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Six Women
Listless and despondent, feeling that he hated everything in life, Hamilton walked slowly down the street. The air was heavy, and the sun beat down furiously on the yellow cotton awnings stretched over his head. Clouds of dust rose in the roadway as the white bullocks shuffled along, drawing their creaking wooden carts, and swarms of flies buzzed noisily in the yellow, dusty sunshine. Hamilton went on aimlessly; he was hot, he was tired, his eyes and head ached, he was thirsty; but all these disagreeable sensations were nothing beside the intense mental nausea that filled him, a nausea of life. It rose up in and pervaded him, uncontrollable as a physical malady. In vain he called upon his philosophy; he had practised it so long that it was worn out. Like an old mantle from the shoulders, it fell from him in rags, and he was glad. He felt he hated his philosophy only less than he hated life - hated, yet desired as the man hates a mistress he covets, and has never yet possessed. "Never had anything, never done anything, never felt anything decent yet," he mused.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1906
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7 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Cross
63 books5 followersAnnie Sophie Cory was the author of popular, racy, exotic novels under the pseudonyms Victoria Cross(e), Vivian Cory and V.C. Griffin.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 4, 2017
Six Women reads as exotic romance more than racy which is how these stories would have been originally perceived. The subject of these 6 short stories is love, unrequited, un-returned, punished and achieved. As a group they can be undervalued as early romance stories. The settings are usually the Far East. Each story has a small cast, the loving couple and the people who by rejecting the fact of love cause the conflicts that become the narrative drive. At its worst, these are short stories for overly romantic girls. At their best Miss Cross is an adept story teller. Recommend and not just for the usual Romance Novel crowd.
Victoria Cross is one of sever pen names used by Annie Sophie Cory. She was the daughter of a British Army Colonel stationed in the Punjab city of Lahore, Pakistan. Growing up at the end of the British Raj she would have had firsthand experience with people of many races, religions and colors. Her short stories may heighten the romance of these cultures, but they tend to ring true or at least consistent with the cultures as portrayed in the 1001 Nights. Likely her use of the pen name is a direct reference to the Victoria Cross, the highest medal that can be awarded in the British Military Service.
This sequence begins with a lonely senior British Civil Servant who finds passionate love from a too young local woman. Her love is more likely the result of her training to be subservient towards her husband/master, the fact that he treats her better than any other example known to her and he moves her from the edges of survival into a princely if isolated home. Most of this is repugnant to a 21st century reader, but if read in historic context we can dream that all is well.
By the end of the third story I was convinced that Cross was a political writer. Strict adherence to the customs and ways of the late Victorian era always end in personal tragedy. Loss of life, of love or both happen as men refuse to speak of love before achieving financial security or having too much privilege misunderstand their ability to flaunt local cultural norms.. Later stories will cycle through move variation on the theme of love. Non-white lovers also suffer from their cultural norms or gain success by tricking their way away.
The best and most ambiguous story replays the classic tale of the Harem girl who loves one not her master. This one ends with a very clever twist.
Many modern readers will have difficulty with Six Women. They are of a time when women became sexually active at the direction of older men and at an age we would not continence. This is one of the many problems a modern reader may experience. If you can read them in context they can still be frustrating. Women are too often too compliant and usually have no sense of their own power over themselves. Still I enjoyed the writing. There is something of a modern 1001 Nights type atmosphere than helped me to enjoy a world before the feminist movement.
Victoria Cross is one of sever pen names used by Annie Sophie Cory. She was the daughter of a British Army Colonel stationed in the Punjab city of Lahore, Pakistan. Growing up at the end of the British Raj she would have had firsthand experience with people of many races, religions and colors. Her short stories may heighten the romance of these cultures, but they tend to ring true or at least consistent with the cultures as portrayed in the 1001 Nights. Likely her use of the pen name is a direct reference to the Victoria Cross, the highest medal that can be awarded in the British Military Service.
This sequence begins with a lonely senior British Civil Servant who finds passionate love from a too young local woman. Her love is more likely the result of her training to be subservient towards her husband/master, the fact that he treats her better than any other example known to her and he moves her from the edges of survival into a princely if isolated home. Most of this is repugnant to a 21st century reader, but if read in historic context we can dream that all is well.
By the end of the third story I was convinced that Cross was a political writer. Strict adherence to the customs and ways of the late Victorian era always end in personal tragedy. Loss of life, of love or both happen as men refuse to speak of love before achieving financial security or having too much privilege misunderstand their ability to flaunt local cultural norms.. Later stories will cycle through move variation on the theme of love. Non-white lovers also suffer from their cultural norms or gain success by tricking their way away.
The best and most ambiguous story replays the classic tale of the Harem girl who loves one not her master. This one ends with a very clever twist.
Many modern readers will have difficulty with Six Women. They are of a time when women became sexually active at the direction of older men and at an age we would not continence. This is one of the many problems a modern reader may experience. If you can read them in context they can still be frustrating. Women are too often too compliant and usually have no sense of their own power over themselves. Still I enjoyed the writing. There is something of a modern 1001 Nights type atmosphere than helped me to enjoy a world before the feminist movement.
March 27, 2019
Six negative stories of dumb women
Did not like the book. Each woman should be more conscious of the men in their lives. Those women were too morally weak in the mind to stop themselves from ruin.
Did not like the book. Each woman should be more conscious of the men in their lives. Those women were too morally weak in the mind to stop themselves from ruin.
June 10, 2019
This is a book written in 1906 but the language is still very modern. However one can see how much is changed in a century by how women are regarded and treated. In the days the novel was published the content would have been regarded as highly scandalous. Not because of erotic behaviour described - it is not - but it is hinted at and in those days your knickers were your "unmentionables" to paint a picture . But mostly because all six women are in a love affair with a man of a different race or religion.
Annie Sophie Cory (1 October 1868 – 2 August 1952) was a British author of popular, racy, exotic New Woman novels under the pseudonyms Victoria Cross(e), Vivian Cory and V.C. Griffin.
Cory's stories often detail behaviours and desires unusual in the Victorian period such as female cross-dressing, unbridled and unashamed sexual desire, longing for and fear of interracial sexual relationships, and questioning of traditional heterosexual gender roles for men and women. (Source Wikipedia)
When you read this article https://victorianfictionresearchguide... she seemed to have been a weird person especially for those days and age.
This book is a collection of short stories. Some are quite good - the first and the last - the rest is in my opinion a lot less. As the book is free you might just want to try it out of curiosity and because the first story is interesting. In that story an Englishman is told during his wedding night by his new wife that she wedded him for the position and that she does not want any sexual relationship. He accepts a job in India and they do not see each other in the next 20 years. But when he falls in love with an Indian dancing girl his wife goes on the warpath.
Annie Sophie Cory (1 October 1868 – 2 August 1952) was a British author of popular, racy, exotic New Woman novels under the pseudonyms Victoria Cross(e), Vivian Cory and V.C. Griffin.
Cory's stories often detail behaviours and desires unusual in the Victorian period such as female cross-dressing, unbridled and unashamed sexual desire, longing for and fear of interracial sexual relationships, and questioning of traditional heterosexual gender roles for men and women. (Source Wikipedia)
When you read this article https://victorianfictionresearchguide... she seemed to have been a weird person especially for those days and age.
This book is a collection of short stories. Some are quite good - the first and the last - the rest is in my opinion a lot less. As the book is free you might just want to try it out of curiosity and because the first story is interesting. In that story an Englishman is told during his wedding night by his new wife that she wedded him for the position and that she does not want any sexual relationship. He accepts a job in India and they do not see each other in the next 20 years. But when he falls in love with an Indian dancing girl his wife goes on the warpath.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews