Scan barcode
A review by paperbacksandpines
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim
4.0
he didn’t love her at all. And she smiled because, if he had, she wouldn’t now be free, for love, she judged, must be a great imprisoner, a great cutter-off of liberty.
Father is an early twentieth century story of a 33 year old woman who has been tasked with taking care of her father ever since her mother died 12 years before. Jennifer has watched her life pass her by as she has helped her cold and undemonstrative father write his books. She has experienced no love since her mother passed away and made Jennifer promise to take care of her father and infrequent to no social calls at her home.
Out of the blue, Jennifer's father returns home one day presenting his new wife, who is younger than Jennifer! Jennifer is elated because a stepmother represents freedom for herself, freedom from endless drudgery and the invitation to start a new life. Her father is astounded and angry because he thought she would have to stay, being a single woman raised to be a gentlewoman and single women stayed with their families until they married or died. Her father sets off on his honeymoon immediately and Jennifer begins looking for a home of her own at once. Thereupon, she meets several characters that have definite opinions about her unmarried status and how a proper woman in her position should behave.
This book addresses spinsterhood and a single woman's worth at a time where wifedom and motherhood reigned supreme.
Father is an early twentieth century story of a 33 year old woman who has been tasked with taking care of her father ever since her mother died 12 years before. Jennifer has watched her life pass her by as she has helped her cold and undemonstrative father write his books. She has experienced no love since her mother passed away and made Jennifer promise to take care of her father and infrequent to no social calls at her home.
Out of the blue, Jennifer's father returns home one day presenting his new wife, who is younger than Jennifer! Jennifer is elated because a stepmother represents freedom for herself, freedom from endless drudgery and the invitation to start a new life. Her father is astounded and angry because he thought she would have to stay, being a single woman raised to be a gentlewoman and single women stayed with their families until they married or died. Her father sets off on his honeymoon immediately and Jennifer begins looking for a home of her own at once. Thereupon, she meets several characters that have definite opinions about her unmarried status and how a proper woman in her position should behave.
This book addresses spinsterhood and a single woman's worth at a time where wifedom and motherhood reigned supreme.