The Rector's Daughter

The Rector's Daughter / F.M. Mayor
Harmondsworth,UK: Penguin Books, 1978, c1924.
219 p.

Another quiet read focused on relationships, this was first published by the Hogarth Press. It looks at the life of Mary Jocelyn, daughter of Canon Jocelyn, a rather needy father in my opinion. Mary spends her time caring for him and for her sickly sister Ruth. When Ruth passes away she wonders if there might be something else for her in life. But alas, it's not to be.

Into her life comes Robert Herbert, a young friend of her father's. In his time visiting and studying with Canon Jocelyn, he begins to appreciate the calm and caring nature that Mary displays. They fall in love; but then he's called away to spend time with relatives, where he meets a vivacious and beautiful young woman named Kathy who wipes Mary from his mind, and he marries Kathy in a whirlwind. 

Mary hides her disappointment and sorrow and carries on as before. But after a few months when Robert and Kathy's marriage begins to pall, he turns to Mary for true companionship (and this is where I began to want to punch him in the throat. Is he really that clueless?) 

Even after all the obligation and expectation placed on her, Mary remains a soft-spoken, sweet woman; though she might feel more hopeless and frustrated inside, she never shows it. And she knows the bounds; she doesn't - can't - fight for what she wants. 

She continues on in the same old routine until her father dies and she must find another home, another way of life. But that final change is hard, too hard, especially as she finally sees the Herberts again in town and realizes how her life is drab and empty in comparison to the lively Kathy, now a happy, rich, loved mother. When she catches flu shortly after, there's no fight left in her.

It's a slow, subdued story. Told in thoughtful phrases, without too much dramatic narrative even when things are very emotionally dramatic, it moves at a measured pace. The plot is straightforward and nothing too shocking occurs. It's the relationships and the inner lives revealed in the telling that makes this book memorable and moving. It's published as a Modern Classic here, and I think that suits it well.