Caroline

· Pan Macmillan
5.0
2 reviews
Ebook
254
Pages
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About this ebook

"Caroline knows best."

Caroline's mother ran away from her father when Caroline was four years old, and her father and stepmother died fifteen years later, leaving her with a young step-brother and two young step-sisters to bring up. Orphaned, and in the care of their eldest sister, the three children grow up in a world where one thing is true: "Caroline knows best."

The children adore her, but as they grow up and spread their wings, tension creeps into formerly happy relationships as Caroline cannot bear to relinquish her hold on them. Having sacrificed her own life for the children, to whom she is practically a mother, Caroline values loyalty above all else; but when she invites a guest into her home, she is not prepared for the resulting shift in allegiances in her long-established realm.

First published in 1936, Caroline offers a nuanced study of family relationships, of women trapped by duty and respectability, and how good intentions can sometimes have unwanted consequences. One of Richmal Crompton's 'lost' adult novels, Bello is proud to bring eleven of these titles back into print for the first time since original publication.

Ratings and reviews

5.0
2 reviews
Gillian Ide
July 19, 2021
One of Crompton's best novels. Caroline is a study in how we become who we are, and how early influences, if not checked, come to dominate a person's adult personality. Crompton is masterful at creating warped, narcissistic individuals whose behaviour dominates and threatens to destroy those around them,whilst also allowing the reader to feel sympathy for them. Caroline is drawn subtly and with a surprising amount of this sympathy . An enjoyable, emotional rollercoaster of a novel.
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About the author

Richmal Crompton (1890-1969) is best known for her thirty-eight books featuring William Brown, which were published between 1922 and 1970. Born in Lancashire, Crompton won a scholarship to Royal Holloway in London, where she trained as a schoolteacher, graduating in 1914, before turning to writing full-time in 1923. Alongside the Just William novels, Crompton wrote forty-one novels for adults, as well as nine collections of short stories.

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