I felt The Snow Goose was very well championed by Michael Morpurgo but thought it a novella not a novel. There was one of the curates at Southsea – I never imagined he cared at all for me; I had hardly ever spoken to him. But I don't think I agree with your division… I love explorations of people's inner feelings, can't get enough – but when they tip from serious to earnest I am put off.

Rectors Daughter by Mayor F M - AbeBooks Rectors Daughter by Mayor F M - AbeBooks

However, she was a successful author with a three-book contract with Constable when she died of pneumonia in 1932, aged fifty-nine. It was also one of the forgotten classics on radio 4 which was won by The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. In October, as regularly as the leaves fell, she began the winter habit of reading her favourite novels for an hour before dinner, finding in Trollope, Miss Yonge, Miss Austen, and Mrs Gaskell friends so dear and familiar that they peopled her loneliness.Her father, Joseph Bickersteth Mayor (1828–1916), was an Anglican clergyman and professor of classics and then of moral philosophy at King's College London.

The Rector’s Daughter – F.M. Mayor – Stuck in a Book The Rector’s Daughter – F.M. Mayor – Stuck in a Book

Why, it’s the pretty little girl with the dark curls we saw yesterday when the Canon took me out a little walk – your dear father. With Robert, Mary discovers an intelligent mind, a passion for reading and their friendship gradually develops into a very deep love – which consumes Mary in ways, she had not thought previously possible. Dedmayne Rectory is quietly decaying, its striped chintz and darkened rooms a bastion of outmoded Victorian values.Of the declaration of love made by Herbert it is among the lanes during a March day has me in tears every time. I was so moved by this book I bought endless copies for others and recommending it when people wanted an idea of which book to read next.

F. M. Mayor - Wikipedia

I have an enduring memory of this book, of being unable to read the words for tears when Herbert remembers Mary.

But her masterpiece THE RECTOR'S DAUGHTER, is in print again' SUSAN HILL *A wonderfully moving, harrowing but ultimately uplifting novel of love. It is left to Mary to look after her feeble needy sister and her stern father – and she does these things with all her heart. I really enjoyed this book, and at times thought of it in a similar way to One Fine Day in wishing to re read. But nor did I love you in the way that I anticipated I would, based on reviews by Rachel and Harriet.

The Rector’s Daughter’ by F.M. Mayor | Bag Full Of Books ‘The Rector’s Daughter’ by F.M. Mayor | Bag Full Of Books

Herbert – and I do not think it gives too much away (for it is no surprise) to relate that her chance comes to nothing, and she must live with the consequences of this unlucky, ineluctable failure. I was surprised, in the second half, to come across moments which would be at home in Jane Austen or E. I did read The Third Miss Symons a few years ago, and remember feelings similarly underwhelmed – not that I dislike either book, just I didn't like them as much as I thought I would. But what happens to Mary is a fate too cruel to behold and as a reader we share Mary’s feelings of dismay and disappointment. It was very well written, but I thought very sad, so I don’t think I will be re-reading it in the near future.First published in 1924 this novel is an impressive exploration of Mary's relationship with her father, of her need for Robert and the way in which, through each, she comes to a clearer understanding of love. She was dowdily dressed, but she had many companions in the neighbourhood, from labourers’ wives to the ladies of the big houses, to share her dowdiness. Who knows, perhaps a re-read of The Rector’s Daughter would give me an equally enthusiastic second impression?