New Year, New Fallen Woman: Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth Readalong

And finding it better? Or just too much plodding through Victorian sentimentalism?

@Piggywaspushed we cross posted but obviously having similar thoughts. Sorry you're finding it a bit of a slog.

My Kindle is saying we're at 48%, so I reckon we're about half way through if you disregard the introduction, and everything is pretty peachy for Ruth. For now....

Anyone else giving an eye-roll at more description of the perfectly economical, threadbare but dainty home? Not sure why it winds me up, perhaps it's the "deserving poor" cliche, but I feel like - yes, we get it, these are the good guys!

But for a chapter which is basically saying "they all got older and things are going well", it's very readable and there are some well observed scenes.

Thurstan preparing the laburnum switch to beat Leonard while Faith, having got her way, back tracked, and Sally sorted them all out was well written, as was the reveal of Richard's sneaky character. And some of us will recognise the mismatch between how Faith feels and what she sees in the mirror - my mum is always saying she feels 20 inside.

How are you all feeling about it half way through? Are we wishing we'd found a a slightly less repentant fallen woman? It hasn't been at all what I expected, but I have enjoyed it so far.

Chapter 19

In which days turn into years as the four loving adults work out how to raise their beloved Leonard while Mr Bradshaw knows a great deal about the principles of righteous parenting but rather less about the nature of his own children.

Six years have passed and Leonard is a tall and noble child with the same unusual beauty and intelligence that distinguishes his mother. None of the four adults has raised a child before and their desire to do the best for little Leonard leads to an intensity which is not always helpful.

When Leonard goes through a phase of lying and exaggerating, the adults determine he must be whipped for his own good, but no-one wants to go through with it. Ruth weeps, Faith changes her mind, Thurstan girds himself to do the right thing but Sally again gets her own way, outdoing Thurstan in a battle of Bible quotes and tartly reminding him that the whole household is built on a lie. Ruth's distress at the idea of the punishment has a chastening effect on young Leonard and he promises to be good in the future.

Faith is shocked to catch sight of herself and see an old woman with white hair, when inside she feels as young as ever. Sally has no time for this and berates her for "calling yoursel' an old woman when you're better than ten years younger than me!" Sally is unchanged by the passage of time and works as hard as ever. She will not be drawn on her actual age, saying only that she will never see 30 again.

The house is still poor but perfectly refined in a simple but lovely way - which can also be said of Ruth. The love and teachings of the household have turned her into a dignified and spiritual beauty, and she could hold her own among the most educated and elevated in the land.

She is much appreciated by her employer Bradshaw, the formidable businessman who judges all by his own standards and has no tolerance for weakness or failure. Bradshaw believes he runs an exemplary household, but we see he has blind spots. His family's fear of his disapproval leads them to hide their true natures. His wife is not as firm as he would like her to be, and murmurs about him behind his back. Jemima sees this and thinks her mother weak and dishonest but Jemima hides her own temper and wilfulness so he rarely sees the worst of his family.

Only Jemima knows that son Richard has inherited his father's judgementalism without his probity. Richard condescendingly boasts about his visit to the theatre then backtracks to warn her she need not mention it. She is surprised and a little disgusted to then hear him curry favour with their father by criticising another young man for playgoing.

But Ruth has little to do with Richard and this is a peaceful interlude for her, both at work and in the happy household with Leonard.

What - not tempted by 7 different courses from one neck of lamb?

Interesting question, @narniabusiness. I quite like hearing Mrs G's voice as it feels like a link to an interesting and brave 19th C woman. But it is basically spoilers, isn't it? It feels as though a political and religious tract is jostling with a Romantic Novel, and the Victorian religious voice wants to draw our attention to the power of goodness, whereas here in the 21st C we're more interested in the ripping yarn!

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh@Midnightstar76 yes, Sally has turned out to be a wonderful character. She's a working class woman being written for comic effect by a middle class author, which could potentially patronising, but I do feel she gives as good as she gets. I love that she has such a strong sense of her own power and is not going to let any of these men - the earnest Thurstan or the clumsy suitor - get the better or her.

She reminds me of my step granny, a war time Lancashire mill worker who looked after her parents until her 50s, had a short but happy marriage to my widowed grandfather, then led a contentedly single life for the rest of her days. She had opinions aplenty and knew how to indulge in small pleasures on a limited budget - Baileys, scones and smoked salmon scraps come to mind. My mum used to say darkly "She'll never remarry now she's got his pension" but I always thought she had the single life absolutely sussed. I think she would have a lot in common with Sally!

Chapter 18
In which Sally procures some satisfyingly magniloquent words for the satisfaction of teaching Thurstan a lesson, Ruth's offer of congenial employment brings dark clouds on the horizon, but we are promised a happy ending.

Ruth's love of Leonard and her own education bring unforseen happiness and she becomes closer to Sally. Over tea, Sally recalls the golden age of her childhood when butter was cheap and people paid their debts, bemoaning the unseemly degeneracy that is the early 19th Century.

Sally confides that the Bensons think they have given her a pay rise, but she has outwitted them by commissioning a will which leaves all her savings to Thurstan.

Determined to have a good lawyerly will, like the heiress she know herself to be, she pays for parchment, then gives sixpence for every good law-word, considering "testatrix" and "accruing" to be particularly good value.

The prospect of Thurstan being "prettily taken in" when he finds his extra wage given back to him gives her great satisfaction: "it will teach him it's not so easy as he thinks for, to make a woman give up her way".

Now Leonard is weaned, Ruth must earn a living, and fortuitously, the Bradshaws offer her the role of nursery governess. Miss Benson thinks the opportunity perfect, Ruth questions whether she is worthy, and Thurston believes they should tell Bradshaw the truth about Ruth's past. Again, Faith's pragmatism triumphs over Thurston's scruples, and they agree no good can come of exposing Ruth's dark past.

In Chapter 11, Gaskell warned that the decision to pass Ruth off as a widow had turned the hand of fate the wrong way. Now she tells us the scroll of Fate is closed and an ominous future lies ahead - but the chapter ends with a consoling hint of smiles to follow sadness.

I've never stuck with a readalong consistently either - so it was a bit of a risk offering to lead this one! I think you get loads out of them even if you lurk and chip in occasionally, so you are very welcome to post as often or as little as works for you.

I've found Sally's stories a bit of light relief from all the sombre moralising. It is quite slow, isn't it? Very different to my normal reading pace when I rush along and skim the boring bits. But weirdly, doing the chapter summaries has forced me to focus and slow down, and I've really enjoyed it. I'm glad you've found them useful.