Pembroke: A Novel
Much of the strength of Mary Wilkins Freeman's work comes from its deep grounding in nineteenth-century New England culture. With a cool eye, she saw the eccentricities, pride, and religious self-righteousness of those who lived around her and used it in her work, sometimes lovingly, sometimes with scorn.Pembrokecombines both these attitudes in its depiction of several young and older couples. Barnabas and Charlotte are engaged to be married; one night Barney enters into a heated political discussion with Charlotte's father and is ordered from the house. He swears he will never return, even if that means giving up Charlotte. Barney's sister, Rebecca, falls in love with William Berry, but her mother forbids the relationship. So Rebecca sneaks out to see him, with disastrous results. Sylvia Crane has kept company with Richard Alger every Sunday night for twenty years, but he has just never managed to ask her to marry him. Time and again these couples come close to happiness; time and again one or both of them shove it away. It might be easy to dismiss these people, but Mary Wilkins Freeman makes sure we understand that they are just that - people - who deserve love, even as they hold off the world at arm's length. Through their lives she lets us see what it is like to be cold, inside and out, when there is warmth to be had.-- For great reviews of books for girls, check outLet's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --From500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.