Pembroke

This was a hard read at times, but totally worth it. At one point, I was so angry at one of the characters, it was visceral. And I wanted to slap a few others for their stubborn idiocy, but somehow the book still worked for me. Maybe because it rang true in depicting the foibles of human nature, pride and misplaced piety. And because a tiny bit of good emerges from the ash heap at long last.

4448. Pembroke A Novel, by Mary E. Wilkins [Freeman] (read 10 Jun 2008) This 1894 novel reads like a 1894 novel, and tells of bull-headed New Englanders in a Massachussets village, who are dour and who sure seem to live lives of non-joyful desperation. Barrabas quarrels with his fiancee's father and the engagement is broken off, tho both remain in love with each other. One can tell that Wilkins (as her name was when the book was written) is a short story writer and not really a novelist. But the story seldom drags and one is interested in knowing how it will work out.