Our Bessie

by Rosa Nouchette Carey

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Genres: Historical Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1891

About the author

Rosa Nouchette Carey wrote about forty novels, many of which achieved great popularity. Her fiction focused on domestic and family themes, and her plots and characters generally reflected a conservative outlook. In her youth, Carey tried to quench her longing to write, believing that it was impossible to combine literary achievement with a useful domestic life. But her writing won out, and she never married. Although her literary reputation was not high, her works sold well, remaining in print from 1868 until 1924.

Reviews

[Jane Arnold]

Despite their old fashioned morals and views I enjoy Rosa Nouchette Carey’s novels as they bring such a clear view of Victorian middle class lives. I love her descriptions of everyday pursuits, clothes, homes and gardens.
However, I found this novel overtly religious and a bit lacking in humour. She is usually very good at describing family life but this novel had the feel of a’pot- boiler’…

[Amanda Paech]

Taking into account that my great aunt received this novel from her aunt over 100 years ago, and that it reflects the values of those times, my love of this book stems from the fact that my great aunt loved this novel, as did my mum who recently passed away.

[Louise]

Another of Mum's favourite books. The physical book was given to my Great Aunt in 1921, and it was pretty cool holding it as a 100 year old book in 2021.
These older books had such a different use of the English language, and society was so different in parts.
eg - where Bessie and her friend Edna discuss what books they read.
Edna suggests thrillers, while Bessie states
"No, thankyou...it would not suit me at all. Father is very particular about what we read, and mother too; he will not let us touch what he calls "the sensational literature of the day"- oh you may laugh,' as Edna looked amused; 'but I think father is right. He says it makes him quite unhappy to see books of this description in the hands of mere children; he is a doctor, you know, and he declares that a great deal of harm is done by over-stimulating the imagination by highly wrought fiction. A meal of horrors can nourish no one," he would say.
After Edna has pushed away Richard with..her manner that there was a spot of bitterness under the smotth surgace - an angry consciousness that Richard had dared to cross her will...Ah, well there are many beside Edna who enter God's house with their darling sin hugged close to their bosom, fondled and cherished. Truly we may say we are miserable sinners and that thee is no health in us, for the black plague spot is often hidden under the white venture, undetected by human insight, but clearly legible to the 'Eye that seeth not as man seeth'.
Re Bessie and Edna's mother
"oh my dear...I am afraid it is all my fault. I have indulged Edna too much and given her her own way in everything; and now she tyrannises over us all. If I had only acted differently.."
Bessie echoed the sigh, but she could think of nothing to say that could comfort Mrs Sefton; she was evidently reaping the effects of her own injudicious weakness. She had not taught her child to practise self-discipline and self-control. Her waywardness had been fostered by indulgence, and her temper had become more faulty. 'What man is there of oyu, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?' asked the Divine Teacher; and yet there are many parents who offer these stony gifts to their children, loading them with false kindness and indulgence, leave evil weeds unchecked, and teaching them everything but the one thing needful.

[Suzanne]

Really enjoyed this sweet story.

Some quotes:
p. 12 "When a cheerful person enters a room it is as though fresh candles are lighted."

p. 29-30 "What was a little shabbiness or the wear and tear of homely furniture, to one who saw angels' footprints even in the common ways of life, and who dreamed sweet, innocent dreams of the splendors of a heavenly home? To these sort of natures even threadbare garments can be worn proudly, for to these free spirits even poverty loses its sting. It is not "how we live," but how we think about life, that stamps our characters, and makes us the men and women that we are."

p. 57 "In spring all the world if full of young life, and the buds are bursting into flowers, and they remind me that one day I shall be young and beautiful too."

p. 59 "Bessie never loses patience with her, never lets her feel that she is trouble. I think you will find that is the secret of Bessie's influence."

p. 64 "I love spring - I always did like bright things best. Makes one feel so hopeful."

p. 255 "Oh, let us not wait to be just, or pitiful, or demonstrative toward those we love, until they or we are struck down by illness, or threatened with death. Life is short, and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind."

p. 308 "Nature holds a store of comfort for those who love and seek her - she has all sorts of balmy messages to give them; a thousand mellow influences steal upon the jaded consciousness; hope is written legibly in the blue sky, the clear air, the sunshine; every flower, every leaf is a token of love; the birds sing, and, in spite of ourselves, our hearts grow lighter."

[J Harris]

All Rosa Carey's books are delightful.