The Semi-detached House: Background, Reading Schedule, and Resources

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

First published in 1859, The Semi-detached House is one of two comic novels written by English author and poet (also artist) Emily Eden. The Semi-detached House, as the title suggests is centered around a Semi-detached house, two parts of which are shared by two families, and is a story of misunderstandings and first impressions. Here we have Lady Blanche Chestser (a hypochondriac) who moves into a semi-detached house with her sister while her husband is abroad. On the other side of the house are the Hopkinsons, who Lady Blanche is dreading since she is sure they will be odious. The Hopkinsons on the other hand, have heard rumours that it is Lord Chester's mistress who is moving into the house and are horrified. Misunderstandings are soon cleared up when Blanche discovers that the Hopkinsons are not only genteel but her husband's acquaintances. The story moves forward with other characters entering the scene and more misunderstandings and confusion--lots of fun, and some romance.

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Find the e-book here: https://digital.library.upenn.edu/wom...

Audio: https://librivox.org/the-semi-detache...

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Reading Schedule: This is a fairly short one so we'll have only four chapters a week

April 18: Chapters I–IV
April 24: Chapters V–VIII
May 2: Chapters IX–XII
May 9: Chapters XIII–XVI
May 16: Chapters XVII–XX
May 23: Chapters XXI–XXIII

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

The Author: Born in 1797 into an aristocratic family, Emily was the daughter of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland. Her brother George Eden served as Governor-General of India between 1835 and 1842. As a result, Emily and her sister Fanny spent time in India and also accompanied their brother on his two-and-a-half-year tour of the north of the country, with a 12,000-strong entourage. Her letters, describing the ceremonies, politics, and also the local colour are described as delightful, Emily having ‘an unfailing eye for the eccentric and picturesque’. She only wrote two comic novels, but these have been described as having been very popular, and her writing has been compared to Jane Austen whom she also admired. The books were then forgotten for a time, but Virago republished the two in a single volume in the 1980s.

Besides her writing, she was also quite talented artist and painted/drew portraits of royalty and common people on her travels in India. You can find a fair few of these on Wikimedia commons here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Some other resources:
Find a review of the Virago reprint of her books here: https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/25/bo...

Another review of both volumes: http://desperatereader.blogspot.com/2...

A piece about her letters from India: https://cafedissensus.com/2018/06/15/...

A couple of years ago, I also wrote a short post about her on my blog: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "First published in 1860, The Semi-attached Couple is one of two comic novels written by English author and poet (also artist) Emily Eden. The book was in fact written in 182..."

I apologise, I seem to have confused the titles and had Semi-attached Couple down in my schedule (they are totally different stories by the way). Will have the corrected version up in a bit.

[Trev]

Lady Clementina wrote: "Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "First published in 1860, The Semi-attached Couple is one of two comic novels written by English author and poet (also artist) Emily Eden. The book was in fact w..."

Yes they are very similar and easy to confuse with each other. I hope to read both eventually.

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "First published in 1860, The Semi-attached Couple is one of two comic novels written by English author and poet (also artist) Emily Eden..."

Sorry once again. Have corrected it now.

[Trev]

Lady Clementina wrote: "Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "First published in 1860, The Semi-attached Couple is one of two comic novels written by English author and poet (also artis..."

Thanks, I am happy to delete my posts as they are now irrelevant.

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Trev wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "First published in 1860, The Semi-attached Couple is one of two comic novels written by English aut..."

Never mind, thanks for letting me know or I might have gone on with reading that one and only realised later.

[Piyangie, Moderator]

I'll join in May. It is quite short; I'll be able to catch up.

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Good to hear

[Renee, Moderator]

I’ve heard so many good things about this (and the sequel). I’m going to join as well.

[Kerstin, Moderator]

I did vote for it, so I will try my best to join in as well. As things developed, I am now moderating *two* books in April and May elsewhere. I've never done a double-header...

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Renee wrote: "I’ve heard so many good things about this (and the sequel). I’m going to join as well."

Looking forward!

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Kerstin wrote: "I did vote for it, so I will try my best to join in as well. As things developed, I am now moderating *two* books in April and May elsewhere. I've never done a double-header..."

It's a fairly short one, so you might be able to make time for it.

[Renee, Moderator]

Lady C posted some great links to both text and audio versions online. I just want to mention that the audiobook reader for this one is Elizabeth Klett. Klett is one of the best of the Librivox readers! Listening to her read is a real treat

[Lady Clementina, Moderator]

Renee wrote: "Lady C posted some great links to both text and audio versions online. I just want to mention that the audiobook reader for this one is Elizabeth Klett. Klett is one of the best of the Librivox rea..."
Great to hear that. Glad you're enjoying it. May be I'll try the audio for one of our subsequent instalments.