The Girls of St. Olave's — Background and Themes

(0 User reviews) 2319

In Category - Fantasy Juvenile Worlds

Authors: Mackintosh, Mabel Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2008 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Christian life -- Juvenile fiction; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Temperance -- Juvenile fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 51,126

Reading time 223 min

Text sections 8

The Girls of St. Olave's — Background and Themes can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 51,126 words, 3 hr 43 min estimated reading time, and 8 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 15.1 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Christian life -- Juvenile fiction,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #27495

Mabel Mackintosh's novel follows the Brougham sisters, Denys and Gertrude, through engagements, family tensions, and moral choices. The narrative voice shifts between affectionate detail and brisk dialogue, while pacing varies from intimate family scenes to rushed, guilt-driven actions.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

Calculated from edition completeness, EPUB availability, text structure and catalogue metadata. Not a user rating.

How this score is calculated

Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg27495

Read the Text

"You won't be any more use to us after this," said Gertrude positively.

A quick flush coloured Denys's cheek.

"Oh, Gertrude! why not?"

"Engaged girls never are the least use to their families," reiterated Gertrude. "All they think about is the postman and their bottom drawer. The family goes to the wall, its interests are no longer of interest, its sewing is no longer necessary, its duties----"

But Denys's good-tempered laugh rippled out and interrupted the flow of eloquence.

"Really, Gertrude! you are too funny!"

"I don't feel at all funny," grumbled Gertrude, half laughing and half ashamed of herself, "only I'm quite busy enough, and I can't be piled up with any of your odds and ends! Talking of bottom drawers," she added, more contented now she had said her say, "if I were you I would put away all your ornaments and vases, or Pattie will break them all before you are married."

Denys's eyes wandered round the room, the dear old night nursery where she had slept with one after another of the babies. The walls were adorned with coloured prints, of which the stories had been told and re-told to Tony and little Jerry and baby Maude, and the odds and ends of little ornaments and carved brackets had each its own history of a birthday or a holiday or a keepsake. There was nothing of value, except in the value of association, and Denys smiled tenderly as she shook her head.

On this evening, when she was just engaged to be married, every association in the room was tugging at her heart, and weaving its threads into the new fabric of joy that was spread out before her.

Gertrude's glance followed hers round the room.

"It isn't a half bad room," she remarked, "only those rubbishy old pictures spoil it. When you are gone I shall have this room and you will see the difference I shall make. What a joke it will be to see you come poking round to see all our arrangements then!"

With a gay little laugh, she rubbed her pretty round cheek against Denys's in a sort of good-night salute and departed, shutting the door behind her.

A moment later she opened it a crack.

"Don't lie awake thinking of him," she said, "you know Conway wants breakfast early."

Left alone at last, Denys gave a sigh of relief. It was just like Gertrude to come up and make arrangements not to be overworked! How Conway would rage if he knew! And this night of all nights in her life!

And then Denys forgot all about Gertrude, and sitting on the rug in front of the fire gave herself up to thinking of her happy future.

It was just like her mother to have lighted a fire for her to sit and dream by. Mother always seemed to think of little bits of comfort to give people.

And she was engaged to be married!

She got up hurriedly, unlocked her desk and took out a little pearl ring which had been her mother's. In the firelight she slipped it on to the third finger of her left hand, and sat down again to contemplate it and all that a similar ring given her by Charlie could mean!

And she would have to call Mrs. Henchman Mother, and Audrey would be her sister!

Her eyes brimmed over with amusement.

What would they all say! Would they be pleased and surprised--her grandmother and Mrs. Henchman and Audrey? Had they ever guessed at what Charlie had made up his mind to three years ago?

Mrs. Henchman had seemed to like her then, but then she had been an ordinary chance visitor coming in for a cup of tea, the granddaughter of Mrs. Henchman's old friend Mrs. Marston. What would she think of her now as her only son's future wife?

The fire was sinking down and Denys rose and lit a candle and looked at herself critically in the glass, and then she laughed into her own face at the ridiculousness of the position. Who would have believed that she, Denys Brougham, on the evening of her engagement day, would have been staring at her own reflection in the glass, trying to find out what her future mother-in-law would think of her!

And Charlie's words came back to her, a fresh and tender memory to be treasured for ever.

"I want to say something to you which I have waited three years to say. I've loved you ever since I've known you."

Continue Reading →

The first chapter, 'As Good as Gone,' opens with a brisk, teasing exchange between sisters Denys and Gertrude. Gertrude declares that engaged girls are useless to their families, a claim that sets the tone for the novel's focus on domestic relationships and impending change. The narrative voice moves fluidly between sharp dialogue and tender interior reflection, as when Denys surveys her childhood bedroom, noting 'the odds and ends of little ornaments and carved brackets had each its own history.' This blend of conversational sparring and sentimental detail establishes a pattern: the story often shifts from light banter to moments of emotional weight, a technique that recurs throughout the excerpts.

Voice and Dialogue: From Teasing to Tension

The excerpts reveal a narrative voice that alternates between colloquial dialogue and more measured, descriptive passages. Gertrude's speech is often sharp and playful—'You won't be any more use to us after this'—while Denys responds with a 'good-tempered laugh.' Yet the narrator also lingers on Denys's internal experience: 'every association in the room was tugging at her heart.' This duality extends to later scenes, where Gertrude's inner turmoil contrasts with her outward charm. At a picnic, she is 'the most popular, the most sought-after girl,' but the narrative notes that 'from behind the gorse bushes... there peeped at her a ghost'—the ghost of Reggie Alston. The voice thus layers social performance with private guilt, a technique that deepens character without explicit commentary.

Pacing and Structure: The Rush of Regret

Pacing in the excerpts is notably uneven, mirroring the characters' emotional states. Early scenes unfold at a leisurely, domestic pace, with detailed descriptions of room decor and family banter. But when Gertrude realizes she has forgotten Reggie's birthday, the narrative accelerates: 'She went hot all over as she suddenly realised...' The prose becomes hurried, with short clauses and a flurry of actions—gathering materials, writing, posting. This shift is reinforced by the contrast between Gertrude's rushed letter and the earlier, more reflective passages. The picnic scene further illustrates this: despite the lively setting, Gertrude's guilt creates a 'ghost' that haunts her, slowing the internal tempo even as external events buzz. Mackintosh thus uses pacing to externalize moral conflict.

Recurring Details: Objects, Letters, and Memory

Specific objects and actions recur across the excerpts, linking scenes and revealing character. Denys's bedroom is filled with 'coloured prints' and 'carved brackets,' each tied to a memory. Later, letters become pivotal: Gertrude's forgotten birthday note, Cecil's urgent Easter card, and Charlie's letter that 'will reach Scotland on Monday morning.' These items are not mere props; they carry emotional weight and drive the plot. The narrative voice treats them with precision, noting that Gertrude's 'simple words' to Reggie were 'treasured... like gold-dust.' Similarly, the act of posting a letter—'slipped from her fingers into the chasm of the red pillar box'—is rendered with a sense of finality. These details anchor the story in a tangible world where objects and correspondence shape relationships.

Readers attentive to shifts in tone will notice how Mackintosh uses dialogue and description to signal character growth. The excerpts suggest that Gertrude's journey involves reconciling her public persona with private conscience, while Denys's engagement sets up a contrast between leaving home and staying. Pay particular attention to how letters and objects—like the 'rubbishy old pictures'—gain significance across chapters. The novel's moral framework emerges not through preachiness but through these small, accumulating details.

That rainy afternoon, I kept thinking about Denys’s halting choices, how guilt sometimes moved her faster than affection did. Somehow it made me recall another girl, Betty, fumbling through her own first year away from home. The same quiet weight of deciding, again and again, who to be. I found Betty Wales, Freshman — Key Ideas to Explore sitting on my shelf, a gentler echo of that same question.