The Curate in Charge

by Mrs. Oliphant, Mrs. Oliphant

Book by Oliphant

Genres: Classics, British Literature

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Margaret 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.

Reviews

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A standalone, this one takes us to the country parish of Brentburn which is looked after by the curate Mr St John who does his duty devotedly but does nothing to change (“improve”) his own situation for over 20 years, the rector having moved to Italy for health reasons. In this period, he has been twice a widower, and has two girls in their teens and two young boys he knows not what to do with. The girls are now come home from school and the elder and more practical Cecily has taken charge of the house which she finds has not been managed quite as well on their meagre income as when her own mother was alive. Trouble descends upon the family of the curate when the old rector dies and the living is given to someone else. Cecily is the only one truly disturbed by this development and this shows in her attitude when the new rector, Mr Mildmay comes to visit―and soon enough he begins to work on behalf of the St Johns. But things don’t quite work out as they would if this were a “storybook”, and Cecily is left to take a rather difficult decision which involves much hardship.

The book and its people are very real, each with their own failings. Like many of Margaret Oliphant’s other books I’ve read so far, this one has an exceptional heroine as well. Cecily at only nineteen has to literally take the burden of her whole family, a father who is a good man but will never “ask” for anything or himself (though he has five mouths to feed), her artist sister Mab, again not a bad person but too lost in her art to think of more practical things, and the two little “babies”, her half-brothers whose care too falls to her. But she is ready to do whatever needs to be done, to face difficult situations, to take difficult decisions, no matter what. She may not be good at anything in particular, but is practical, sensible, and courageous. My reading of the end of this one was a little different from another reviewer (I thought she did hint that she would accept Mr Mildmay after all. A pretty good read over all, though one the injustice of the St Johns’ situation, and particularly the parish’s attitude to it and him (more than the officials who never really knew them or of them) gets to one.

[Pgchuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rev St John has worked as a curate for an absent (through ill health) rector for 20 years and on the rector's death finds himself a widower twice over with two adult daughters and two toddler twin boys. (These poor boys are constantly described as unattractive and no one seems to regard them as anything but a nuisance, which seemed harsh). St John is in debt and has made no provision at all for his future, but fortunately his oldest daughter Cecily steps into the breach.

I found the characterization here excellent, and the author made clear points about how frustrating it is for the older girls that their freedom to seek remunerative work is so limited. The girls (with whom I am sure we were intended to identify) were resolute in opposing their father's intention to accept a post in Liverpool because his congregation there would have been poor and generally 'dreadful', which doesn't say much for their understanding of the mission of the church. The ending was abrupt and I would like to know whether Mab made it as an illustrator.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the style of Jane Austen - only at the end of the 19th century instead of the beginning - the story meanders along endearing the characters to the reader so much that they share their joys, feel their losses and yearn for them to receive justice and a better life. A very pleasurable and languorous read although it eruditely addresses class issues, critical failings of the church system and - shockingly - has a feminist bent. It did make me yearn for a grassy common in August sunshine wearing a straw bonnet.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very neat little book, only 205 pages. The edition was poorly edited and designed—lots of punctuation typos—but it was cheap and small, easy to have on hand. Oliphant is as I have never seen her, witty and sharp, and her characters are all fallible and human, from Mab who calls herself “the brother” and the very realistic marriage at the end, no high romance required.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this little old-fashioned story. A country curate is ambling through life, doing a wonderful job at his calling, but he lacks any ambition. This is not important to him, but we soon see how important it is to those who are depending on him. He marries twice, and is left with two teen daughters and then two little twin boys. Because of the system in those days, when his parish is given over to another, he is out of a job, and there is nothing anyone can do. Even the kind gentleman who has been given the rectorship cannot help him. The story resolves sweetly, and I can only complain that the story ends too soon and we are not given a more full resolution.

I assume that the author had an opinion about the church system of supplying ministers in those days, and perhaps wanted it to be changed.

[Jim Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could easily argue that this is one of the most important feminist novels of the 19th cent. In this novel Mrs. Oliphant attacks women's limited roles in society, and advocates for women's right to not be a mother (or particularly like children), and to take control of their lives. In a truly astonishing ending, the heroine refuses to marry the man who can rescue her, preferring an independent life (even if her work is drudgery and below her status) . It is a crime that someone who wrote so well and explored so insightfully the role of Victorian women has been all but forgotten.