Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary

I must confess, I have become addicted to the collection published by Persephone Books. All the works are forgotten pieces, mostly the creations of women who failed to reach the heights of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. Reprinted by Persephone, these works have found new lives, new audiences and newer lights thrown on them - what is one woman's drudgery is another's liberation.

Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson sits nicely alongside the other Persephone titles. It is a gentle reminder of an age gone by, of the cruelty of social change and of the grace with which a life may be lived. Ultimately it is a novel about choices, about choosing, or not, to exercise them, and about living with the consequences of one's decisions. That Ruby Ferguson urges the reader to go no further from the point of no return is truly endearing. Of course, what happens after that plea is heartbreaking, but the author's way of leading up to the end is quite exceptional. While I suspected that there could be no other end, I still cried when I got to it.

Would I recommend it? Certainly. I daresay it is not going to be every one's cup of tea with it's old world ways, but I quite enjoyed reading it.