The Time of Roses

by L.T. Meade

It was on a summer's evening early in the month of August that the little Mummy was once again seen on the platform at Dawlish. She looked now very much like she did when we saw her of yore-slightly broadened, it is true, by the added years, but she still wore somewhat rusty widow's black, and her face still had that half-anxious, half-comical expression, which made people turn to look at her with something between a smile and a sigh. She was commonplace and plain, and yet in one sense she was neither commonplace nor plain. She had a character, and that character had developed during the last few years, and rather for the better.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Mrs. L.T. Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Toulmin Smith), was a prolific children's author of Anglo Irish extraction. Born in 1844, Meade was the eldest daughter of a Protestant clergyman, whose church was in County Cork. Moving from Ireland to London as a young woman, after the death of her mother, she studied in the Reading Room of the British Museum in preparation for her intended career as a writer, before marrying Alfred Toulmin Smith in September 1879.

The author of close to 300 books, Meade wrote in many genres, but is best known for her girls' school stories. She was one of the editors of the girls' magazine, Atalanta from 1887-93, and was active in women's issues. She died in 1914.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easy to read, but what an insufferable cast of characters.

For anyone else curious at the oft-mentioned Great Scandal, but less willing to stick with such a poorly written book, Florence essentially cheated on her homework once. She went to great extent to ruin her own life over....having submitted an essay that she didn't write. And to which she confessed immediately. It wasn't even actually a secret.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is novel written in the Victorian era that has been reedited and printed. The moral choices and temptations faced by the main character give the reader much to think about, and I was interested to see what happened. The writing seemed different than what I am used to, but quaint. If you like old-fashioned stories, it isn't bad. I'm glad I read it.