Maria Edgeworth

Written in 1834, the last and most psychologically powerful novel by Jane Austen''s leading rival. Newly orphaned Helen Stanley is urged to share the home of her childhood friend Lady Cecilia. This charming socialite, however, is withholding secrets and soon Helen is drawn into a web of ''white lies'' and evasions that threaten not only her hopes for marriage but her very place in society. A fascinating panorama of Britain''s political and intellectual elite in the early 1800s and a gripping romantic drama. Helen was the inspiration for Elizabeth Gaskell''s Wives and Daughters.

Illustrator: Chris Hammond

Note: from Tales And Novels, Vol. X of Ten

Contents: / Patronage (concluded) / Comic Dramas: Love and Law / Leonora / Letters of Julia and Caroline

"Castle Rackrent" is a classic novel written by British writer Maria Edgeworth. Published in 1800, "Castle Rackrent" is thought to be both the first historical novel and the first novel to feature an unreliable narrator.Set in Ireland prior to its achieving legislative independence from Britain in 1782, "Castle Rackrent" follows the fortunes of the last four heirs to the Rackrent estate of three as told in the voiceof their longtime devoted servant, Thady Quirk. Over the course of several years (the Rackrent men die off in a timely manner), the Rackrents manage to run the estate into the ground, despite exploiting their Irish labourers. Is Thadys dewey-eyed devotion to the Rackrents sarcasm or is he truly one of the gratefully oppressed? The work satirises the Irish landlords of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Noted for its insight into Irish regional life, the book was the model on which Sir Walter Scott based his historical novels."Castle Rackrent" is a remarkably short novel, rendering a historical situation in order to expose the exploitative system beneath.

In this title, you find Regency family values by Jane Austen's greatest rival. It is presented with an introduction by John Mullan. Meet the Percys and Falconers, neighbouring families, each with three sons and two daughters to launch into Regency society. The hardworking, independently minded and dutiful Percys are happy to work their way up in the world but are undermined by their scheming rivals who use patronage to grab at instant fame and fortune. With their sons eased into lucrative but ill-suited diplomatic and clerical jobs, and their daughters bankrupting themselves to scale the heights of fashion, the Falconers are heading for a tumble; while the moral steadiness and strong family ties of the Percys allow them to attain both the heights of their chosen professions and a glittering match. This is a Regency bestseller with a clear message for our times.

Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth Castle Rackrent is a short novel by Maria Edgeworth published in 1800. Unlike many of her other novels, which were heavily "edited" by her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, before their publication, the published version is close to her original intention.Shortly before its publication, an introduction, glossary and footnotes, written in the voice of an English narrator, were added to the original text to blunt the negative impact the Edgeworths feared the book might have on English enthusiasm for the Act of Union 1800.One of the main sources of inspiration for the novel was a chronicle of her own family history called The Black Book of Edgeworthstown, which contain legal struggles of the Edgeworths similar to those portrayed in the novel.The novel is set prior to the Constitution of 1782. It tells the story of four generations of Rackrent heirs through their steward, Thady Quirk. The heirs are: the dissipated spendthrift Sir Patrick OShaughlin, the litigious Sir Murtagh Rackrent, the cruel husband and gambling absentee Sir Kit Rackrent, and the generous but improvident Sir Condy Rackrent. Their sequential mismanagement of the estate is resolved through the machinationsand to the benefitof the narrators astute son, Jason Quirk.

Contents: / Castle Rackrent / Essay On Irish Bulls / An Essay On The Noble Science Of Self-Justification / Ennui

Contents: / Harrington / Thoughts on Bores / Ormond