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A review by flappermyrtle
Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary by Ruby Ferguson
4.0
Persephone describes this novel as a "love letter to Scotland", and as I will be studying in Scotland next year, I figured it'd be a nice start. It's one of those books that, despite sometimes slightly too obviously praising Scotland and juxtaposing Edinburgh and London, give you a fuzzy feeling and a longing to see the places so vividly described in these pages.
The narrative jumps back and forth between different stages of Lady Rose's life, and the housekeeper telling a visiting guest little stories about the inhabitants of the house. It gives an interesting insight into the lives of the upper class at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, with many traditions still in place at that point. There is a section full of letters, which was very enjoyably written in the style of a young girl, but also eye-witness accounts, and omniscient narration. The fragmentary state of the narrative allows for a twist at the very end - though I must confess I saw it coming for a couple of pages at that point. Very beautifully done, a small story, but definitely a gem of a book.
The narrative jumps back and forth between different stages of Lady Rose's life, and the housekeeper telling a visiting guest little stories about the inhabitants of the house. It gives an interesting insight into the lives of the upper class at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, with many traditions still in place at that point. There is a section full of letters, which was very enjoyably written in the style of a young girl, but also eye-witness accounts, and omniscient narration. The fragmentary state of the narrative allows for a twist at the very end - though I must confess I saw it coming for a couple of pages at that point. Very beautifully done, a small story, but definitely a gem of a book.