(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

[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.