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The Camomile (1922)

by Catherine Carswell

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954282,745 (3.61)20
Of my writing he said, 'I see. It is like the camomile - the more it is trodden on the faster it grows.' Ellen Carstairs is born to write. Orphaned at an early age, she and her brother are brought up in her aunt's evangelical and 'douce' Glasgow household at the turn of the century. Written in epistolary form, The Camomile, a semi-autobiographical novel, was first published in 1922. It records the mind of the aspiring female artist who struggles to carve out writing space when pressure is laid on her enlightened self to bow to more acceptable ideological patterns. Encouraged by the erudite and esoteric 'Don John', and also by her eccentric friend and English teacher, Ellen begins to break into the world of print. On becoming engaged however to a young doctor whose 'shoulders blot out the rest of the world', Ellen discovers that her fascination with the creative life is incompatible with the conventional trajectory mapped out for her. 'In how much am I to be myself, in how much assume a role laid down by him?' she questions. The answer comes to her as she is on the brink of marriage.… (more)
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The Camomile is the story of one young woman’s coming of age in 1920s Glasgow. Having just spent several years studying music in Germany, Ellen Carstairs returns to Glasgow to teach, meanwhile realizing her ambition of being an author by keeping a diary of her experiences and writing letters to a friend.

I liked the idea of the novel, but I just wasn’t all that interested in the way the narrator talks about her experiences. She wasn’t compelling enough as a narrator for me to quite like her as much as I wanted to, which was disappointing considering that Carswell based Ellen’s experiences on her own, and held correspondence with many famous people, among them DH Lawrence, Vita Sackville-West, and Rebecca West. Ironically, I think maybe the story might have been better if it hadn’t been written in diary/epistle form, and if Catherine Carswell had done a better job of removing herself from the story she was trying to write.

But as I’ve said, I like the idea for the book, especially since Ellen rents a room especially for writing, a la A Room of One’s Own. I usually like the books that VMC have reprinted, but unfortunately I just wasn’t involved with the story in order to finish the novel. ( )
  Kasthu | Jan 15, 2012 |
Although The Camomile is not a very well known novel, and one of only two novels written by Carswell, it reflects the tradition of Jane Austen with a bit of Kate Chopin's The Awakening thrown in.

Semi-autobiographical, the Camomile journals a young woman's battle against convention without the pomp and circumstance of other "feminist" authors. The protagonist, Ellen Carstairs, is well-balanced and through her journal entries to her friend Ruby, we see Ellen contend with ideas of matrimony, career and what it is to be a woman in the early part of this century.

Carswell's language is witty and Ellen is rather winsome and sympathetic as a protagonist. Highly recommended for lovers of Austen. Musicians, professional and amateur alike, will also empathize with Ellen. ( )
4 vote rebcamuse | Jan 11, 2008 |
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'The chamomile, the more it is
trodden on, the faster it grows'
1 Henry IV.ii 4
Dedication
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Why The Camomile? (Introduction)
My dearest Ruby, - We got back from Loch Sween last night.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Of my writing he said, 'I see. It is like the camomile - the more it is trodden on the faster it grows.' Ellen Carstairs is born to write. Orphaned at an early age, she and her brother are brought up in her aunt's evangelical and 'douce' Glasgow household at the turn of the century. Written in epistolary form, The Camomile, a semi-autobiographical novel, was first published in 1922. It records the mind of the aspiring female artist who struggles to carve out writing space when pressure is laid on her enlightened self to bow to more acceptable ideological patterns. Encouraged by the erudite and esoteric 'Don John', and also by her eccentric friend and English teacher, Ellen begins to break into the world of print. On becoming engaged however to a young doctor whose 'shoulders blot out the rest of the world', Ellen discovers that her fascination with the creative life is incompatible with the conventional trajectory mapped out for her. 'In how much am I to be myself, in how much assume a role laid down by him?' she questions. The answer comes to her as she is on the brink of marriage.

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"I'm so terrified at finding out what it is I want that I hardly dare face it. Again and again I am driven on it. Again and again I run away from it."

Ellen Carstairs has spent two glorious years as a student in Frankfurt. Returning to Glasgow to teach music, she begins a journal for her college friend Ruby. Here she pours out her observations, her ambition to write and her frustrations. For the oppressive and religious attitudes of her peers are a great contrast to Ellen's own enlightened views about sex and independence. First published in 1922, this semi-autobiographical novel is a lively and sympathetic portrait of a young women's ideals. Ellen's engagement to Duncan, a young doctor, threatens to distance her from the freedom she seeks, but her friendship with a poor, ascetic scholar helps Ellen to realize that she must not be moulded by convention.
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