Cousin Cinderella

by Sara Jeannette Duncan

General Books publication 2009 Original publication 1908 Original The Macmillan Company Fiction / General Fiction / Anthologies Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary Fiction / Short Stories Literary Collections / Canadian Literary Criticism / American / General Literary Criticism / Canadian This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. CHAPTER III I Never shall forget the day we moved in, and the young man came from the agent. It was one of the first things we noticed, the number of young men in London who come on different errands and seem to have a legitimate excuse for ringing the bell and being taken into different parts of your flat. They are often quite smooth and sleek, with black coats and unimpeachable collars, like the young man from the agent, or they may wear respectable billy-cocks like the young man about the electric light, or billy-cocks on the back of the head like the young man about the gas cooking-stove, or merely cloth caps like the young man from Barker's by mistake; but they all have little narrow books sticking out of their coat- pockets; and they all come and ring, and worry Towse, who drats them behind their backs, though they treat her with the utmost respect. They seem to form a class by themselves, a kind of sub-profession so small to be so respectable, and so respectable to be so small; and one wonders whether they stay in it always, and how much you can be when you get to the top. They look finished and accomplished, as if their purpose in life was entirely achievedin becoming the young men from the agent; and they take themselves as seriously as possible. Very likely they marry, and bring up funny little respectable families in some funny litt...

372 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Canadian born author and journalist.

After her marriage to Everard Charles Cotes she spent most of her time between England & India.
Duncan had been treated for tuberculosis in 1900, spending the summer out of doors in the fresh air of Simla, as chronicled in On the Other Side of the Latch (1901), published in the United States and Canada as The Crow's Nest. Duncan died of chronic lung disease on 22 July 1922 at Ashtead, Surrey, whence she and her husband had moved in 1921.

In 2016, she was named a National Historic Person on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

information extracted from Wikipedia
a.k.a.:
Mrs. Everard Cotes
Sara Everard Cotes
Sara Jeannette Duncan Cotes

This author also writes under the pseudonym Mrs Everard Cotes.

Reviews

[S. Minsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cousin Cinderella" contrasts the elites "polite societies" of England, America and Canada. Who other than Sara Jeannette Duncan does that, or can do that? No nation is without foibles. When it comes to seeking out new money, England finds Canada and the United States are ripe for plucking. England stands impoverished from countless wars and a foolish, hyper-condescending aristocracy and Downton-Abbey types look to colonial and local middle-class merchants and manufacturers to prop up a dying caste system. In exchange for babies born with ancient silver spoons in their mouths rather than North America's new iron filings, souls are bought and sold and bought again. As always, a few North American families crave high-caste English prestige and are willing to cough up the dowry to assume that will get it. Duncan's wealthy Canadian narrator, Mary Trent, born into "sawdust nobility" (See Peter Aylen, King of the Gatineau Shiners), appears to have little "Canadian" respect for either phony aristocrats or snobby contrivers. A satirist must jab away at a community's tics and when it comes to doing her job Duncan is as deft as James or Howells or Eliot, and more overtly political than the ironic Austen, if less agile at setting up her canvas on a cameo. A marvellous book to use in a classroom, provided the instructor gives as much Canadian historical background on the pre World War l period (British Imperialism, the story of Winston Churchill's mother etc), as one might give to Austen's early 18th century's "Pride and Prejudice" (about Napoleonic War, primogeniture and entailments). Good to teach in conjunction with a classroom showing of Downton Abbey.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

A headache start to finish. Seldom do I disrespect my books but I won't lie, this one went straight in the recycle bin as soon as I was finished with it. Not worth it unless it is part of a literature course (which it was, sadly).