Miss Marjoribanks

I was a bit apprehensive about reading this particular classic. There seemed to be more unfavorable reviews of it than favorable, and I was worried I might not like it. Happily for me, however, it turned out to be not only an enjoyable read, but a surprisingly funny one, too. Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant is like a cross between Jane Austen's Emma and Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford. It's heroine, 19-year-old Lucilla Marjoribanks, has been away at school, but now she's returned home to Carlingford with decided views about society and her father and her own duty to both.

"...the Doctor's daughter was not a mild young lady, easy to be controlled; but, on the contrary, had all the energy and determination to have her own way ... Lucilla felt more and more that she who held the reorganisation of society in Carlingford in her hands was a woman with a mission."

 She takes charge of her father's household, redecorates the drawing room in colors that complement her complexion so that she'll look especially well when she hosts her Thursday Evenings, and she quickly begins her successful "reign" over Grange Lane. But it's Lucilla's views on men, religion, marriage, and her own importance in society that really made me smile.  Here are four examples:

In such work as hers, a skillful leader is always on the outlook for auxiliaries; and there are circumstances in which a nice clergyman is almost as useful to the lady of the house as a man who can flirt.

For everybody knows that it requires very little to satisfy the gentlemen, if a woman will only give her mind to it." 

...(she) had been brought up in the old-fashioned orthodox way of having a great respect for religion, and as little to do with it as possible...  

 "I don't see the good of single women," said Lucilla, "unless they are awfully rich..."

I ended up really liking Miss Marjoribanks.  There's one sad thing that occurs in the second half of this book, but overall this classic novel not only made me smile, but on several occasions, it actually made me laugh out loud. I got the definite feeling that Oliphant was poking fun of Victorian society with Lucilla's egocentric yet "magnanimous" views of society and Carlingford's submission to this determined heroine, which is why I'm counting this book as my Humorous or Satirical Classic for Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge.

Happy Reading!