Charlotte M Yonge

Charlotte Yonge is a forgotten author today but she was a very prolific writer in Victorian times. She was born in 1823, in Hampshire, and as a young woman became an ardent disciple of the High Church movement. This was a movement which sprang up in the Church of England in the early Victorian era, bent on restoring the Catholic side of the Anglican heritage. Many clergymen at the time went over to Rome, because of conservative policiatlal and religious views. They felt that the Church of England had lost its heritage, and that as a state church, it was bound to be affected by the politics of the time, which they saw as very radical. Others felt that it was possible to revitalise and re dignify the Church of England, remaining in it and reforming it. They attracted hostility form “Low church” people, because of their desire to bring in “Catholic” ritual, vestments and practices, such as the use of candles and incense... Many Anglicans and English people in general were very hostile, traditionally to Roman Catholicism and this extended to the increase in Catholic practices within the Anglican Church. But the movement grew and while it did tend to attract ultra-conservative people, it did have a positive side. The colour and beauty of the ritual was felt to attract people, especially working class people.Charlotte was the daughter of William Yonge, a country gentleman and was brought up and educated by him. He was an intelligent but strict man and while she learned a lot from him, she also was somewhat limited, by her close relationship with him. He was domineering and she looked up to him, and felt it was her duty to be an obedient daughter. She was an intelligent young woman but was afraid to think for herself. She felt that women might be clever – but the cleverest woman knew she should be modest about her intelligence and use it under male guidance. It has been said that she never married because she could never find a man who matched up to her father.Charlotte met with John Keble, one of the most famous of the Anglo Catholic clergymen. He became a “Pope” to her, an inspiration and guide.  She began to write novels and used them to promote the Anglo catholic movement. She was a novelist of family life, she wrote children’s books, histories and historical novels. Her strict religious views and her deep conservative rigidity prevented her from being a great novelist, but she was a very good one.In her time, very moralistic novels were popular, as people had high ideals. Her better ones, like Daisy Chain, Pillars of the House, Clever woman of the Family, etc., were all read by all sorts of people and loved. She did portray people who might seem improbably virtuous, and her views on women were old fashioned even in the later Victorian age. But she could write realistic and lovable children, growing up, like Ethel, in Daisy Chain… I haven’t read all her works but I do enjoy some of them. She’s not my usual type of writer because she is very moralistic, but she’s an interesting character. And at times it is nice to read about high ideals.

Rough Music a band story

Rough Music is set in the late 1970’s going on to 1980.  It is about an American country rock band, who are just beginning after years of hard work, to have some success.  TV appearances, talk of a movie, hits in the charts. They work hard and try to give their fans a show they will remember.  They care about the fans, but life on the road has a lot of hardships.  It has compensations, such as a generous supply of young women and easy access to soft drugs.  But as the musicians grow older, they acquire wives and children and feel the pull of being away from then.  They still sleep around, and don’t feel too much guilt about it.  Having women is one of the perks of being in a musical lifestyle.  However by the late 1970s musicians’ wives were beginning to complain about being left behind while their husbands partied, or fooled around, and to talk about “having a life of their own”.  And to complain that the husbands were never there when needed.  Jeff Randles and Brandon Sherwood are the 2 lead singers in the band, and they are good friends.   They understand each other and in some ways feel closer to each other than they do to their wives.  Jeff breaks up his first marriage because his wife Lacy is increasingly sick of his being away, and he finds her cold and uninteresting, but he makes a second marriage, to a girl he hardly knows, but has gotten pregnant. However, he does not know her well and has to adjust to marriage and being a father, while still trying to make a living doing what he loves.

This is not really a romance albeit it is about love relationships and marriage.  It is more about life in general, about how far we can compromise in terms of work we do, and how to make a marriage last when a lot of things are against it.  I liked writing it because I feel that in life, especially as we get middle aged, there aren’t any easy answers…. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Music-Nadine-Sutton-ebook/dp/B01AEQS0G0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452977780&sr=8-1&keywords=nadine+sutton

Charlotte Bronte , Mr Nicholls and her last years

>Charlotte was dumbfounded when she was proposed to by Mr Nicholls.  She didn’t love him, and felt that they had nothing in common.  However, her father lost his temper when he heard of the proposal.  His motives were mixed. He was afraid of losing his daughter; he was an old man and wanted her to be with him and look after him.  He also believed that she was too delicate to endure childbirth and that marriage would be dangerous for her. He didn’t like Mr Nicholls much either. He believed that as a well-known novelist, Charlotte could do better, in finding a husband and that probably Mr Nicholls was boasting about his own family background in Ireland.  The man had nothing but a modest income as a curate…how could he keep a wife?

Charlotte Bronte Part III, Emily and Anne

Charlotte’s triumph in getting her first novel published and its being such a success should have been a happy time for the family, but it didn’t last long.   Emily didn’t seem to care about money.  But she was depressed at the lack of understanding from the critic, although her book sold. Some critics did appreciate her talent, even if they deprecated the violence, the passionate emotions, and “impropriety” of the story of Wuthering Heights.   They felt that given time, Ellis Bell might mature into a great writer. But tragic days were in the offing for the Bronte family. Branwell had become a serious problem for them, since his dismissal form this job at the Robinsons. He was drinking and using opium, and getting into debt.  Some biographers believe that Mrs Robinson remained in touch with him and sent him small sums of money but it’s not clear if this was the case.  When her husband died, he believed that she would send for him and they would be married... But whether there had ever been an affair or not, Mrs Robinson didn’t send for him, and he was devastated... and his health began to decline through 1847 and 1848. His drinking exacerbated his weakness and a family proneness to TB… He set his bed on fire, and in the end Patrick Bronte had to take him into his own bedroom, to keep an eye on him during the night. Charlotte is often criticised for being unkind to Branwell as he declined, but my sympathies are with her.  She had worked hard, in jobs she didn’t like, to earn a living, while he had failed at every job he got.  She had now struggled to her work published and to persuade her sisters to write for publication.  Branwell had had a few poems published in newspapers but he was not willing to work hard at preparing a novel or any work for publication.  He dismissed novels as easy to write, but his own attempt at novel, is a feeble effort… Now, in 1847/8 he was a serious liability.  They didn’t tell him about their success in getting the novels published, because it would upset him or he might give away their identities. His health got worse but the family seem to have been taken aback by the speed of his decline… He died aged 31 in September 1848. The Brontes were grieved and shocked, although he had been such a trouble to them.  His father felt the loss of his only son, very painfully. Emily went to his funeral; she caught a bad cold, and soon began to show symptoms of TB.  Her decline was also very rapid.  She refused to let her sisters help her and would not see a doctor.  She insisted on doing her housework and normal tasks, although she was getting weaker. By December, she was desperately ill.  Always slender, she became bone thin, and afflicted with a terrible tubercular cough. She still refused medical aid, and Charlotte particularly felt helpless at the way she rejected any help.  The two sisters had loved each other but had disagreed over things. Emily had insisted on their using pseudonyms. She feared the loss of her privacy and anonymity.   When Charlotte and Anne went to London to see her publisher George Smith, to let him know that she was a woman, (due to rumours about the real identity of “the Bells”,) Emily refused to go. She had been insistent on staying with her publisher Thomas Newby, who was a dubious character… when Charlotte wanted her to change to Smith.  She felt that George Smith had treated her very well with the publication of Jane Eyre, and been “a gentleman” – Emily preferred to stick with Newby even if it was to her disadvantage. Now, in her final illness, it was very painful and hurtful to Charlotte that her younger sister still was at odds with her, refusing her sisterly love and offers of help.  She told her sisters she would have no “poisoning doctor” near her.  Charlotte wrote to a doctor, hoping for some advice, and the doctor replied and sent medicine but Emily would not take it. She was in what Victorians described as “Galloping consumption”, and it’s unlikely that anything would have cured her or even slowed down the progress of the disease.   She soon reached a point where she could hardly speak, and finally said that she would see a doctor, if they brought one... but it was too late.  She died lying on the sitting room sofa…painfully and traumatically. She was buried on 22 December, 1848 - 3 days after her death.  Charlotte was very upset, but soon her last sister, Anne, became ill, displaying symptoms of TB, also.  She had probably caught it from Emily. Victorians didn’t realise that the illness could be transferred from person to person, and didn’t take hygiene precautions.  The Sisters shared a bedroom… Anne was more tractable than her stubborn sister, with whom she had been very close. She knew that she would probably not recover but she was willing to see medical men and take their advice. Charlotte hoped that her sister might survive, and did her best to look after her. Anne’s health got worse, and in the spring of 1849, she expressed a wish to go to Scarborough; she had visited there, with the Robinson family when she had been their governess.  She went there with her sister and Ellen Nussey and died there at the end of May. Charlotte was now left alone with her elderly father, the last of his six children.  She had lost 3 siblings in 10 months.  Her success as a novelist had raised her hopes that she might write other works.  She believed that she would be able to make a living as a writer, rather than have to be a governess again. And that her sisters could do the same.  Now her sisters were gone, she was lonely and had no one to discuss her work with…

Beds and Blue Jeans taster, Sam's trying to flirt...

“Yeah but I don’t know.  Pattie’s not the career type.   Thing is Amber, we never –“

Sam broke off. He had been about to say that he and Pattie had never discussed anything much.  They had slipped into a live-in relationship, she had had the baby. He didn’t want to criticise his girlfriend, to another woman.

“My goodness,” Amber interjected suddenly, “I’ve got to go.  Sam, it sure was nice to chat and catch up on things.  But work calls. I’ve got to get back by 2 o’clock.”

She reached for her purse- but he put his hand out and forestalled her.
“No, sweetie, I invited you to lunch.  I’m gonna pay. “

She laughed and then gracefully gave way.

“You’re such a perfect gentleman.  OK.  But this was fun and next time I’ll invite you.”

The story is available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beds-Blue-Jeans-everyday-mayhem-ebook/dp/B01370SMFO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1472894698&sr=1-1&keywords=beds+and+blue

Charlotte Bronte II

On leaving the Heger School, Charlotte was painfully unhappy.  It’s not clear what was said to her, but it seems as if Mme Heger pushed her into leaving Brussels. I believe that Heger realised it too, that his pupil, a plain yet intelligent young woman of whom he was fond, had developed an inappropriate love for him. He and Mme Heger felt that they had to tell her to leave, fearing embarrassment and scandal, but he was also sorry for her and believed that she would be better to go home and get over her feelings. Charlotte however remained in love for some time.  She begged permission of M Heger to write to him but he stipulated that these letters should be limited to "one every 6 months". Charlotte longed to write more often, and wrote some painfully loving but very proper letters.  However Heger didn’t respond.  The story of her continuing love for him is sad to think about, she was so unhappy- desperately pleading for a little friendship and affection from him. He threw away some of her letters but Mme Heger rescued them, perhaps because she was aware of the possibility of scandal and wanted to preserve evidence. She gradually recovered and was occupied with family problems, such as Branwell’s drinking and bad behaviour, and her father’s blindness.The girls continued for a while to believe they might be able to set up a school and did some advertising, but no one was interested in sending their daughters to a remote place like Haworth… and the plan eventually languished.