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A Proper Education For Girls (2008)

by Elaine di Rollo(Favorite Author)

3.45 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0307408345 (ISBN13: 9780307408341)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Crown

review 1: An unusual one, set jointly in a Victorian mansion stuffed with an eccentric's collection of curiousities, and in India at the start of the Indian Mutiny. The house almost reminds me of Gormenghast, although the main characters are more sympathetic. Lilian and Alice are twins. They grew up in their father's mansion, helping to look after his collection, but Lilian offended and was packed off to India as the wife of a missionary. Their father falls more under the influence of a doctor with an interest in anatomy and treatments for female hysteria. The story alternates between the 2 places, but somewhat disjointed in time - it begins with Alice, then moves to Lilian, but about 6 months earlier, and keeps up this disconnect throughout most of the book. I liked it. - 3 1.2 s... moretars.
review 2: What a pity that I found this gem for sale in a Dollar Tree! It struck me as the sort of thing that would be on every suburban soccer mom book club reading list, and receive tons of promotion, a'la The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield(anyone else remember that one?).In any case, this vibrant, confidently told tale has all the mythic whimsy of the best magical realism novels, while making aggressively concise points about female oppression in the Victorian era in a manner that would do Sarah Waters proud. I couldn't put it down, and i'll never forget it! less

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