Mary Marston. by George MacDonald ...
George MacDonald (1824-1905)
Category
Books
Date
1905
Materials
Place of origin
London
Collection
Quarry Bank, Cheshire
NT 3215926
Caption
Macdonald wrote the novel Mary Marston in 1881 at the height of his popularity. The book’s titular character Mary is a shop girl in the business owned by her father and his business partner. Mary, like her father is a committed Baptist and passionately devout. Her goodness and piety give her a steadfastness that the other characters in the book lack, leading them into a number of troubles. While straightforwardly a book about romance, each character’s story serves as a moral lesson to the reader. Throughout it all, Mary resolves to do what is right and to compel others to do the right thing. ‘Simply to do what we ought, is an altogether higher, diviner, more potent, more creative thing, than to write the grandest poem, paint the most beautiful picture, carve the mightiest statue, build the most worshiping temple, dream out the most enchanting commotion of melody and harmony.’ While this moralising literature might not be to the tastes of most readers today, Macdonald’s characters are more compelling and complex than was the case in less skilful religious novels of the time. He deals throughout the book with the challenges of understanding and navigating increasingly blurred divisions in social class, something that would have resonated strongly with readers at the time. Most striking of all however is the way he draws attention to the lack of piety in those who claim to be Christian in the story. This is a familiar trope within this important, if now largely forgotten genre.
Summary
Bibliographic description
viii, 355 p., frontis. :. ill. ;. 19 cm. Provenance: Blue oval rubber stamp on inside front cover: `Styal Village Club Library'. Old no.: 215. In pencil on flyleaf: `QBM Resource Bank 2.87'. Old NT inventory number at rear: `848'. Binding: Publisher's case, covered in green cloth, with gold lettering and ornaments on spine and front cover. Green-dyed fore-edge. Label on spine with shelf no. in ink.
Makers and roles
George MacDonald (1824-1905)