Victorians! discussion

The Half Sisters (1848) tells the story of two sisters, Alice and Bianca, who share a father but have different mothers, and have grown up not knowing about each other. While Alice, living in England, is conventionally but unhappily married, leading a dreary and philistine existence which was the lot of many in her position at the time, Bianca living in Italy contends with poverty and prejudice but attains eminence as an actress, to support her mother. Both must face the implications of passion in one’s life. The characters are said to be based on Jane Carlyle (Alice) with whom she shared a life-long intimate relationship and Charlotte Cushman (Bianca) who was a close friend, and the book Jewsbury’s own favourite. It questions Victorian norms and the conventional roles that women were confined to.

Reading Schedule
I’ve had a small issue dividing up this book since two different editions I could access online seem to have a different number of chapters. One has 59 and the other 60, though the last chapter is identical in both. So as of now, I’m keeping our schedule at 10 chapters a week (don’t be scared away, they’re very short, 40–50 pages per segment). The edition which divides the story in two volumes has longer chapters but because of line spacing.

Week 1: September 4: Chapters I–X
Week 2: September 11: Chapters XI–XX
Week 3: September 18: Chapters XXI–XXX
Week 4: September 25: Chapters XXXI–XL
Week 5: October 2: Chapters XLI–L
Week 6: October 9: Chapters LI–LX (or LIX)

The author
Born in Measham, Derbyshire, Geraldine Jewsbury was an English novelist, book reviewer and literary figure, best known for her book, Zoe: The History of Two Lives though according to some accounts, it is The Half Sisters which is better known. Jewsbury is described as primarily a novelist of ideas and moral dilemmas with radical for her time writings questioning social mores on the ‘ideal’ roles for women (‘wife’ and ‘mother’). The Half Sisters is one such showcasing the contrasting lives of a conventional and an unconventional sister. Jewsbury also wrote 17 short stories for Dickens’ Household Words, and is said to have written nearly 2,000 literary reviews, many to the Aethenaeum. According to Virginia Woolf in an essay in The Common Reader Second series, it was not only her writing that was unconventional but Jewsbury herself, who was rather fond of swearing and wore men’s clothes, much like George Sand. Small and boyish, ugly, yet attractive, Woolf describes her as intellectually a man, but with a womanly heart. She also was a great reader picking up everything from metaphysics to travels, old books to new books.

Links
This isn’t a very easily available book, but find some links below for scanned versions. The Google version feels easier to navigate.
Google books:
Vol 1: https://www.google.co.in/books/editio...

Vol 2: https://books.google.mv/books?id=hHcE...

Internet archive:
https://archive.org/details/halfsiste...

For those who are interested in the friendship between Geraldine Jewsbury and Jane Welsh Carlyle, the link below provides access to some of Geraldine’s letters.

There is also an almost contemporary biography written in 1892 which serves as an introduction to the letters. The biographer was someone who knew Geraldine Jewsbury and it is obvious that she writes with intimate knowledge of her.

https://digital.library.upenn.edu/wom...

Thanks so much for sharing this Trev.

Here's a quote from Jenny Uglow's biography of Elizabeth Gaskell about Geraldine Jewsbury:

"Ella Hepworth Dixon, the daughter of the Athenaeum editor, vividly remembered her mass of red-brown hair, her spectacles and endless supply of cigaritos, her clothes made by a modish dressmaker and her earrings like miniature parrots which swayed as she talked. [Geraldine Jewsbury] was rather condescending to the more conventional Gaskells ..." (p. 168)

It seems Jewsbury was much more feminist and radical.
(but this was at a time when E. Gaskell was not yet a published author; I've got no further in the biography yet)

Lady Clementina wrote: "Reading Schedule
I’ve had a small issue dividing up this book since two different editions I could access online seem to have a different number of chapters. One has 59 and the other 60, though the..."

Sorry, I haven't been active in this group for a while although I've read some of your picks independently. Are the dates given (September 4 for the first section) the dates on which discussion is open, i.e. are we expected to have read the first section by Sept 4 or are we expected to start reading on Sept 4?

The discussion will open on the date given, but you can join in whenever you're ready, Jane

Thanks! I’ll give it a try.

The wikipedia entry for ‘The Half Sisters contains this sentence.
‘The character of Alice carries touches of Jane Carlyle, while Bianca is based clearly on another of Jewsbury's close friends, Charlotte Cushman.’

I have found a number of references relating to Charlotte Cushman, but, of those I have found, the link below seems to to provide the most concise and balanced description of this remarkable woman.

https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2012...

Trev wrote: "The wikipedia entry for ‘The Half Sisters contains this sentence.
‘The character of Alice carries touches of Jane Carlyle, while Bianca is based clearly on another of Jewsbury's clos..."

Thanks Trev, that was really interesting! I'd never come across that blog before, either, and am pretty impressed by it. I've been reading the first few chapters and am looking forward to seeing how both women's character arcs play out.

The The Half Sisters has somehow disappeared from the top of the Victorians group home page - it was there earlier. While the Diana Tempest is certainly an 'inviting' bookcover to attract interested readers, we probably should mention the current read.

It's now corrected, Brian. Thank you for your observation.

Virginia Woolf's essay on Jewsbury and Jane Carlyle can be read here:
https://www.virginiawoolfproject.com/...

This has the entire volume of the Second Common Reader, so you'd have to scroll down or run a search for the essay

Lady Clementina wrote: "Virginia Woolf's essay on Jewsbury and Jane Carlyle can be read here:
https://www.virginiawoolfproject.com/...

This has the entire volume of the..."

Thank you for sharing! What a beautiful essay it is ...

I see a little of herself in the young Alice - not her "wild" part, but the vague dreams, and wishes for something she cannot grasp.

sabagrey wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Virginia Woolf's essay on Jewsbury and Jane Carlyle can be read here:
https://www.virginiawoolfproject.com/...

This has ..."

Glad you enjoyed it Sabagrey!

Hi everyone, sorry I'm a little later than usual posting the week 4 discussion, but will do so soon. Apologies for any inconvenience

My books (2 volumes) just arrived via my library system. I'm sorry for the late start.

That's absolutely ok Ginny. Join in as you're ready with each bit