Red Pottage (novel)

Red Pottage (ISBN 0-86068-690-6) is a 1899 novel by English author Mary Cholmondeley.

The subject of the novel

Red Pottage is the fictional tale of two friends, Rachel and Hester. Rachel is a wealthy heiress who, against her families wishes, marries a serial philanderer while Hester is forced to move in with her judgmental brother; the vicar of Warpington (a fictional village). Hester's brother disapproves of her writing and eventually burns her manuscript. This proves to be too much for the delicate Hester and she dies. Rachel is left behind to maintain her friends legacy and attempt to preserve what is left of Hester's writing.[1]

The history of the novel

Red Pottage caused a scandal when it was first published, in 1899, due to its themes of adultery, the emancipation of women and perceived attempts to undermine the clergy (the burning of Hester's novel by her vicar brother).[2] It was adapted into a silent film in 1918 by Meyrick Milton starring C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Dibley and Gerald Ames.[3] In 1985 the novel was republished by Virago.

Notes

  1. ↑ Cholmondeley, Mary, Red Pottage (Virago)
  2. ↑ Showalter, Mary Cholmondeley ; with a new introduction by Elaine (1985). Red pottage. London: Virago. ISBN 0860686906.
  3. ↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/327930