that would make her the villain. But though the narrator interrogates Phoebe's motivations and her propensity for worldliness, the book is very sympathetic to her. She's a little proud and a little overdramatic and a lot headstrong, but she's also usually sensible, and always kind, and has a strong sense of honor. I can't think of any other protagonists I've read like her—mercenary without being mean.
The story is really dominated by money, so it makes sense that the marriages in the book are frank about being financially-focused. As much concern over money and class as there is in books like Pride and Prejudice, it's much easier for us to focus on the romance in them than it is in Phoebe Junior, where money dominates every side plot, and the climactic scene comes down to who will pay a bill for 150 pounds.
After all, how are you going to romanticize Phoebe's love interest? Phoebe herself doesn't romanticize him.
It's not that Phoebe can marry a poor man that she loves or a rich man that she doesn't love. It's that she doesn't love either man, but is somewhat fond of both. The poor man really loves her, and is smarter and more romantic and generally more attractive to the modern reader; but the rich man... is rich. And Phoebe would very much like to rise in society. She's smart and ambitious and wants to be the wife of a parliament man and write his speeches and such.
In many other books, that would make her the villain. But though the narrator interrogates Phoebe's motivations and her propensity for worldliness, the book is very sympathetic to her. She's a little proud and a little overdramatic and a lot headstrong, but she's also usually sensible, and always kind, and has a strong sense of honor. I can't think of any other protagonists I've read like her—mercenary without being mean.
The story is really dominated by money, so it makes sense that the marriages in the book are frank about being financially-focused. As much concern over money and class as there is in books like Pride and Prejudice, it's much easier for us to focus on the romance in them than it is in Phoebe Junior, where money dominates every side plot, and the climactic scene comes down to who will pay a bill for 150 pounds.
After all, how are you going to romanticize Phoebe's love interest? Phoebe herself doesn't romanticize him.
October 5, 2011
I would rate this as highly as Miss Majoribanks. It's funny and (for its time) subversive. Phoebe is a feisty triumph.
January 1, 2008
I love Margaret Oliphant, and enjoyed this book, the last of her Carlingford Chronicles, very much.
January 5, 2014
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The fifth and final volume of Mrs Oliphant's saga of English provincial life, set in the country town of Carlingford. With Elizabeth Spriggs.
The fifth and final volume of Mrs Oliphant's saga of English provincial life, set in the country town of Carlingford. With Elizabeth Spriggs.
April 16, 2020
A glorious Victorian romp with impossible heroines and ridiculous male leads. An absolute pleasure to read in the time of Corona virus.
May 31, 2015
Margaret Oliphant's Chronicles of Carlingford are my discovery of the year. Oliphant, said to be Queen Victoria's favorite novelist, combines qualities of Austen and Trollope but has an appeal of her own, especially for those who wonder what strong, socially talented women did with themselves in the 19th century. "Phoebe Junior" is the last of the Carlingford series. It centers around the daughter of a minor character in one of the earlier volumes, "Salem Chapel," and has strong echoes of another Carlingford chronicle, "Miss Marjoribanks" (Oliphant's best-known work).
At the end of "Salem Chapel," Phoebe Tozer meets her future husband, an ambitious if not highly educated young preacher named Beecham. "Phoebe Junior" introduces their daughter in London -- the great, fluid city where money and talent speak and the Beechams have attained considerable prestige -- only to transport her back to her mother's home town of Carlingford, a village of rigid distinctions and long memories. Here Phoebe Beecham is not the fashionable minister's daughter but the granddaughter of Tozer the butterman. The novel concerns what Phoebe makes of this abrupt descent on the social scale. In Carlingford, church and chapel -- i.e. the Church of England with its university-trained priests and aristocratic ties and the Dissenters with their ministers and lower middle-class congregations -- do not meet as they do in London. However, with the advent of Phoebe, followed by some of her friends and acquaintances from London, Carlingford's social boundaries are disturbed.
Like Lucilla Marjoribanks, the eponymous Phoebe Junior is a prosperous, strong-willed, virtuous, and educated young woman who knows her own value and easily assumes the role of a leader of society. Like Lucilla, this forceful personality is initially more impressive than endearing; she is no sort of victim and has no fascinating enemy or plight to be rescued from. Rather, these Oliphant heroines are problem-solvers on a mission, who win over the reader with their toughness and honesty. While technically staying within conventional feminine roles, they excel at using their wits and wiles to obtain their ends, and are ready to take on all opponents and obstacles. The field and scale of their action may be small, in keeping with the village setting, but for Oliphant and her heroines, Carlingford is a school for heroic virtue. Her great crises are not love scenes but opportunities for her heroines to use all their grit and skill to avoid catastrophe and in the process rescue a doomed soul or two, because it is the right thing to do. Duty is their watchword, but they also clearly enjoy using their executive capacities. In fact Phoebe's choice between her two suitors is strongly influenced by the desire to use her capacities on a large scale.
I've focused on the title character but Oliphant's men are almost as good as her women, and she is a good, if prolix, storyteller. Her detailing of 19th-century Christian divisions is of no interest to most contemporary readers but Oliphant is ecumenically concerned with seeing the flaws and virtues of both camps, not choosing sides. A comic touch is one of her greatest attractions. "Phoebe Junior" is not as laugh-out-loud funny as "Miss Majoribanks"; it is something of a rewrite of the earlier book without the satirical element. But her comic sense is seen in her treatment of characters like the Tozers and the nouveau riche man's dull-witted son -- not that this prevents her from showing their finer points. Oliphant's sharpsighted affection for her large cast of characters makes me happy to visit Carlingford.
At the end of "Salem Chapel," Phoebe Tozer meets her future husband, an ambitious if not highly educated young preacher named Beecham. "Phoebe Junior" introduces their daughter in London -- the great, fluid city where money and talent speak and the Beechams have attained considerable prestige -- only to transport her back to her mother's home town of Carlingford, a village of rigid distinctions and long memories. Here Phoebe Beecham is not the fashionable minister's daughter but the granddaughter of Tozer the butterman. The novel concerns what Phoebe makes of this abrupt descent on the social scale. In Carlingford, church and chapel -- i.e. the Church of England with its university-trained priests and aristocratic ties and the Dissenters with their ministers and lower middle-class congregations -- do not meet as they do in London. However, with the advent of Phoebe, followed by some of her friends and acquaintances from London, Carlingford's social boundaries are disturbed.
Like Lucilla Marjoribanks, the eponymous Phoebe Junior is a prosperous, strong-willed, virtuous, and educated young woman who knows her own value and easily assumes the role of a leader of society. Like Lucilla, this forceful personality is initially more impressive than endearing; she is no sort of victim and has no fascinating enemy or plight to be rescued from. Rather, these Oliphant heroines are problem-solvers on a mission, who win over the reader with their toughness and honesty. While technically staying within conventional feminine roles, they excel at using their wits and wiles to obtain their ends, and are ready to take on all opponents and obstacles. The field and scale of their action may be small, in keeping with the village setting, but for Oliphant and her heroines, Carlingford is a school for heroic virtue. Her great crises are not love scenes but opportunities for her heroines to use all their grit and skill to avoid catastrophe and in the process rescue a doomed soul or two, because it is the right thing to do. Duty is their watchword, but they also clearly enjoy using their executive capacities. In fact Phoebe's choice between her two suitors is strongly influenced by the desire to use her capacities on a large scale.
I've focused on the title character but Oliphant's men are almost as good as her women, and she is a good, if prolix, storyteller. Her detailing of 19th-century Christian divisions is of no interest to most contemporary readers but Oliphant is ecumenically concerned with seeing the flaws and virtues of both camps, not choosing sides. A comic touch is one of her greatest attractions. "Phoebe Junior" is not as laugh-out-loud funny as "Miss Majoribanks"; it is something of a rewrite of the earlier book without the satirical element. But her comic sense is seen in her treatment of characters like the Tozers and the nouveau riche man's dull-witted son -- not that this prevents her from showing their finer points. Oliphant's sharpsighted affection for her large cast of characters makes me happy to visit Carlingford.
January 21, 2024
Well well, I believe we have a winner. This is my second novel by Oliphant, a Victorian writer who is probably long overdue to be resuscitated, like Gissing, Trollope, and Gaskell before her, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Phoebe, Junior shares similar themes and a similar heroine to Oliphant's Miss Marjoribanks (1866), but with less of the mock-heroic narration and a wider scope of concerns. The main one is that of class--heroine Phoebe, on a visit to nurse a relative in the provincial town of Carlingford, learns she's is just two generations removed from being in trade--and not just any trade, but that of a grocer. (Horrors!) Other issues are also on display, including the clash between Church of England and Dissenters, sinecures, the grinding day-to-day weariness faced by the respectable but impecunious middle class, etc. All of this is done with a wider cast of well-drawn characters than in the other book, with some surprisingly funny bits thrown in (one chapter hilariously opens with a character's attempt at making French entrees going badly wrong). In all of this Oliphant weaves what ends up being kind of a suspenseful subplot about a spendthrift who cannot manage to pay off a looming debt. Oliphant maintains a light touch throughout, and she certainly understands the tradeoffs women faced in terms of marriage and domestic drudgery better than, say, Trollope or Dickens. Highly recommended. Someone needs to reissue this one in a modern edition posthaste.
September 18, 2018
I did not enjoy this as much as Miss Marjoribanks and felt that some of the social commentary and Anglican/Dissenter rhetoric went over my head; as often happens, too, it took me about a quarter of the book to begin to really feel the characters and various plotlines. However, I just love Oliphant's way with words, her eye for character, and her humor, and this is a pretty satisfying end to the series. I actually found Mr. May's dilemmas and moral downfall to be the most interesting storyline and wanted that to be dug into more.
I'm sure I'll read all of these again! What next--Trollope? And which non-Carlingford Oliphant should be next in my queue...?
I'm sure I'll read all of these again! What next--Trollope? And which non-Carlingford Oliphant should be next in my queue...?
March 15, 2015
What a wonderful novel full of social commentary and well-written characters. I wish it were more widely read, but the main conflict between clergy and parishioners in Dissenting and Church congregations may not seem of general interest. It could be, since matters of doctrine are not relevant -- it's the factionalism and classism that is to the point. Phoebe and Ursula are both interesting and sympathetic characters, but although romantic entanglements abound, this is not a romance. Oliphant does not write fully happy endings, but mixed ones.
March 15, 2014
I just love Margaret Oliphant.
Very engrossing tale which is hard to believe it was written in 1876, it could easily relate to today.
It seems nothing changes with people living beyond their means and the snobbishness of the classes.
A neglected Victorian novelist which would make a very good drama for the t.v and a welcome change to all the re-makes.
I loved it!
Very engrossing tale which is hard to believe it was written in 1876, it could easily relate to today.
It seems nothing changes with people living beyond their means and the snobbishness of the classes.
A neglected Victorian novelist which would make a very good drama for the t.v and a welcome change to all the re-makes.
I loved it!
November 12, 2024
delightful read! funny but with lots to think about and quite accessible for a 19th c. novel. if you’re interested in cross-religion (CoE v Dissenter) dynamics in Victorian England, this is the book for you!
November 21, 2025
Phoebe Junior is the last book in the Chronicles of Carlingford and it turned out to be my second favourite of the series, right after Miss Marjoribanks.
I must admit it took me a while to get invested in the story. One of the main topics of the book was class prejudice, and I struggled a bit with this. I think in this aspect the novel didn't age terribly well. However, once I got to know the characters better, and once the dynamics between them became more prominent, I really started to enjoy the story a lot.
The main character, Phoebe, was definitely the one most well drawn. She was a very sensible, shrewd, but also compassionate young woman, and I really liked how she wasn't keen on romantic notions and her main priority always was what was better for her future. While I
Another character which was noteworthy, even if definitely awful, was Mr. Copperhead. His speeches were so outrageous that I found them entertaining. Also, it was a pleasure to see Phoebe stand up to him.
As for the other characters, I quite liked all of them, and I especially enjoyed the different relationships which forged between them, and how throught their friendships overcame some of their prejudices. It was very heartwarming.
I must admit it took me a while to get invested in the story. One of the main topics of the book was class prejudice, and I struggled a bit with this. I think in this aspect the novel didn't age terribly well. However, once I got to know the characters better, and once the dynamics between them became more prominent, I really started to enjoy the story a lot.
The main character, Phoebe, was definitely the one most well drawn. She was a very sensible, shrewd, but also compassionate young woman, and I really liked how she wasn't keen on romantic notions and her main priority always was what was better for her future. While I
Another character which was noteworthy, even if definitely awful, was Mr. Copperhead. His speeches were so outrageous that I found them entertaining. Also, it was a pleasure to see Phoebe stand up to him.
As for the other characters, I quite liked all of them, and I especially enjoyed the different relationships which forged between them, and how throught their friendships overcame some of their prejudices. It was very heartwarming.
November 6, 2020
The novel's set-up is particularly interesting: over the first six chapters or so, we are introduced to one married couple (a Dissenting minister and his wife, with a rich Marylebone congregation) and three widowers, with all these figures being unsatisfactory in some way: venal and social-climbing, in the case of the couple; ineffectual, in the case of a reduced country aristocrat; and then either thumpingly coarse (Copperhead, a railway magnate) or selfish, needlessly refined and self-deceiving (May, a Carlingford parson). The other seven principal characters are their children, none older than thirty or younger than eighteen. The novel's question is how the young people can navigate the marriage-market without being hamstrung by their parents' poverty, corrupted by their worldliness, or vitiated or rendered useless by their superfluous wealth.
The story resolves into an account of the courtship, and choices in marriage, of two women close in age, but very different. Ursula, the put-upon, often petulant daughter of the country town priest, has to fill the offices of her father's late wife in caring for five younger children--sewing, darning, directing one maid-of-all-work, learning to cook sophisticated 'entrees' (unsuccessfully). The key, her unsympathetic father says, is apparently making a good sauce. She has no conception of sex, and is surprised to find herself loved by her family's notional adversary in matters of religion. Phoebe, the more obvious heroine, is startlingly self-possessed and accomplished, and faces the nicer conscious decisions. She comes to Ursula's Carlingford at her mother's bidding to care for her chronically ill, embarrassingly rustic grandmother--and prevent her mother's go-getting sister-in-law, a dairy shop keeper, from monopolising the inheritance. She has known the bragging magnate Copperhead's son Clarence all her life, and is fond of him, as one might be someone palpably more hopeless, more dunderheaded or stuffed full of straw, than oneself. He is one of her potential beaux in the town, and another is the finer, poorer and more interesting son of the Church of England priest.
The darker plotline concerns May's forgery of a bill, rather than face the dishonour of exposing an easily manipulated congregant of his, a flour seller, to ruin, or grasp the need of having to check his expenditure on wine, comforts and a new bookcase (which he buys virtually in a fugue state of headiness and complacency). Oliphant is developing an argument about Christian charity, and how his cuts across dogmatic denominational lines; but the more serious analysis is of wealth, its power and its inextricability from respectability, indeed from any 'profession' or career open to a woman.
The story resolves into an account of the courtship, and choices in marriage, of two women close in age, but very different. Ursula, the put-upon, often petulant daughter of the country town priest, has to fill the offices of her father's late wife in caring for five younger children--sewing, darning, directing one maid-of-all-work, learning to cook sophisticated 'entrees' (unsuccessfully). The key, her unsympathetic father says, is apparently making a good sauce. She has no conception of sex, and is surprised to find herself loved by her family's notional adversary in matters of religion. Phoebe, the more obvious heroine, is startlingly self-possessed and accomplished, and faces the nicer conscious decisions. She comes to Ursula's Carlingford at her mother's bidding to care for her chronically ill, embarrassingly rustic grandmother--and prevent her mother's go-getting sister-in-law, a dairy shop keeper, from monopolising the inheritance. She has known the bragging magnate Copperhead's son Clarence all her life, and is fond of him, as one might be someone palpably more hopeless, more dunderheaded or stuffed full of straw, than oneself. He is one of her potential beaux in the town, and another is the finer, poorer and more interesting son of the Church of England priest.
The darker plotline concerns May's forgery of a bill, rather than face the dishonour of exposing an easily manipulated congregant of his, a flour seller, to ruin, or grasp the need of having to check his expenditure on wine, comforts and a new bookcase (which he buys virtually in a fugue state of headiness and complacency). Oliphant is developing an argument about Christian charity, and how his cuts across dogmatic denominational lines; but the more serious analysis is of wealth, its power and its inextricability from respectability, indeed from any 'profession' or career open to a woman.
July 31, 2020
"'The question is, am I to look my best? which I think is my duty to you and to Providence; or am I just,' said Phoebe, with indignation, 'to look a little insipidity—a creature with no character—a little girl like everybody else?'"
Phoebe Junior is the tale of five young people who all accidentally come together in Carlingford. We have the siblings, Ursula and Reginald, who are children of the Perpetual Curate of St. Rogue and are quite poor. We have the very wealthy and very stupid Clarence. The very clever Dissenter Northcote. And lastly, we have our eponymous heroine who is the cleverest of them all. With these as our main characters, we explore the subjects of religion, prejudices, money, and marriage.
This installment feels more part of the series than the other novels as we revisit some characters from Salem Chapel. But I enjoyed this novel much more than I did the previous installment. Phoebe is a great heroine - she is dramatic sometimes, but she is also very clever and ambitious. It really is a pleasure reading about young heroines who make good and well-informed decisions. Phoebe has to decide if she is going to marry Reginald, the poor man who is very in love with her, or Clarence, who is very rich. And it is very interesting exploring that subject as marriage is no laughing matter and money do make a difference.
Ursula really grew on me. At first, I found her a bit too stupid and naive for my liking, but I really grew to appreciate her and her struggles with being the mother of her younger siblings and managing everything in a poor household. And her romance was so precious!
The only thing I could criticise is the plot. It didn't take me long to read this novel, and it felt fast-paced, but at the same time, nothing really seemed to happen. I was 100 pages from the end, and only then did the plot seem to get moving in my opinion.
But overall, it was a great ending to the series!
My other reviews of the Chronicles of Carlingford series:
The Doctor's Family (#2)
Salem Chapel (#3)
The Perpetual Curate (#4)
Miss Marjoribanks (#5)
Phoebe Junior is the tale of five young people who all accidentally come together in Carlingford. We have the siblings, Ursula and Reginald, who are children of the Perpetual Curate of St. Rogue and are quite poor. We have the very wealthy and very stupid Clarence. The very clever Dissenter Northcote. And lastly, we have our eponymous heroine who is the cleverest of them all. With these as our main characters, we explore the subjects of religion, prejudices, money, and marriage.
This installment feels more part of the series than the other novels as we revisit some characters from Salem Chapel. But I enjoyed this novel much more than I did the previous installment. Phoebe is a great heroine - she is dramatic sometimes, but she is also very clever and ambitious. It really is a pleasure reading about young heroines who make good and well-informed decisions. Phoebe has to decide if she is going to marry Reginald, the poor man who is very in love with her, or Clarence, who is very rich. And it is very interesting exploring that subject as marriage is no laughing matter and money do make a difference.
Ursula really grew on me. At first, I found her a bit too stupid and naive for my liking, but I really grew to appreciate her and her struggles with being the mother of her younger siblings and managing everything in a poor household. And her romance was so precious!
The only thing I could criticise is the plot. It didn't take me long to read this novel, and it felt fast-paced, but at the same time, nothing really seemed to happen. I was 100 pages from the end, and only then did the plot seem to get moving in my opinion.
But overall, it was a great ending to the series!
My other reviews of the Chronicles of Carlingford series:
The Doctor's Family (#2)
Salem Chapel (#3)
The Perpetual Curate (#4)
Miss Marjoribanks (#5)
January 5, 2018
Phoebe is an intelligent, well-educated young woman who doubtless would have passed the Cambridge examinations [for admission to Girton College or the newly-opened Newnham College] if her father had allowed her to apply. Like Lucilla in an earlier Carlingford novel Miss Marjoribanks, Phoebe is ambitious to do something meaningful with her life. As her fondness for two young men increases, she consciously weighs potential love against a life having more scope. A very clever novel.
This is the last of seven works set in the delightful country town of Carlingford. Free download of all seven works in the series can be found here: Chronicles of Carlingford.
This is the last of seven works set in the delightful country town of Carlingford. Free download of all seven works in the series can be found here: Chronicles of Carlingford.
April 28, 2021
I so enjoyed this book. I read it after discovering Miss Marjoribanks by Oliphant. I'm finding the Victorian novel of manners just the thing for getting through this Covid year. The characters come alive. Plucky, smart Phoebe. She must be pragmatic about her choice of husband. She opts for Clarence Copperhead who is described as a a lout and a fool. He wins her respect and her hand when he refuses to give her up despite his father's threat of losing his inheritance. Phoebe says of him,"He was stupid---but he was a man, and Phoebe felt proud of him, at least for the moment."
The May family is a sub-plot. A lively family headed by the bad-tempered Mr May, the widowed parson father of eight children he has been living beyond his means and finds himself in real money trouble. It may cost him his job, reputation and family.
The May family is a sub-plot. A lively family headed by the bad-tempered Mr May, the widowed parson father of eight children he has been living beyond his means and finds himself in real money trouble. It may cost him his job, reputation and family.
January 28, 2014
Last time I was prompted to read a book by hearing part of a dramatised extract, I found I had heard the only mildly funny bit and had to spend time with the rather dull Anne of Green Gables. Undeterred I decided to give Pheobe Junior a go and I am very glad that I did. Mrs Olliphant is very wordy and sometimes takes an age to get to the point, but she is also funny and, lack of brevity aside, knows how to tell a story. The book is interesting for its view of class and the relationships between the established church and dissenters. Mr Copperhead is a great Victorian character with some extreme views. All in all, I enjoyed it so much that I would like that've given it 5 stars. But it is perhaps too wordy and too far from great literature for that.
April 27, 2008
This book is about class, and what signals class in Victorian culture. Phoebe Junior's parents have moved up in society. When they send her to a small town to stay with her shop keeping grandparents, it is a shock to Phoebe and puts her in a difficult situation, but she manages to maintain her a higher status in the town by dressing is silks and fur and behaving like the ideal Victorian young lady. She manages to marry the stupid rich man she's been after since she was a child (despite falling in love with someone else along the way) and manages to get him into Parliament by writing his speeches for him.
January 31, 2010
I'm having trouble deciding how I feel about this book. When it started out and was full of ridiculous characters meeting one another and conversing, it was witty in an almost Austenian way. I found myself chuckling at the absurdities of the characters. But then it digressed into the long-winded tale of the comings and goings of a group of young people, divided by class and religion, with a dramatic forgery subplot thrown in, and the book just lost its humorous appeal for me. I have trouble understanding how Oliphant managed to write over 400 pages about these people. Well, it was an interesting experience to read, but easily forgettable in my opinion.
August 30, 2020
I heard part of the BBC's serialisation for radio of this Victorian novel, and decided to find a copy to read. I'm so glad I did. I took a while to get used to the ornate 19th century prose ( it's a long time since I read any Trollope or Dickens !) but once I got into the story I enjoyed it immensely. Mrs Oliphant was driven to writing in order to support her own and her brother's family, and her wit and command of the English language combine to produce a wonderful observation of Victorian society and family life, in particular the effects of class and religion on the lives of her characters.
April 2, 2014
Adorable story about Phoebe, the daughter of Phoebe (thus the appellation "junior"). Phoebe has been raised in wealth and education, and does not realize how poor her parents were in their own childhood. When she visits her grandparents, she realizes that she comes from a background of "trade". She's a fantastic protagonist, however, and confidently faces her so-called shame. She has a love story, and there are other minor love stories as well. Quite a darling read.
October 21, 2017
The plot of this one is exceptional. The class and religion distinctions were handled deftly, highlighting the basic human instincts that people treat each other with, when they feel they aren't cut from the same cloth. I found the romances typical, but still very witty and loved the inner dialog from the female protagonists.
December 16, 2016
See my review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/...
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/...
December 4, 2018
A fun, involving read that I felt ended too abruptly.
May 7, 2020
Listened. Abridged. BBC Sounds. Funny.
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