They Knew Mr Knight By Dorothy Whipple.

This is a novel by Whipple which covers some of her favourite themes. There are 2 families who have little in common, and they become involved. Then the father of one family reveals himself to be a fraudster. Thomas Blake lives with his wife Celia, and their 3 children, in a provincial town, where he manages an engineering works. He is a skilled engineer but his father, who owned the business before him, was not a successful businessman. He lost money and had to sell the business to his partner. Thomas was kept on as manager, but his salary is moderate and he is worried about money. He also feels that he has been let down by his father. He wishes that he could own the family business. Celia is happy enough with being a housewife with a small house and only one servant. They have 2 daughters, Freda, who is rather vain, and Ruth who wants to be a writer... and a son Douglas who is interested in science. Thomas wants Douglas to become an engineer and succeed him as manager, at least but he knows it's very unlikely that he will have the money to buy back the firm. Mr Knight is from the town, and he has gone up in the world to own several businesses and lead a gay social life. He has recently bought a house near the town, Field End. One morning, Thomas is on his way to work by train when he sees Mr Knight also catching a train. Mr Knight slips and almost falls badly and Thomas manages to rescue him. Knight thanks him and they fall into conversation on their train journey. He tells Knight about his work and the problems he has, and on an impulse, Mr Knight offers to help him. He suggests a plan for Thomas to borrow enough money with his backing, to buy out the man who owns the works.

Can you Forgive Her Part III

Glencora keeps meeting Burgo at parties and Lady Monk encourages the romance.. but she feels guilty. However, Burgo asks her to run away with him and they could live as a couple abroad.. Eventually she tells Plantagenet that if they divorced, he could marry someone who might give him a son and who might make him happier than she has done. Plantagenet tells her that he has grown to love her, and that he would rather have her for his wife, even if they had no children, than another woman. She is touched and agrees to try and give their marriage another chance. Plantagenet is then offered a place in Government, but he chooses to give it up, so that he can take Glencora away on a trip. He even agrees to take Alice with them. They go away and travel in Europe for some time, and Glencora grows fonder of him. In Germany however they meet Burgo, who has gone on a gambling trip through the continent, and has lost a lot of money in a casino. Plantagenet goes and talks to him and helps him out, offering to make him a small allowance. Glencora realises that while she will always have feelings for Burgo, Plantagenet is a good man and she has grown to love him... She thanks him for helping her former love, and then she discovers that she is pregnant. They go back to England and Alice marries John Grey, and Glencora has a son, who will be heir to the Dukedom.

Sayers' Later life.

Dorothy's later life was busy but lonely. She and Mac did not get along so well, as his drinking and ill health made him bad tempered. Her son got a scholarship to Oxford and she was very proud of him but she could not talk about him to her friends. She was involved with the Church, and wrote several plays for stage and radio, including a life of Jesus - a cycle of plays, for children, which was well thought of. She liked to eat well and put on more weight, which began to affect her health. Then she found a project which she enjoyed very much, which was to occupy her for the rest of her life. She began a translation of Dante's Inferno. She became friends with Barbara Reynolds, a lecturer at Oxford who later wrote her biography. She loved the Dante work, and was absorbed in it. She started to read the Inferno, during the war. She embarked on a translation, which kept her busy for the rest of her life. She wrote some plays for the church and engaged in theological discussion with other Christians and non Christians. In 1950, Mac's health became much worse and he died in their home in Witham. She missed him, though overall the marriage had not gone that well. But he had given her a home and adopted her son...and helped her in her writing career for many years. For 7 years after Mac's death, Dorothy worked on the Dante translation, was involved with St Anne's Church Soho. She kept up with many friends by letter and visits, especially CS Lewis. She and Antony, her son were not close but they kept in touch. She was godmother to her friend Barbara Reynolds, when the latter became a Christian. Then in 1957, she went to town to do some Christmas shopping. On her return to Witham, she collapsed and died, inside her house. Her life was relatively short, she had neglected her health and over worked. But her achievements were extraordinary.... Sadly, her friends only found out she had a son when she died. One of her friends was startled, the day after her death, to find a young man on her doorstep, who told her that he was John Antony Fleming, Dorothy's son.

Can you forgive her part II

Glencora submits to her family's pressure but she knows it is wrong for her. She continues to love Burgo and finds it hard to avoid seeing him at social events. She and Plantagenet have little in common and he is dull and shy. He is not able to express his emotions easily. Glencora respects him, because he is essentially a good man but she and he are always at odds. Plantagenet works very hard, at his political career. He hopes his wife will produce an heir, but there is no sign of a baby. Glencora has noone to love. She asks him to let her invite her cousin, Alice to stay.. and he agrees. She feels a little better when she has a confidante but Alice is prudish and awkward and does not understand her cousin very well. Burgo has an aunt, Lady Monk who sympathises with her attractive nephew. She feels that he and Glencora should have been allowed to marry...so she offers him help. Burgo begins to make vague plans for running off with her - and living in Europe. Alice starts to see her cousin George again, but she is scared by his violent streak, and knows that John Grey, even if he is quiet and dull, would be a better husband.

Can You Forgive her? A Trollope novel

This is the first of the Palliser novels, and concentrates on the marriage of Glencora M'Cluskie, a very wealthy heiress and Plantagenet Palliser, a rather dull young man. Plantagenet is the heir to the duke of Omnium and who is devoted to a political career. His uncle, the Duke is unmarried so in due course, Plantagenet will become Duke. There are also 2 other romances in the book, one about a widow who has 2 suitors, and another about Alice Vavasor, a cousin of Glencora's. Alice has also got 2 suitors and she is a rather serious dull girl, who leads a very quiet life, rarely going into society. She had been in love with her cousin George Vavasor, a wild young man who has a violent streak and who has political ambitions. However she broke off her relationship with him and for some reason, Trollope feels that this makes her ineligible to marry anyone else. But she has another admirer, John Grey, who like Plantagenet, is dull and leads a very quiet life. Although he is clearly a more suitable husband than George, Alice shies away from marrying him. (Even in Victorian times, a broken engagement did not bar a woman from society, so it's difficult to know why Trollope made this a plot point). The book is liked because of the Glencora story. Critics usually ignore the story about the widow, and Alice is pretty dull. Glencora is young and naive, and she has fallen in love with Burgo Fitzgerald, a rake and gambler. He also cared for her as much as he was capable of caring for anyone.. and wanted to marry her. But her family completely forbade the marriage and to stop her from making a bad match, they pressured her into a marriage with Plantagenet. M/F

Phineas Redux II

Phineas gets into a quarrel with a Mr Bonteen, one of his rivals in the party. Glencora takes up his cause and tries to persuade her husband to support Phineas, not Bonteen. The two men are antagonistic when they meet. Bonteen snubs Phineas when they meet a gentlemen's club. The Prince of Wales is there so the row is curbed, but soon afterwards, Phineas leaves the club and makes a joke of how much he dislikes Bonteen. He walks part of his way home with his friend Mr Monk, and then goes on alone to his lodgings. The following day, the police arrive, and Phineas is accused of murdering Bonteen who has been discovered dead in an alleyway. He is horrified but he's taken into custody. The bad feeling between the men and the fact that he does not have an alibi means he goes to trial. Phineas has support from his society friends, but he fears that some may believe him guilty. He finds that Laura's husband has died, and she comes to visit him in prison. She tries to support him but she is emotional and weepy. Meanwhile, Marie Goesler and Glencora have been doing some detective work. Bonteen and his wife had supported Lizzie Eustace who has (after a scandal of her diamonds being stolen) married a foreign clergyman, Mr Emilius. He treated her cruelly and she left him. Mrs Bonteen had sympathy for her and because of this Emilius was known to have a grudge against him. Marie goes to Prague, where it's believed that Emilius has a wife whom he has deserted. She finds a locksmith who made a key for him, so that he could get in and out of his lodging house. Armed with this evidence, she brings it back to London where Phineas' trial is not going well. Mme Goesler's evidence about the latch key however clears him and he is pronounced not guilty. Emilius is to be arrested. Phineas is badly shaken by his ordeal, and he goes home to his lodgings. He is glad to see the kindly woman who has been his housekeeper, Mrs Bunce. He is hurt that he could not be sure if his friends really believed in him, and he feels badly about his anger at Bonteen. He does not want to go into society, but he accepts an invitation to Matching, where Glencora lives. She has now become Duchess of Omnium, as the old Duke has died. Mme Goesler is staying there as she often does, and on an impulse, Phineas proposes to her. She accepts him, and they begin to make plans for marriage. She tells him that she was proposed to by the old Duke and refused him. He and she happily look forward to a successful political career.

Phineas Redux

Phineas Redux is set a couple of years after the time of Phineas Finn, when Finn goes back to Ireland and marries Mary Flood Jones. He is not that happy in a provincial city in Ireland, after a few years living in the London political world. But he loves Mary... and she becomes pregnant. However she dies in childbirth, and he is alone again. His father also dies, leaving him with a little money, and he decides to try his luck again in England. Things have changed since he left. Laura Kennedy's marriage has become increasingly unhappy. Robert has suffered a mental breakdown... and his religious mania has increased. In desperation, Laura leaves him and goes abroad to Germany with her father, where he cannot easily pursue her. Violet Effingham has married Lord Chiltern, who has settled down and become a Master of Foxhounds, a job that gives him an outlet for his energy. Phineas feels better, at the prospect of moving back to England and his old friends seem pleased to see him. He goes to Germany to visit Laura, and Lord Brentford asks his advice for her situation. Phineas says that she would be better to go to the Divorce Court in England and get a proper legal separation - However, while in England, he himself has visited Kennedy, who is clearly mad. Robert shoots at him. Kennedy's mother takes him back to Scotland and looks after him. Laura begins to feel that she could face going home again. But her position as a runaway wife means that she will still be in a difficult situation. Phineas stands for election, and wins his seat but his problem of needing a job is still there. He finds that he is popular with the ladies of the Liberal set, including Glencora Palliser but it rather annoys him as he knows that being the "Ladies' pet" is going to make male Liberals hostile to him.