Daphne: An Autumn Pastoral

by Margaret Pollock Sherwood

""Her Excellency, --will she have the politeness, " said Daphne slowly, reading from a tiny Italian-English phrase-book, "the politeness to"--She stopped helpless. Old Giacomo gazed at her with questioning eyes. The girl turned the pages swiftly and chose another phrase. "I go, " she announced, "I go to make a walk. ""

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

Professor of English at Wellesley College, 1889-1931. Sister of women's health pioneer Dr. Mary Sherwood and Johns Hopkins University economics professor Sidney Sherwood. Also wrote under the pen name Elizabeth Hastings.

Reviews

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little novella of an American girl who goes to visit her sister who lives in Italy. The sister has been called away so Daphne enjoys a dreamy holiday on her own, drinking in the sunshine and lapsing further and further into the enjoyment of the surrounding area.
Then she meets a young man, who claims he is Apollo the Greek god, this game of pretending is carried through till the end of the book.
The conflict mainly comes from the fact that Daphne sees her duty is to be constant to a serious, religious young man she left behind her that she was promised to, and that 'Apollo' has a great sorrow that he is trying to overcome by holding firmly to joy.
It was a nice book, and an interesting mixture of the pagan and Christian. The local people are painted colourfully. It's certainly a romance and shouldn't be read for any serious purpose.