Story about Mary, the dutiful Rector's Daughter, who almost falls in love with a local vicar, but events conspire against her

This was on a list of "neglected classics", along with The Victorian Chaise-Longue and The Blank Wall and it was the best of the lot. It mostly reminded me of Middlemarch - not as good as that, but a similar style of writing, and pretty good in the good bits.

There were some lovely descriptions of Mary and the other characters in the story, which were very well observed. Actually Mary reminded me of Dorothea, and Dora, her rival for the vicar's attentions, was not unlike Rosamund.

I think I will need to read the book again - it was good but I wasn't really in the right mood for it so I think I didn't appreciate it as much as it deserved.

Completed : 11-Apr-2011