Rachel Gray: A Tale Founded On Fact

by Julia Kavanagh

A novel inspired by the true story of a young woman who was falsely accused of murder in 19th century England. The book follows Rachel Gray as she navigates the criminal justice system and fights to clear her name, against a backdrop of poverty, corruption, and social inequality. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

322 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 2001

About the author

Julia Kavanagh (7 January 1824 – 28 October 1877) was an Irish novelist, born at Thurles in Tipperary, Ireland—then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Reviews

[Dominika · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a charming, short book and Rachel was such a sweet girl! I enjoyed this book very much.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this book from Project Gutenberg after learning that Elizabeth Gaskell was a reader of Julia Kavanagh's works. Rachel Grey was published in 1855, the same year as Mrs Gaskell's North and South and the year after Dickens's Hard Times: and like those books - although it is much shorter and more limited in scope - it describes the lives of the urban poor. The preface states that the author's intent was to show educated readers that "the minds they are apt to slight as narrow, are often blessed and graced."

The heroine, Rachel Grey, is a London seamstress of about 30, neither beautiful nor clever. Although her education ended at 11, she has acquired the habit of thinking, which is deplored by the stepmother with whom she lives. Her thoughts are largely religious ones and entirely self-taught: the church plays no part in this book. It is Rachel's religious feeling which enables her to bear the hardships of her life and makes her try to lighten the load of those around her when they suffer from illness or want. As well as her stepmother, she cares for her two young apprentices, Mary and Jane, for an elderly French neighbour who is shunned by others, for Mary's father who is ruined after trying to set up a shop, and eventually for her own father. This father, who abandoned her as a child, rejects her efforts at reconciliation until he suffers "paralysis" (probably a stroke) and Rachel takes him into her home.

The hopes and cares of all these people are carefully and realistically described: even the less pleasant characters have their better attributes, and petty arguments are often followed by remorse and attempts to support each other. It is notable that it is the women of the story who do most of the earning and caring and hold the society together - particularly Rachel's stepmother, who with a "strong though narrow mind, had a courageous heart" and the lively Frenchwoman, Madame Rose, as well as Rachel herself.

Despite the author's acute perception for the lives of the poor, no case for social reform is made in the book, or even implied other than in Rachel's dread of the workhouse. Rather, the characters' only consolation for their lot is to be found in trusting to the will of God (the CBT of its day) and doing what little they can to help each other. This sympathetic account of their precarious everyday lives, though overlaid with a strong Victorian religious sensibility, remains very readable.