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A Proper Woman
Anna is a child living in a remote Hebridean community when she meets the enigmatic and romantic Jimmy Pearl. She carries the memory of their meeting through to adult life - a life that is full of hardships. Anna's parents die and her brother and his wife sell the family croft, forcing Anna into a loveless marriage with the heartless Fergus. Anna doesn't reckon on the return of Jimmy Pearl however...
198 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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About the author
Lillian Beckwith
47 books73 followersLilian Comber wrote fiction and non-fiction for both adults and children under the pseudonym Lillian Beckwith. She is best known for her series of comic novels based on her time living on a croft in the Scottish Hebrides.
Beckwith was born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, in 1916, where her father ran a grocery shop. The shop provided the background for her memoir About My Father's Business, a child’s eye view of a 1920s family. She moved to the Isle of Skye with her husband in 1942, and began writing fiction after moving to the Isle of Man with her family twenty years later. She also completed a cookery book, Secrets from a Crofter’s Kitchen (Arrow, 1976).
Since her death, Beckwith’s novel A Shine of Rainbows has been made into a film starring Aidan Quinn and Connie Nielsen, which in 2009 won ‘Best Feature’ awards at the Heartland and Chicago Children’s Film Festivals.
Beckwith was born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, in 1916, where her father ran a grocery shop. The shop provided the background for her memoir About My Father's Business, a child’s eye view of a 1920s family. She moved to the Isle of Skye with her husband in 1942, and began writing fiction after moving to the Isle of Man with her family twenty years later. She also completed a cookery book, Secrets from a Crofter’s Kitchen (Arrow, 1976).
Since her death, Beckwith’s novel A Shine of Rainbows has been made into a film starring Aidan Quinn and Connie Nielsen, which in 2009 won ‘Best Feature’ awards at the Heartland and Chicago Children’s Film Festivals.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 28, 2019
An interesting tale of life in the Hebrides.
May 17, 2019
"For Anna, a carefree and gentle child living in a remote community in the Hebrides, a chance meeting with the mysterious and romantic 'Jimmy Pearl' is to take on a dream-like quality as she grows to womanhood and encounters a hard and often cruel adult world.
"When Anna's parents die and her brother, with his new wife, sells the family croft, Anna is forced into a loveless marriage to the cold and heartless 'Black Fergus'. But life has surprises in store for them, including the reappearance of 'Jimmy Pearl'."
Another glimpse into the achingly hard life of crofters in the Hebrides, and also into their culture, which is firmly male-dominated, even in horrific cases like Anna's. In many ways this is a disturbing read as it reveals the extent of a woman's almost-slavery in the culture. A man may flout tradition in many ways without serious censure, but not a woman.
However, it's a book well worth reading: beautifully written and with a unforeseen ending.
"When Anna's parents die and her brother, with his new wife, sells the family croft, Anna is forced into a loveless marriage to the cold and heartless 'Black Fergus'. But life has surprises in store for them, including the reappearance of 'Jimmy Pearl'."
Another glimpse into the achingly hard life of crofters in the Hebrides, and also into their culture, which is firmly male-dominated, even in horrific cases like Anna's. In many ways this is a disturbing read as it reveals the extent of a woman's almost-slavery in the culture. A man may flout tradition in many ways without serious censure, but not a woman.
However, it's a book well worth reading: beautifully written and with a unforeseen ending.
September 21, 2018
A 3 1/2 star book. I don't think I've ever been so frustrated for a heroine before!! But glad the ending was sweet.
March 8, 2023
I did not really like the storyline - not for me no!
February 13, 2026
bit slow at the start but turned out to be a nice story.
November 22, 2016
Audio version
July 4, 2011
I started and finished this in about two days. It was a little hard to figure out about what year the book is set, finally figured it was probably around WWI. It was kind of depressing, Anna has to give up her dream of going to teacher's college to take care of her parents, and when they die, the farm goes to her 17-year-old brother, so she has to help him out till he's old enough to take over, and when he does, he goes and marries a city girl, and then after a while he sells the place without telling her till after it's a done deal, so she has to find a place to live. Desperate, she marries a jerk who treats her like, well, crap. There was a bit where I skipped over because it involved animal cruelty, which I can't stand. All is well in the end, though, but I still find it depressing that a woman had to depend on men for their survival, or at least some women were in a position where they didn't have a choice. Makes me glad we're enjoying the benefits of women's lib now.
December 6, 2009
Beckwith writes better memoirs than fiction in my opinion, but I still enjoyed this tale of a woman who endures abuse and hardship for years before finally finding a way to assert herself. There was a little too much unbelievable romance, and the whole thing read like a 1950s technicolor melodrama. However, I'll forgive a lot to spend a little time on Bruach Island with the Hebridean people. Their mannerisms and speech and the austere beauty of the land come through in everything Beckwith writes.
January 23, 2015
Anna is a child living in a remote Hebridean community when she meets the enigmatic and romantic Jimmy Pearl. She carries the memory of their meeting through to adult life - a life that is full of hardships. Anna's parents die and her brother and his wife sell the family croft, forcing Anna into a loveless marriage with the heartless Fergus. Anna doesn't reckon on the return of Jimmy Pearl however...
A look at the hard life of the island and the patience of a good woman. I enjoyed it.
A look at the hard life of the island and the patience of a good woman. I enjoyed it.
April 30, 2014
Beckwith writes better memoirs than fiction in my opinion, but I still enjoyed this tale of unrequented love, that eventualy after years of toil and hardship by Anna has a happy ending.
I will be reading more of Ms Peckwiths books later this year.
I will be reading more of Ms Peckwiths books later this year.
July 4, 2017
A story of a child who grows up on a croft on a Scottish island, and what happens to her as she becomes an adult. She feels cornered into a marriage which is soul-destroying, but there are other things ahead for her too.
April 27, 2012
A charming predictable romance.
October 5, 2014
Not my favorite L. Beckwith book -- rather grim, but a pretty good story about perseverance & overcoming.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews