{Unofficial Trim} The Making of a Marchioness, Part I and II by Frances Hodgson Burnett - 5 stars

[Theresa]

I had no idea that Frances Hodgson Burnett had written anything except children's books, wonderful as those are. Turns out she was far more admired and well-known during her lifetime for her adult novels and stories, sufficiently so that she supported herself and her family with her writing from the time she was in her early 20s. Pretty amazing for a late Victorian & Edwardian woman. In fact, her life was pretty unusual for a woman of her time, bringing to mind other 19th Century women writers like George Sand and George Eliot, but also helping one see how women were slowly and steadily moving away from the constrictions imposed on them in the earlier eras in some areas, if not others.

Here we meet Emily, born to the gentry but left to fend for herself at a young age. Not having a physical appearance that conforms with the concepts of beauty of the times (she's tall and large with big feet and round eyes) plus a truly innocent happy nature, filled with kindness and a complete lack of cynicism or instinct for duplicity. At the age of 34, Emily makes a meager living running errands for others. One of her clients, Lady Maria, a clever elderly aristocrat, invites her to join her at her summer home to assist her as needed. It is there that Emily meets the 52 year old Lord Walderhurst, Lady Maria's cousin, a man who is extremely wealthy, not very clever, quite stodgy in fact, and in need of a wife to provide an heir or a distant relative whom he dislikes intesnsely will inherit. Because of course this is the end of the Victorian era and men needed heirs for their estates, and women needed to marry for security.

This book is really a duology that the author once said should always have been one story, not two. Fortunately for all, both have long been published in one volume entitle The Making of a Marchioness, Part I and II with 2 parts. The first part is the fairytale Cinderella story introducing Emily, Lady Maria, Walderhurst, and the events at the country house where Emily is the only single woman not on the hunt for a husband. While a lighthearted romantic story ending with Lord Walderhurst and Emily engaged to marry, there is an underlying seriousness and darkness here. Burnett paints a sharp portrait of the necessity of marriage for security for women who otherwise often face every increasing poverty and loss of the comforts of their particularly class.

That darker edge comes to the forefront in Part 2, The Methods of Lady Walderhurst, which is rather gothic. I was frequently reminded of the musical Into the Woods which was once described by its composer Stephen Sondheim as what happens after the happy ever after. Part 2 starts off where the fairytale ends with Emily and Walderhurst's wedding and removal to one of his 3 homes in the country. It is now that we meet the Osborns, Walderhurst's presumptive heir (until he has a son), who has been working in India, and Hester his Anglo-Indian wife. Needless to say, the Osborns are not happy about the marriage or that Emily is still of child-bearing age. They arrive in England on a protracted leave and the plotting begins. Meanwhile, the too innocent Emily is on her own to deal with it all, including a pregnancy, while Walderhurst is off in India on a diplomatic mission. It is here that Burnett shows us that marriage can be dangerous and dark for a woman in many differing ways, even if you've married up into the aristocracy or find yourself in a marriage tied to an amoral brute. By the end, you have quite the picture of marriage at the turn of the 20th Century.

First published serially in 1901, it not only provides a protrait of marriages, but also reveals the settings of the time - the homes, gardens and estates, and fashions -- giving a rich visual background. It's extremely unusual in neither of its main characters are typically romantic, or clever, or astute, or beautiful, handsome, or dashing, and that adds to the appeal. It's very modern yet there are plenty of moments where contemporary readers might take offense: Emily being referred to as childlike in her innocence and demeanor, or Hester's dark skin and exotic background, and most of all Ameerah, Hester's black maid, of whom the other characters are fearful as much from her dark skin as her foreigness and knowledge of the occult. That's a very superficial reading as Emily's description is to be compared to most other characters who are cleverer, but also cynical, cunning, manipulative, even cruel, and even though she's managed successfully to create an independent life that does not include the limited companion, governess, or prostitute choices available, though that life is a precarious one. The reactions to Hester and Ameerah are those of the times, but Burnett also counters them with scenes where it is pointed out that such reactions and thinking are to be discouraged.

The tone of the book reminded me of that in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It would not be amiss to include it alongside readings of Austen or Eliot or Sand. I loved it.