Renny's Daughter

Jalna #14

by Mazo de la Roche

In Renny’s Daughter, Adeline Whiteoak is voyaging overseas. It is now 1948, and she travels with her Uncle Finch and cousin Maurice to Ireland and then London. On the ship she meets a charming Irishman and falls in love. However, when scandal breaks, she embodies her namesake and refuses to give him up. Meanwhile, back home, Jalna’s peace and beauty is threatened by a neighbour’s speculative designs.

Genres: Fiction, Historical, Family Saga, Canada, Romance, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Mazo de la Roche, born Mazo Louise Roche, was the author of the Jalna novels, one of the most popular series of books of her time.

The Jalna series consists of sixteen novels that tell the story of the Canadian Whiteoak family from 1854 to 1954, although each of the novels can also be enjoyed as an independent story. In the world of the Whiteoaks, as in real life, people live and die, find success and fall to ruin. For the Whiteoaks, there remains something solid and unchanging in the midst of life's transience--the manor house and its rich surrounding farmland known as "Jalna." The author, Mazo de la Roche, gave the members of her fictitious family names from gravestones in Ontario's New Market cemetery, and the story itself balances somewhere between fact and fiction. Critics think events in the novels reflect de la Roche's dreams, moods, and life experiences. As the daughter of a traveling businessman, she may have seen the Jalna estate as the roots she never had, while the character Finch, from Finch's Fortune, is thought to be a reflection of herself.

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #14 in the Jalna series. I may be having some reading fatigue (reading the whole series this summer), but this was not my favorite book in the series. Adeline, Finch, and Maurice (Mooey) traveled to Ireland. Adeline met a man named Maitland Fitzturgis on the transatlantic crossing and pursued him in Ireland (to an extent that annoyed me as a reader). Also, the horrible neighbor Clapperton saga continued, ending in tragedy. All that said, I loved the Whiteoaks at Jalna as always.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this only 3 stars because, in my opinion, it's not the best of the Jalna books. The main storyline concerns 18-year-old Adeline Whiteoak, who's the spitting image of her namesake great-grandmother. And without a doubt she has all of old Adeline's determination, spirit and fire. She travels to Ireland with her Uncle Finch and her lovelorn cousin Maurice who's hopelessly besotted with her. Adeline has no interest whatsoever in "Mooey," but she falls hard for an older, more sophisticated fellow passenger named Maitland Fitzturgis. Once arrived in Ireland, she pursues Fitzturgis all the way to his rather desolate home, where he lives with an addled mother and a mentally ill sister. Nothing deterred, she tells him that he's her "one love" and that she'll be forever faithful. Her schoolgirl infatuation seems a bit silly, yet we are to believe that she'll stick to her Irishman till death do they part...

A sub-plot, which I like better, has to do with Eugene Clapperton, the disagreeable neighbor from RETURN TO JALNA. Clapperton, to all intents and purposes, has "bought" his young wife, but she doesn't care for him one bit. She falls in love with someone else and the whole situation will end in tragedy, with Renny and the other Whiteoaks peripherally affected. Expect a death at Jalna, too, before the story ends...

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was published after WWII, but reads like a more old-fashioned story than that. I have to keep reminding myself that the war just past that they are talking about is WWII, not WWI. Everyone, even the youngest Whiteoaks have pretty old-fashioned ideas, with cracks about crooners and current people writing stories about war. So much for Sinatra and Hemingway. It is hard to imagine we are only a short time away from Buddy Holly and Elvis. Young Adeline falls in love in this volume, but who would have thought she would be such a sap about it.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Renny’s Daughter published in 1951 is the fourteenth book in the series. It is 1948 at Jalna.

Mooey, now called Maurice is old enough to claim his inheritance. He intends to return to Ireland. Adeline insists she should be allowed to go with him. Uncle Ernest thinks she should marry her cousin and go to Ireland as a honeymoon. Maurice, has an interest in his cousin and really wants to take her away from Jalna. Anyone who has read the books will realize they would not make good partners.

Eugene Clapperton is also finding his marriage less than perfect. His orderly house has been turned into a menagerie, with all sorts of pets everywhere in the house. His nephew and sister-in-law Gemmel have married. He also has a hired man, Tom Raikes, who is not as perfect as everyone thinks. Clapperton once again wants to build his model village, much to the consternation of the Whiteoaks.

There is a new tenant at the fox farm, Humphrey Bell. Bell is a veteran who is attracted to both Finch and Adeline Whiteoak.

During the voyage to Ireland, Adeline meets and falls in love with Maitland Fitzturgis, an Irishman who lives 50 miles or so from Maurice’s property. Adeline is 18 and Mait is approximately 30 years old and divorced. Much of the book deals with the ups and downs of their romance. Tortured love affairs figure prominently throughout the novels.

A terrible tragedy at Vaughnlands ends Eugene Clapperton’s plans to build his model village and factory. It also leads to the death of one of Jalna’s beloved residents.

Some good comes from this disaster. The Whiteoaks are able to regain ownership of Vaughnlands and the land surrounding it.

[Mary Stagg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do think young Adeline Whiteoak is the most awful character ever in a book. In this one she rules the roost at Jalna, is rude to her mother, can wrap her father round her little finger and on a visit to Ireland with Mooey and Finch falls in love with someone very unsuitable and declares he is the great love of her life. Its ridiculous. However, back at Jalna more interesting things are happening. The owner of Vaughnlands is reviled by those at Jalna and unhappy in his marriage and being conned by his hired man who sets the house on fire. Clapperton looses his life in this and is not mourned much. The best part of this book is the sensitively written reaction of Earnest to the desctruction of the property and what happens to him afterwards.

[Elinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusually for me, I am giving this novel, the 14th in a series of 16, only 3.5 stars. For some reason I have never liked Adeline, the beautiful and headstrong daughter of the Jalna patriarch Renny Whiteoak, and considered her to be a spoiled brat for most of her life. So I didn’t relish an entire novel devoted to her. Everything else, including the lovely descriptions and the charming and funny characters, was as enjoyable as ever.

[Jean Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read. Two more in the series. I'll miss the family when I close the last page.
See my other reviews - all favorable.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like it’s coming full circle, not sure how she will fill the two books left!

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the 3rd to last book in the Jalna series, Maurice takes Finch and his 'beloved' Adeline over to Ireland with him. He hopes that she will fall in love with him and agree to marry him, but sadly she falls in love with an Irishman Maitland Fitzturgis on board ship. This sets the tone for the rest of the book, with Maitland being noble and declaring his inability to marry Adeline, who is in turn determined to marry the man. Maurice is naturally in a funk about the whole situation and generally behaves quite badlym dragging poor Uncle Finch into the middle of it all. The subplot concerns Renny and the other Whiteoaks back at Jalna who are wrangling with a obnoxious neighbour who is determined to 'deface' the countryside with model homes. On a sad note, Uncle Ernest departs from life in this book, but it's not as sad as when Nicholas finally passes away! An enjoyable read, but a bit annoying as the characters are constantly complaining and generally irritating!

[Meg Ulmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to love the Jalna series and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment. This novel moves the next generation of Whiteoaks forward while keeping Renny and his generation in the thick of the story. De la Roche keeps the suspense building about just which man Adeline will finally choose for her life partner--there are several viable choices. Finch is finally growing into himself and I think will be a character to be reckoned with in the final two novels. Of course, some of the older character move onto the great beyond. Life keeps on ticking.

[Zéro Janvier · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'avais dévoré tout Jalna quand j'étais adolescent, et si je suis incapable aujourd'hui de me souvenir de chacun des tomes qui composent cette saga gigantesque, je me souviens tout de même que j'avais pris beaucoup de plaisir à découvrir cette famille et ce domaine familial que l'on suit pendant presque un siècle.

[Senga Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tym razem fabuła skupia się na Adelinie, młodej dziewczynie u progu życia.