A Proper Education for Girls

A Proper Education for Girls by Elaine di Rollo is a historical fiction novel set in the 1850’s and deals with Victoria morality, eccentricities, and double standards. The book tells the story of the Talbot sisters, Lillian and Alice, who live with their strange father and various aunts. Their father is a collector of oddities and expects his daughters to help him with his collection.

One sister, Lillian fell under the spell of a visiting plant expert, and found herself pregnant and abandoned. The baby died during childbirth, Lillian was quickly married off to a missionary and packed off to India. Mr Talbot, the father, would not have Lillian spoken of in his house and make sure that all mail that came to the house was opened by him show more and only passed on one of Lillian’s many letters. He even went so far as to search everyone leaving his property to ensure that Alice was not corresponding with her sister.

Alice, the sister that remained at home soon became semi-involved with a visiting photographer and found herself imprisoned and in the hands of the evil Dr. Cattermole who wanted very badly to try experimental surgery on her and convinced her father she was unwomanly and going crazy. Dr. Cattermole was a very shady character, and it is slowly revealed throughout the book that he had a hand in the death of Lillian’s baby.

The book swings back and forth between the sisters, following Lillian in India at the time of the mutiny, and Alice’s bleak life in England. All these two sisters really want is to be together and allowed to live their life without interference. How this book resolves their dilemma makes for a entertaining read. The book gathers momentum like a roller coaster and I found myself absolutely glued to it.

This is an unusual book that dishes out some excellent action and adventure while managing to skewer the Victorian ideals of powerful men and weak, helpless women. The Talbot sisters have become literary favorites of mine. show less

A pleasing tale about two sisters who are separated by an eccentric, cruel father. One goes to India with her drip of a husband, and the other stays at home, cataloging the father's clutter and avoiding the lascivious Dr. Cattermole, whose power in the household steadily grows. The story is amusing (tomboy Lilian takes the expat Brits in India by storm, and Alice tends a greenhouse peach tree that is wheeled between environments for more succulent fruits) but the book is otherwise populated by a pack of despicable male characters--oblivious at best, and more generally conniving, dominating devils.

Twin sisters in Victorian England have a most unusual upbringing after their mother dies. Their father is a collector of unusual items and considers himself a man of science. His eclectic interests change frequently and he raises his daughters to be strong-willed scientists in an age where women were meant to be merely decorative. After 'betraying' her father, Lillian is married off against her will to a missionary and sent to India while Alice remains behind as the curator for the collection. Told alternately from each sisters' point of view, we get a fascinating glimpse of life in the India during the Raj as well as the Victorian obsession with discovery and science. As each sister faces challenges to their safety, they independently show more plot their reunion. If you like historical fiction with quirky, independent characters then you will like A Proper Education for Girls. show less

When I picked up A Proper Education for Girls, I was expecting a novel about Victorian England and India. But when I got into the book, it turned out the book was about something completely different!
It depicts two sisters, separated from each other, due to a "disgrace". One sister, Lillian, gets sent to India with her sickly missionary of a husband. The other sister, Alice, stays in England with their eccentric father who has a penchant for collecting strange items and making them part of his Collection.
I found the chapters about Alice more interesting, though I thought it would be the other way around. I loved all the twists and turns in her sections way more interesting than Lillian's adventures in India.
Overall, I thought A Proper show more Education for Girls was very interesting and full of action, something I didn't expect! show less

This was an interesting book. It is about two sisters, Alice and Lillian, who live at their father's house and take care of his strange collection. Lillian gets sent off to India with a missionary husband after she has someone else's baby out of wedlock. The story switches between Alice still at home and Lillian in India.

I found the chapters dealing with Alice a whole lot more interesting. I felt that I had to wade through to get to her chapters. The conflict at the end had me gripped, however I was unsatisfied with the ending. The jacket claimed that the novel was reminicsent of the Brontes, but is no Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights.