Red Pottage by Mary Cholmondeley (Harpers, 1900)

 

I must have read something about this book somewhere, otherwise why would it have ended up on my bookshelf?  But of course I just forgot what and where...

Red Pottage (the terrible title refers to a lentil stew mentioned in the Bible) is a wonderful book -- smart, funny, engagingly plotted and charactered.  It's about two young women, Hester Gresley and Rachel West, who are close friends and both unmarried at 28.  Hester lives with her brother, who is a self-deluded and narrow-minded vicar, and his equally petty and vindictive wife and their mewling children; Rachel, who has recently inherited a fortune and ascended into aristocratic society, travels from one country house to another.  Hester has published one novel to considerable success and is trying to finish a second, but family life at the vicarage makes it difficult for her to write.  Rachel is pursued by two men and falls in love with one, despite his having had an affair with her new friend Lady Westhaven.  Both Hester's novel and Rachel's romance come to a tragic end.

Chomondeley not only creates two strong, independent, smart, and sympathetic heroines but also uses her finely-honed satirical wit to delightfully and delicately skewer many of the clerical and aristocratic characters.  The book has an insouciance and freshness that makes for delightful reading.  I look forward to reading more Chomondeley, which is apparently (and disappointedly) pronounced "Chumley."