Margaret Forster (1938–2016)

This was a reading group suggestion and I wasn't particularly thrilled. It wasn't as bad as I expected. It's a long book and I did have to commit myself to 100 pages a day to get through it. I found that when I picked it up, I could read the 100 pages and quite enjoy it but once put down, I would not be enthused to pick it back up. It definately becomes far too long towards the end and I was just waiting for it to be over. But it does have its interesting side - in its portrait of Elizabeth Barret Browning, its description of a servant's life - always at the mercy of those who called themselves poor but weren't really. The description of depression at the end is particularly good. So for a book that is the kind that I normally avoid, it was OK.… (more)

Margaret Forster’s brilliant novel Lady’s Maid introduces us to a young woman in service in mid-19th-century London. Yet Elizabeth Wilson is no ordinary maid. She is lady’s maid to Miss Elizabeth Barrett, the invalid daughter of a wealthy London gentleman, who has made a name for herself as a poetess. When Wilson enters Miss Elizabeth’s service in 1844, her mistress is withdrawn and easily tired, plagued by mysterious physical weakness and given to depression. As time passes, the patient Northern maid and her mercurial employer find a sympathy, deepened by Wilson’s reverence for books and by her compassion for the unworldly Miss Elizabeth. Gradually, Wilson convinces Miss Elizabeth to take turns in the park, coaxing colour into her face and strength into her limbs. Yet Wilson’s ministrations are nothing beside the impact that a new correspondent has on her mistress. Letters from the poet Mr Browning are soon the highlight of Miss Elizabeth’s day and Wilson finds herself drawn into a daring plan that will take her further from home than she ever dreamed possible. Amazingly rich, thoughtful and evocative, Forster’s novel introduced me to the full picture of the great Browning romance – seen through Wilson’s loyal but unsentimental eyes.

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2020/06/17/ladys-maid-1990-margaret-forster/… (more)