Catch A Proper Education For Girls Expressed By Elaine Di Rollo Expressed As Print

book has been on my to read shelf foryears and I seriously don't know why I waited so long! This was nothing that I had expected and in all the right ways.
This is not a sappy coming of age story of sisters, instead it is the story of a family that in today's world would have their own reality series on TLC.
Subtle humor and a few devious plans make this such an enjoyable story, The title caught my attention first, Then I saw the cover and I was hooked, Its a little bit fairytale, a little bit cartoon, and that suits the book very well,

The opening sets the scene wonderfully, A Victorian mansion where the gates are always locked, The master shut them when his wife died and nobody goes through them without his permission, And so his twin daughters have been isolated from the world, They have their grandmother and their spinster aunts, but they too are under the masters thumb,

He is a collector, a traveller, a man of science, a man with a wide range of interests.
And, though he doesnt intend it, that helps his daughters to grow up to be strong, intelligent and independent.


But can they triumph over their circumstances Lilian has disgraced herself and been swiftly married off to a missionary who takes her to India.
Alice has been left behind to care for her fathers vast collections, under the watchful eye of the sinister Doctor Cattermole.


Each woman is at the start of an adventure, As the story alternated between the pair they meet with romance, action adventure and intrigue, They have triumphs, but they have setbacks too, The story is fabulous and, because the girls have grown up away from society, they are oblivious to social strictures and simply use their hearts and minds as they steer their extraordinary courses.


No, of course it isnt realistic, but its an entertaining story very well told, The characters are simply but clearly defined, and they all do their jobs very well, The settings are effective too, and some wonderful scenes are played out, creating more than enough drama to keep the pages turning.


And along the way the author is able to say great deal about the position of women in Victorian England, the Raj, science, collecting, and a few more things that I cant quite put a name to.


There were moments I worried, When the story seemed to becoming a little bit too cartoonlike, onedimensional, But, though it rattled a few times, it just about stayed on the tracks, And wound up with a spectacular finale, that saw all the womenfolk, grandmother and aunts included, rise up to seize control of their lives.
It was the kind of ending that makes you want to hold your breath and cheer at the same time!

Definitely a book with the wow factor!

I picked this based on the synopsis on the back cover and it was great.
The author crafted a pretty riveting story focused on Victorianera sisters around many topics that are relevant today with a good couple of laughs.
DiRollo's debut novel is about twin sisters Alice and Lilian who are separated for the first time when Lilian is married off to an irritating preacher who is a missionary in India.
The girls were raised in a house filled to the rafters with any odd and unusual artifact or contraption their father could get his hands on.
The novel is told in intervening chapters between Alice, who is at home minding her father's collection, and Lilian, who is braving the wilds of India.
Used and abused by their father and pretty much every man in their life, the twins aren't afraid of using men right back to be reunited and achieve freedom.


Something about this novel, and especially Alice's story, was almost, but not quite, magical realism, The images of Alice in her parlor among the vast conservatory, getting lost among plants and her numerous elderly aunts was a little fantastical.
Alice takes off in a flying machine and almost suffers through a clitoridectomy at the hands of the fanatic Dr.
Cattermole. Similarly, Lilian witnesses extreme violence and random encounters with Indian royalty among her travels,

I liked this novel okay, I just didn't really like Alice or Lilian, They seemed sort of inhuman and ruthless, I was never quite sure what exactly they wanted or where the story was going, I would have enjoyed the book more if the novel had opened before Lilian left for India so the reader could see the sisters interacting and get a better understanding of their relationship.
englischer Humor: manchmal gut und manchmal unverständlich und unerträglich I was very intrigued by this book, It is the story of two sisters who had an extensive and varied education, which bucked the norm of Victorian England.
They learned horticulture, science, history, and other unorthodox things at the feet of their eccentric, scientific minded father, They lived an opulent life in a sort of grandhouseturnedmuseum, The sisters were smart and witty, clever and more free thinking than their contemporaries,

But I must admit that I did not love the book,

It started out well enough: twin sisters, separated by their eccentric father, in's England, The book was interspersed with images of the subcontinent of India, What is not to like

Well It was choppy, The story went from one sister to the other,
Normally I don't mind switching points of view, but this seemed a bit forced to me,

I also found the father too eccentric, I understand the Victorian conventions, he was blinded by morality late in his daughter's education and overdid everything, but he was a totally flat character.

He went wherever his other flat character friends pushed him, He never came to any realizations,

The time that was spent in India was also very disappointing and unoriginal, The East India Company was notorious in their handling of the natives, The author played on this fact but added nothing new, It was as if she took every stock scene right out of every other “Company” story,

On the other hand, the story was empowering for women, The sisters outsmarted the men in their lives, They were not afraid of their circumstances, They were clever and prevailed in the end, Which came very suddenly.

Not a satisfying end to a soso story that had a ton of promise, Found this browsing the stacks at the library, The cover pulled me in, the premise sounded original, and so I took it home, It had such promise. The world the author allows you to inhabit is fantastic the eccentric scientific father, the separated twin sisters, India, the aunts, the "collection" all seems like a great setup.


I was sorely disappointed, The male characters were flat and stereotypically narcissistic to the point of ridiculousness, And wicked. There is not a redeeming character among the lot, The females are the heroines of the story, but in contrast to what Even they seem harder to like as the novel progresses.


The characters seem to be taken right out of whatever feminist Victorian mythos has been dreamed up to malign the other sex.
Farce Satire It was hard to be sure what the author was going for here, Namely, I think, bizarre. Repulsive descriptions of encounters with prostitues, as well as the ending, where the scientific expertise and misogyny of one doctor lead to an almostmutilation.
I pictured a character from a silent movie with the curled mustache and black hat, But with the setting of a modern horror movie, The author paints all men of that time as such vile creatures it was disheartening,

The female twin protagonists are resourceful, yes, and clever, and their acumen is something to be praised.
I cheered the women's escape from their various situations and found the novel as a whole to be slightly satisfactory there were elements of parallelism and an intriguing question of allegiances.
But when they wash their hands of all men at the end, I was just sad,

A somewhat intriguing read, with a plot that moves along quickly, but in the end I felt I'd been spoonfed propaganda.
Or at least a badlydone historical satire,
Absolutely magnificent novel! The prose is artful, twin heroines real, complex amp fascinating, plot is riveting amp the history/period detail sumptuous.
The horrific lot of Victorian women is balanced by the beauty, strength amp timelessness of sisterlove, feminism amp adventure.
As in any work of fiction, the reader must suspend belief, The novel is the richer because the author skillfully weaves the antiquated notions of womanhood with those of modern day perfectly.
Pair the novel The Disorder of Longing by Natasha Bauman, a similar masterpiece, with A Proper Education for Girls as two gems for the women's literature/historical fiction reader.
This is a fabulous book, The story of two sisters who fight for their independence against the chauvinism of the victorian era, including serious health threats.
It's an adventure, both in England, inside a huge house come museum, and India during the revolution, The main characters are very likeable, just as the male ones are infuriating, The book represents what it menant to be a woman back then, and what few possibilities there were for them to emancipate.
There are several stories inside the main one, the tempo doesn't slow down and there are lots of hsitorical facts to dive into.
I definitely recommend this book! Alice and Lillian grow up with their father who is a collector of modern gadgets.
Lillian get pregnant by a visiting Mr, Hunter who leaves before he knows she is pregnant, A deranged Dr. Cattermole delivers her baby and it dies, Lillian is then married off to a missionary and moves to India, She learns the native ways and is determined to bring her sister to India, She meets up again with Mr, Hunter and has her vengeance after her husband dies, Meanwhile Alice plots to marry a visiting Mr, Blake who ends up rescuing her when Dr, Cattermole is ready to perform a female surgery on her to make her more feminine, When he rescues her Lillian is there to take her away, Interesting book with some history, What hapened at the end
Did the author have no time to write a proper ending Set in the's Alice and Lillian, twin sisters, are separated by their father as result of something Lillian gets up to which would bring shame to the Talbot Mansion.
She is banished to the Colonies India by being married off to a missionary, He is no match for Lillian who established herself as quite a character amongst the British overseas and this is very useful as she finds herself in the thick of the Indian mutiny.
Her sister, Alice, finds herself the subject of much fascination and enquiry due to her nonfeminine appearance and attitude and is soon dragged into strange and misguided medical attitudes to changing such self assured and strong willed women into meek and mild feminine people.
Who can save Alice Will Lillian survive the mutiny Is Mr Blake friend or foe and how has Dr Cattermole such a stranglehold on the girls father, Mr Talbot
This is a great story told with gusto and enthusiasm.
The Mutiny was described in graphic detail which fixed scenes of horror in my mind for a lot of the day.
As for the description of the medical procedures being planned to deal with the headstrong Alice, well, ouch!
As with a lot of novels like this it did tend to be a little bit of a slow burn but it really did reward the perseverance or many commutes to Glasgow.

Hope Elaine finds time to write another,
Was on its was to a five star review, . . but it got a bit wacky at the end, An interesting story of two sisters and their eccentric father, One sister is sent away, married off to a missionary and bound for India, The other is a prisoner in her own home, restricted by the morals of the day, her father, and his collection.
The sisters tales and their coded communication through the Victorian era is charming and interesting, but the end disintegrates into madcap madness that lacks the dignity of the rest of the book.
Der Titel Handbuch für anständige Mädchen lässt anderes vermuten, Keinen Roman über die Abgründe der Frauenbehandlung um,
Zunächst erhält man Einblick in den Haushalt einer wohlhabenden englischen Familie des, Jahrhunderts. Die Mutter ist bei/bald nach der Geburt von Drillingen gestorben, eines der Kinder folgte ihr nach, Von denMädchen sind nur mehram Leben, Der Hausherr geht einer ungewöhnlichen Sammelleidenschaft jeglicher wissenschaftl, begründeter Art und Kuriosität nach, Schrullige Tanten vertreiben sich ihre Zeit mit Malen, Tratschen und Karten spielen im Wintergarten, Eine der mittlerweile erwachsenen Töchter ist mit einem Missionar verheiratet worden und auf dem Weg nach Indien, Soweit scheint alles normal“ zu sein, doch vieles ist nicht wie es scheint,

Lillian, die Hübsche, verträgt die indische Hitze viel besser als ihr hypochondrischer Gatte.
Sie kann sich mehr für die exotische Umgebung und fremden Bräche begeistern und will sich nicht der steifen Etikette der englischen Basis mit ihren Teegesellschaften und seichten Unterhaltungen usw.
beugen. Statt mit den anderen Damen in ein Korsett gezwängt im Salon zu sitzen und über Mode zu schwadronieren und die brave Ehefrau zu sein, schnappt sie ich lieber ihre Staffelei und den Tropenhelm ihres Mannes und reitet allein in den Dschungel um Pflanzen zu malen.

Dann trifft sie auf dem Basar auf Mr, Hunter, den sie schon aus der Heimat kennt, Der Leser erfährt, dass er sie damals verführt und entehrt hat, sie dann aber unwissend über ihre Schwangerschaft verlassen hat.
Lillian bewahrt nach wie vor Stillschweigen, brütet aber insgeheim über Rachepläne, Ihr Mann stirbt an den Verletzungen einer Tigerattacke den Tiger erlegt Lillian und sie ist wieder fast frei, denn schon drängen die nächsten Heiratskandidaten an ihre Tür.
Just in dem Moment, als sie fliehen will, bricht eine Revolution aus und in dem Tumult kann sie zusammen mit Mr.
Hunter anders als geplant aber doch fliehen, Er ist jedoch im Kampf gegen die Rebellen verletzt worden und fiebert zusätzlich an Malaria, Durch Zufall geraten die beiden in die Finger eines in Cambridge ausgebildeten Maharadschas, dessen Diener Mr, Hunter gesund pflegen, Lillian mit allem was sie braucht ausstattet und schlussendlich Lillian ermöglicht, aus Indien zu entkommen und Mr.
Hunter in dem Palast quasi als Gefangener des Maharadschas als dessen Gärtner zurückzulassen,
In all der Zeit kann sie keinen wirklichen Kontakt mit ihrer Schwester aufnehmen, die ihr als einziges wirklich fehlt.
Alice kann keine Briefe schreiben, aber auch Lillians Briefe nicht wirklich erhalten, da ihr Vater die Post kontrolliert und Alice die Hände gebunden sind.
Nur einmal kann sie einen verschlüsselten Brief zu fassen kriegen und die Botschaft ihrer Schwester auch nach Indien zu kommen entziffern.
Ein weiteres Mal erreicht sie eine Botschaft in Form eines Aquarells, das durch die Auswahl von bestimmten Blumen die Worte übermittelt Tod des Gatten, Rache,.
. .
Während all dieser Abenteuer in Indien sitzt Alice im Haus ihres Vaters fest und geht für die Zeit unweiblichen“ Tätigkeiten nach, indem sie ihren Vater mit seiner Sammlung unterstützt.
Der Photograph Mr. Blake wird eingeladen die umfangreiche Sammlung zu erfassen, Alice soll ihn als Assistentin unterstützen, Die auch vom Aussehen und Auftreten eher männlich geprägte Alice geht dieser Aufgabe gerne nach und beginnt einen Plan auszuhecken, mithilfe des jungen Mannes der Tyrannei ihres Vaters zu entkommen.
Sie will ihn zu einer Heirat und somit Flucht nach London bzw, Indien überreden dank ihres Charmes kann sie ihn überzeugen, Die Lage spitzt sich immer weiter zu, denn der ehemalige Arbeitgeber Blakes Dr, Cattermole nebenbei auch ein guter Freund von Alice Vater, der immer größeren Einfluss erwirkt ist zwar Arzt, doch mehr an Abnormitäten und Krankheiten interessiert als an deren Heilung.
Deshalb arbeitete er auch mit Mr, Blake an der photographischen Erfassung von Absonderlichkeiten aus dem Leichenhaus, Er hat damals zwar Lillian von ihrer misslichen Lage befreit, die Abtreibung wird aber nie als solche bezeichnet artete in einen wahren Blutbad aus.
Nun ist er hinter Alice her, von der er meint, die Beschäftigung mit der wissenschaftlichen Sammlung ihres Vaters und der Photographie habe sie vermännlicht sie sei ein Hermaphrodit.
Er behauptet zu viel Gedankenfreiheit macht Frauen geschlechtsneutral was sich bei Alice schon körperlich, aber auch mit verwirrtem Geist zeige.
Verunsichert wendet sich Alice an ihren Vertrauten Mr, Blake, der dies nach etlichen Missverständnissen und einer Offenbarung Alices verneinen kann,
Während einer Veranstaltung der Gesellschaft zur Verbreitung von Bildung und Wissen im Haus der Familie, trägt auch Dr.
Cattermole über Alice Verrücktheit und körperliche Vermännlichung vor und will das Problem chirurgisch lösen mit einer Entfernung der Klitoris.
Im letzten Augenblick vor der Operation Mr, Blake musste als Assistent mitspielen, um Cattermoles Vertrauen zu gewinnen und sie dann befreien zu können kann Alice aber gerettet werden.
Und wer ist zu ihrer Hilfe geeilt Ihre Schwester Lillian, als Mann in Hosen und kurzem Haar getarnt unter den männlichen Besuchern der Veranstaltung.
Gemeinsam und mit Hilfe von Mr, Blake, der ohne seine Kleidung zurückbleiben muss gelingt es den Schwestern zu fliehen und sie beschließen frei von allen Zwängen der Männer nach Indien zu reisen und dort fortan in Männerkleidung zu leben.



Ein Roman, der nicht dem folgt, was sein Titel verspricht, den Leser durch die Ereignisse fesselt.
Die Wechsel der Schauplätze zwischen Alice in England und Lillian in Indien man erfährt erst später, dass es nicht zur selben Zeit geschieht fördern mit

Cliffhängern die Spannung.
Teilweise geht es recht deftig zu hinter der prüden viktorianischen Gesellschaft tun sich Abgründe über Unterdrückung der Frauen, Unterdrückung der Eingeborenen in Indien, pornographische Photographien, Drogenabhängigkeit Opium und Äther fehlgeleitete Wissenschaft, medizinische Unkenntnisse usw.
auf. Alles in allem verstörender, interessanter und spannender als der Titel verspricht, Vor allem zeigt die Autorin, dass der weibliche Verstand doch nicht so vorhersehbar ist, wie es die Männer des.
Jahrhunderts glaubten. .