When the out of work governess, Miss Philpott, meets Francine once more, she could never guess how her life could be transformed. In the brand new Edwardian age (the age of Downton Abbey) there are many changes for women. But Miss Philpott is now forty and feels that all the innovations of the new century have little to do with her. But how wrong she is. With Francine's help she is about to become a modern woman and to discover that she has talents she could never have dreamed of. Her abilities are only limited by her imagination, and as an avid reader, Miss Philpott's imagination is prodigious.
This lighthearted novella.continues (by reader demand) the adventures of Francine, the discarded ladies maid of the original short story, whose effect on the life of all around her is joyfully empowering.
It adds romance and adventure to its tale of women emerging from the shadows to claim their own lives.
Historical chick-lit? Maybe - if that conjures humour, warmth, female liberation and the power of genuine love.
Francine's confidence and passion to life in the face of societal restrictions opens a new and exciting world to a woman almost overcome by the narrow confines of her previous existence. The rest Miss Philpott does for herself.
Reviews: 'Clean and wholesome'
'Witty'
'Feel-good'
Miss Philpott has just been published in English, but has done well as the sequel to Francine.
currently #272 in Romance, historical (novella)
5 stars
Chapter 1
Miss Philpott and Francine
‘But you are the lady’s maid!’ Miss Philpott looked confused.
Francine sat behind a handsome mahogany desk, looking at the little sparrow of a woman before her. It was doubtful if Miss Philpott could be helpful or even helped, except by a liberal application of lunch. Her bony wrists hung from her brown wool coat sleeves and the shoulders inside gave that woeful garment all the shape of the wooden hangers that the newest trunks were fitted with. Her hair seemed bushier than their last meeting and was confined by many pins beneath the plainest of brown hats. Her rather desperate eyes took up most of her thin face, reminding Francine of the starving children of her childhood.
‘And you the governess,’ said Francine with a cool smile.
‘I did not mean to give offence, but when I received your letter at my lodgings today, I did not think this interview would be with you.’ The meek little lady was distressed, but the class difference between a maid and a governess was understood. She was the product of a gentleman’s family (in this case, as Francine knew, a ship’s captain), a daughter who had failed to marry and had been trained for little more. Thus she ended, since her family were not wealthy enough to provide for her, by training other young ladies to attain the female accomplishments thought necessary – reading, writing, drawing, playing the piano, as well as the dictates of decorum, in the hopes that their education would pay off in marriage. They delivered a general education to the boys of the family too, until they were ready to be sent off to school.
Francine had often thought that a governess’s lot was a particularly lonely one. They were separated from the other servants by class and sometimes only given the slightest attention by the family.
| Language | Status |
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French
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Translation in progress.
Translated by C. Dussault
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