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A review by grubstlodger
Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim
3.0
Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther is the fifth book I’ve read by Elizabeth Von Arnim and takes a different form than the other novels of hers I’ve read being an epistolary novel but an unusual one, showing only the letters of one side of the conversation.
We read the letters of Rose-Marie Schmidt, the daughter of a German scholar who lives in the university town of Jena. She’s 25 and people are beginning to wonder if she’ll ever marry. The family take in English men who wish to learn German and for the last year Mr Anstruther has lived with them. Just before leaving, he professed his love to Rose-Marie and asked for her marriage. The first letter is a cry of giddiness and acceptance but the next few letters start to show her disquiet. It’s clear that Anstruther’s father does not accept Rose-Marie as a wife and instead sets him up with an engagement to a rich heiress.
It would seem that this would be the end of the book but Rose-Marie is a quietly remarkable person and decides that what Mr Anstruther needs is an impartial friend to listen to his problems and give him advice. So the letters continue, with Rose-Marie chiding him for his inability to enjoy an Italian holiday she would love, telling him of the people and events in her life and giving him comfort when his fiancee turns him away.
During this same time, her stepmother dies, taking most of the family’s income. They move to a much smaller house and are reduced to a vegetarian diet. Her father labours on a book about Goethe no German publisher wants which she translates (and amends heavily) into one that is published in England. It’s in this part where she reveals how thoughtful she is, how funny, how full of thoughtfulness and philosophy. While she keeps declaring how little she knows and understands the world, the more she shows her great skills in enjoying it. It’s clear she is too good for Mr Anstruther and the reader gets to see if she realises this too.
Rather than a romance, this book is an anti-romance where Rose-Marie learns she is good enough for herself - and she is. While the novel is mostly a showcase of an extraordinary character, it’s not as gripping as it could be with very few exciting plot points or reverses. In making its point, it dulls some of its narrative satisfaction.
We read the letters of Rose-Marie Schmidt, the daughter of a German scholar who lives in the university town of Jena. She’s 25 and people are beginning to wonder if she’ll ever marry. The family take in English men who wish to learn German and for the last year Mr Anstruther has lived with them. Just before leaving, he professed his love to Rose-Marie and asked for her marriage. The first letter is a cry of giddiness and acceptance but the next few letters start to show her disquiet. It’s clear that Anstruther’s father does not accept Rose-Marie as a wife and instead sets him up with an engagement to a rich heiress.
It would seem that this would be the end of the book but Rose-Marie is a quietly remarkable person and decides that what Mr Anstruther needs is an impartial friend to listen to his problems and give him advice. So the letters continue, with Rose-Marie chiding him for his inability to enjoy an Italian holiday she would love, telling him of the people and events in her life and giving him comfort when his fiancee turns him away.
During this same time, her stepmother dies, taking most of the family’s income. They move to a much smaller house and are reduced to a vegetarian diet. Her father labours on a book about Goethe no German publisher wants which she translates (and amends heavily) into one that is published in England. It’s in this part where she reveals how thoughtful she is, how funny, how full of thoughtfulness and philosophy. While she keeps declaring how little she knows and understands the world, the more she shows her great skills in enjoying it. It’s clear she is too good for Mr Anstruther and the reader gets to see if she realises this too.
Rather than a romance, this book is an anti-romance where Rose-Marie learns she is good enough for herself - and she is. While the novel is mostly a showcase of an extraordinary character, it’s not as gripping as it could be with very few exciting plot points or reverses. In making its point, it dulls some of its narrative satisfaction.