This is such a brilliant book, worthy of being a classic, really, in that it so perfectly encapsulates how limited unmarried women’s lives could be before the advent of feminism”– Rachel, Book Snob

Juliet Stevenson reads F M Mayor's unfairly Neglected Classic, the story of a plain, reliable parson's daughter whose life of duty and service is thrown into confusion by an unexpected and unsought love affair. Today Mary's quiet life in the rectory is disturbed by a new visitor, Mr Herbert. It was such a poignant read that it is taking me a few days to mentally recover from reading about poor Mary’s life. Recover from reading about the depths and constancy of her love, devotion and emotions. Her deep-rooted devotion to her Father and the man that she loved with her heart and soul. Dora is also a spinster, but less angsty. I think I would have rather enjoyed a novel from Dora’s perspective… Take care, Mary dear, you stepped right into that puddle. Wait a minute. Let me wipe your coat. I am not quite sure that I understand what you were saying.”At one stage, Mary has to take care of a sister that suffers from a mental disability and when the poor sibling dies, the heroine is devastated and she thinks her father does not show any feelings for his departed child…later, once she would have access to his papers and diary, she will be surprised, confounded to learn that she had not known her parent so well, because regarding this tragedy and other events, the Rector has chosen to not show what he feels and he has been quite critical of his own actions… A novel about a woman in her mid-30s who lives with her father, Canon Jocelyn, who is a clergyman of a town/village. Mary Jocelyn is described as looking rather plain in appearance (translation: not attractive). But eventually another clergyman, Mr. Herbert, is interested in her, while simultaneously interested in another woman, Kathy Hollings, who is younger than Mary and is more physically attractive. He chooses her over the rector’s daughter, Mary. And marries Kathy who is attractive on the outside but rather empty on the inside (at least from his perspective...he is educated and well-read...she is not well-read). So, is that the end for Mr. Herbert and Mary? No. You’ll have to read the book to figure out what happens with that situation. I shan’t tell. 😉 😌 Mary Jocelyn is the daughter of a highly intellectual parson in a small and very dull English village. Canon Jocelyn belongs to that remnant Victorian England generation that is impeccably proper but austere, completely disabled by their inability to reveal their inner self, especially (shudder) through any expression of emotion. The worst of Mary's generation, by contrast, has embraced every aspect of the Roaring Twenties: self-expression, a delight in the superficial (especially, personal appearance), the pursuit of excitement and pleasure, and an absence of moral fibre. Mary doesn't belong to either, and is failed by both.

There is a feeling of identifying with the heroine to a great extent, although she is a woman, the similitudes appear to make her character overlap with mine, in that we both have nothing to do (at least on the face of things, otherwise, it is pleasant to imagine that I have an intense intellectual activity (and hey, is this not proof enough, for both you and the under signed, as we both occupy our minds with books, in a world obsessed with Qanon and other such monstrosities) and live like the Rector’s Daughter, with little social engagement (however, the main character does become more involved and she helps her community more than I ever did or will) and a penchant for reading and some writing…It was this that made the book so desolate. The narrative voice is cool and wonderfully paced, showing the inner complexity and humanity (I can't think of a better word) of Mary, then revealing in other scenes how she is seen, talked of, and remembered by those who knew her. This is a novel that understands loneliness, better even than Rilke's The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (urban male loneliness is by no means of the same character as female rural loneliness, though). Despite the great similarity in subject matter, it is also utterly different to Orwell's A Clergyman's Daughter. In that, Orwell dwelt on a socio-economic system his protagonist was caught in, without sparing her much sympathy as a person. Thus, his novel is merely depressing, whereas 'The Rector's Daughter' is devastating. The feeling of pity for Mary is completely overpowering. Even though Mary never complained of her lot in life and never demanded pity. This characteristic of Mary’s personality, for me, added greatly to the poignancy of the book. This a story about a woman, Mary, who never thought she had a chance at love. She is thirty five when she meets the new minister in the village. Mary is a plain woman, but sensitive and intellectual. She lives her life for her family, Canon Jocelyn, her father, is extremely erudite and known as a scholar in his group. Mary, also takes care of an ill and dying sister. Mary is content in her role as devoted daughter and sister, but yearns for more. Her father loves Mary, but never shows his feelings. The time is the 1920s and men of his generation are not warm and confiding.

In October 2009 ‘The Rector’s Daughter’ was described in the BBC's 'Open Book' program as one of the best 'neglected classics'. One winter day when Dora Redland had come to stay with Ella, she and Mary met for a walk. Mary suddenly started the subject. “I wish you would tell me something about love. I should think no one ever reached my age and knew so little, except of love in books. Father has never mentioned love, and Aunt Lottie treated it as if it ought not to exist. There were you and Will, but I was so young for me age I never took it in.” Thanks to another Goodreads reviewer, I've just remembered that I bought the book after it was praised by Susan Hill in Howards End Is On the Landing. A robin flew up to greet them; a toad crawled forth and squatted on the path, turning his bright eyes to Mary while she talked to him… Mary and Dora stopped to look through the gap in the hedge at the view beyond, quiet, domestic, English scenery – a pond, meadows, and elm trees. These are the solace of the lonely in the country.”Mary Jocelyn is in her mid-thirties and already fading, her life has been one of quiet, respectful duty. Living in the home of her father Canon Jocelyn, Dedmayne Rectory a house as faded as its occupants, Mary is pitied by her neighbours for the reduced life she is living. Having devoted herself to her father, her recently deceased, disabled sister, and the few wants of the villagers Mary has little to look forward to. An occasional visit from her childhood friend Dora, a short holiday to Broadstairs with her Aunt, is what her life has become. Her father is an octogenarian of Victorian values, a man of cold reserve, he has no idea of Mary’s inner life, and he takes her and her continual presence for granted. There were three typos that I found in this book, but I don’t know if somebody at Penguin messed up or whether the original edition had the typos. Who do I complain about this (i.e., the typos)? He becomes aware that Mary would have been so much better for him, with their shared interested in real literature, all that Kathy can stand to hear read to her are vulgar, inappropriate works and all she cares about is hunting, her horse and the dog…in fact, the idea that she consorted with a man who has no interest in the hunt is also a proof of the depth of feeling she has for him and the relationship will have a complex dynamic… It is usually easy to give reasons why a book didn’t work for me. Indeed, they are few more satisfying activities than laying into a poorly written novel… but The Rector’s Daughter isn’t poorly written.