(no subject)

[skygiants]

Until osprey_archer posted about That Lass O'Lowrie's I honestly had no idea that Frances Hodgson Burnett had written books aimed at adults, or indeed any books at all other than the Big Three (The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.)

That Lass O'Lowrie's centers on a Lancashire coal mining community and has four central characters, three of them educated outsiders: Derrick, the new mine engineer who wants to institute safety reforms; Paul Grace, the frail but earnest curate; Anice Barholm, the sensible daughter of the self-satisfied and relatively useless rector; and ✨Joan Lowrie✨.

✨Joan Lowrie✨ is a tall, brilliant, beautiful, extremely competent mine worker who over the course of the book:

- teaches herself to read
- adopts Fallen Teenager Liz and her illegitimate baby
- after telling the entire town that if they're going to be dicks to Liz they have to COME THROUGH ✨JOAN LOWRIE✨ FIRST*
- rescues her love interest from being murdered by her abusive father
- then starts secretly bodyguarding him home EVERY NIGHT, thwarting innumerable other murder attempts
- and THEN, to top it off, saves him from a mine cave-in
- and still the climax of the book is ~*~Joan Lowrie~*~, action heroine, first running away from her love interest so he doesn't demean herself by marrying her and then, when love finally triumphs, asking for more time to make herself worthy of him before they can get married, because classism is a hell of a thing

(*unfortunately, Joan Lowrie, being fictional, is not in a position to make such a threat to Frances Hodgson Burnett, who therefore has full reign to be as much of a dick to sad fallen teenager Liz and her baby as might be expected of a sentimental Victorian moralist)

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

My favorite Burnett is The Making of a Marchioness, a deeply weird story that starts out as a simple Cinderella story before veering into psychological horror. Possibly it may be relevant to your interests.

[antisoppist]

I recently read The Head of the House of Coombe because I thought I'd download some free FHB to read on my phone on a plane and I am now determined to read all her adult novels. It had appalling child neglect, a terrible mother incompetent at everything except high-class prostitution, heroine's innocent childhood sweetheart whisked away because heroine's mother is Unsuitable, and the innocent heroine being rescued at the last minute after being duped by a procuress.

Lots of psychological horror. I've got the Persephone Making of a Marchioness and now need to read that again.

[skygiants]

GOODNESS.

(I was about to express my astonishment that That Lass O'Lowrie's DIDN'T have any child neglect (based on my previous experience of her novels) and then I remembered Joan Lowrie's entire backstory...)

[castiron]

The sequel, *Robin*, is not quite as amazingly over-the-top, but has trademark Burnett spirituality and an appropriate fate for Feather.

[antisoppist]

There is a sequel???

There is an appropriate fate for a woman whose reaction when all the money has gone and the servants have walked out is "Who is coming to rescue me?" and "Why won't that annoying screaming noise shut up?" and convincing herself that she is far too scared to go upstairs in the dark and work out how to feed her own baby?

[castiron]

It's on Project Gutenberg (assuming this link works in the UK).

Well, appropriate in the sense of "yep, I can buy that happening to a person who acts like that".

[legionseagle]

I still think it's a shame Feather was not told the plot development of what the holy fuck did I just read? immediately before her fate hit her.

[castiron]

Her hissy fit would have been visible from Alpha Centuari.

[ETA: Even though England probably isn't visible from Alpha Centuari.)

[skygiants]

I'm ABSOLUTELY interested in seeing what Frances Hodgson Burnett's idea of psychological horror is, though I may need a little while to brace myself for another onslaught of Victorian Morality before I'm ready to dive back in.

[legionseagle]

There's also The Shuttle.

[castiron]

I still tend to skim the chapters where Rosalie discovers what marriage to Nigel is really like, because it's so plausibly horrible.

[asakiyume]

Between you and osprey_archer, I'm absolutely persuaded that I must read this!

[skygiants]

Joan Lowrie is a shining star!

....and everyone else is also perfectly nice.

[asakiyume]

This picture!!

[osprey_archer]

JOAN LOWRY, BRINGING LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS OF THE MINES LIKE THE MINOR GODDESS THAT SHE IS.

[asakiyume]

Yes, she should be apotheosized!

[skygiants]

OUR LADY OF THE MINESHAFT

[asakiyume]

I can totally get behind this cultic worship... and I haven't even read the story yet.

[sovay]

This picture!!

Right, that's beautiful.

Also, she looks like an entire town would be idiots to take her on.

[asakiyume]

100 percent hard agree

[dhampyresa]

This is beautiful.

[asakiyume]

It's a great picture! Gotta go back and find the artist... aha! It turns out to have been ALFRED FREDERICKS

[osprey_archer]

Isn't it the MOST EPIC? Frances Hodgson Burnett had clearly never heard that there was such a thing as Too Much and I love her for it. You sparkle, Joan Lowrie! Be the brilliant beautiful action heroine we all know you were meant to be!

I had forgotten about the cave-in till you mentioned it but Joan Lowrie, Secret Bodyguard is basically branded on my brain. Following Derrick home every night so her father can't kill him! Undeterred by his insistence that he can look after himself! Untroubled by the dark!

I hoped that Joan would be able to adopt Liz's baby and Liz could... IDK, somehow bamboozle her lover into marrying her? I'm not sure what else would have been a happy ending for Liz; clearly not marrying a miner and barely scraping by for the rest of her life. But alas, it was Not To Be.

[skygiants]

AMAZINGLY EPIC. I almost threw the book across the room in the last paragraph when Joan asks Derrick to give her more time to be worthy of him. Derrick's nice and all but Joan, you could straight-up lift Mjolnir!

I hoped without hope for a happy ending for Liz and the baby. :( Liz could have gone to be a lady's companion or something! All she really wanted was to be surrounded by pretty dresses and relatively nice things!

[osprey_archer]

Liz is too weepy to make it very far as a lady's companion, I think - and probably not canny enough to make it as a high class courtesan, either. Her best bet is eloping with her boyfriend (not that he's a prize, but he can pay for fancy dresses) and the family won't be so very mad about the marriage that they disown him entirely - because he's clearly not canny enough to make much money on his own, either.

I feel that they would probably go on to sire children who would then become the neglected waif heroes of another FHB novel. But it would still be a happier ending than what poor Liz got.

[skygiants]

It's all right, though, because ✨Joan Lowrie✨ would then appear midway through the book as the heroic wish-fulfillment adult who rescues the neglected children and brings them to a life of wonders and affection.

[castiron]

I now want the Avengers crossover.

[genarti]

This sounds AMAZING, if probably also deeply frustrating at points. (Par for the Frances Hodgson Burnett course on both counts, really.)

[skygiants]

✨Joan Lowrie✨ is so good! Frances Hodgson Burnett's beliefs are so .... what Frances Hodgson Burnett believed!

[legionseagle]

My particular favourite is the entire village at the head of the mineshaft where the rescue party including Joan Lowrie and the nervous vicar are proposing to descend:

RANDOM VILLAGER: It's obvious Joan Lowrie's Secret Sweetheart must be trapped down there. Who would have thought it?

THE ENTIRE REST OF THE VILLAGE: If you want to pry into Joan Lowrie's private life at any time you're an idiot, and if you want to start when she's worked up they won't find two scraps of your body left; for God's sake stand back and let her get on with rescuing him .

[skygiants]

Right? The entire rest of the village KNOWS WHAT'S UP. I had almost forgotten until I went back to link for this post that the whole book starts with another mine girl daring to attempt to tease Joan Lowrie about her crush on Derrick and Joan Lowrie turning round and giving a RIGHTEOUS LECTURE, after which nobody dares speak.

[sovay]

and then, when love finally triumphs, asking for more time to make herself worthy of him before they can get married, because classism is a hell of a thing

Maybe in the time that's supposed to take, she'll figure out maybe it runs the other way round?

[skygiants]

One can only hope! (I mean. He's perfectly fine. He's not worthy of ✨Joan Lowrie✨, because nobody is worthy of ✨Joan Lowrie✨ except maybe a minor deity, and he ABSOLUTELY should be the one throwing himself at her feet and laboring seven years in her name etc. But he's fine.)

[castiron]

Oh, you have so much entertainment in store!

I'm particularly fond of A Lady of Quality (kick-ass heroine, whose most unbelievable accomplishment is becoming a paragon of upper-class manners after being raised in what amounts to a frathouse), T. Tembarom (a missing heir story with a twist), and The Shuttle (a villain that makes Tien Vorsoisson look like a halfway decent husband).

[thistleingrey]

Seconding A Lady of Quality--I don't remember it in much detail, but I do remember enjoying it!

[skygiants]

THERE'S SO MUCH. How many books did she write???

[dhampyresa]

asking for more time to make herself worthy of him before they can get married

Dear ✨Joan Lowrie✨, please marry me instead.

[skygiants]

The most unrealistic thing in the book is that ✨Joan Lowrie✨ is not swamped by proposals DAILY.

[sophia_sol]

My favourite Frances Hodgson Burnett that I've read thus far is The Lost Prince which is terrible and amazing, but this sounds incredible and I clearly need to get around to discovering the wonders of ✨Joan Lowrie✨

[osprey_archer]

The Lost Prince remains one of my favorite tiny fandom experiences of all time because it was such a random yet delightful revival of this bizarre one hundred year old book. How? Why? Well, why not??

[sophia_sol]

that was such a strange and beautiful moment in time! I wish that kind of thing would happen more often.

[skygiants]

I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE LOST PRINCE IN MY LIST OF BURNETTS I KNEW EXISTED. To be fair, it exists in .... such a category of its own. I still think that Steven Loristan is almost certainly evil.

[sophia_sol]

it SURE IS its own deeply weird thing! And I honestly can't argue with you about Stefan Loristan

[osprey_archer]

HDU I'm pretty sure that the Rat will be showing up at any minute to challenge you to a duel for that aspersion of Stefan Loristan's character. He is VERY HAPPILY BRAINWASHED and he will not be talked out of it.

[pedanther]

I honestly had no idea that Frances Hodgson Burnett had written books aimed at adults, or indeed any books at all other than the Big Three (The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.)

Ah, that means you still have The Lost Prince to look forward to.

[eta: Whoops, sophia_sol got in with basically the same comment while I was writing mine.]

[skygiants]

I forgot to list off The Lost Prince but I have in fact read it! It seems to exist in a totally separate 'Ruritania' category in my head, also a totally separate 'psychological horror' category, although to be fair comments have revealed that it does not stand alone among Burnett's works in that regard.