Miss Marjoribanks, By Margaret Oliphant

Rating, 3/5

Characters 4/4

Story, 3/5

Marjoribanks is actually pronounced Marchbanks. This book is relatively big, having 3 volumes and 496 pages, depending on the book. It is based in the middle class of the Victorian area, where society is a big thing. The story goes to tell about Miss. Lucilla Marjoribanks, when is returning from her late home and school. On arrival she her intension is to be the sunshine in her widowed father's life, and she will not be relived even if he wishes it. When she is at home, she at once wants to be received into her towns society. It does take time, but she gets to the place where she is the life of society being Young and energetic.

As dreamed about at school, all she wanted was to take care of her father and run the house as her own and as her mother did. When she is making changes and after refurnishing the drawing room she feels entitled to serve her father for it until she feels that her time with him served for the cost, but also it serves as an excuse because she has no wish to marry. Lucilla begins hosting party's and is a expert entertainer. Lucilla is also open and appealing and instructive without giving herself airs. One huge facet of her nature is that she is always kind and preserving, meaning she takes interest of others lives without being demanding nor ignorantly noisy. she finds herself although vexed at times, but she keeps her reputation at a high proof of good breeding, but as men start closing in, will they ruin her good reputation? Many men; the young, younger, and middle age come into her life so that she is bound in gossip. Helping them by comforting and impulsively conducting private interviews does not help her in the least. But what can you do, when you are kindhearted?

Proposes come and go, proposes never come, and is there a proposes that is excepted? Lucilla is completely flawed as a heroin, in her choices of choices, although she is perfect in her generosity. But will she have the eternal future of a spinster? Or will she marry the wrong man to save her from it?

This book is very well illustrated in words, but i am not to keen about the story's ending. Lucilla's character is well defined and deeply constructed, but her life is an illusion and in the mid age of a woman, she is called old, but men in that time of their lives are hardly given that title, that is one offence. Lucilla is stubbornly flawed also and i find her a bit to weak or to strong. Which one is false i will leave that up to you to decide. The ending is a line stretched to far from her youth and that is what i would have changed, other than that, characters are well built and the story has twists that are amusing in its comic detail. I am sorry is this is your favorite book and i mean no harm.

BOstan~