The Absentee - Softcover

Edgeworth, Maria

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1478225157 ISBN 13: 9781478225157

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012

Synopsis

Maria Edgeworth was as popular in her day as her great contemporary Sir Walter Scott, and 'The Absentee' (1812) is her best novel, a work which vividly evokes the conditions of the Irish peasantry and launches a sustained attack on the Anglo-Irish absentee landlord class. John Ruskin said that 'you can learn more of Irish politics [by reading 'The Absentee'] than from a thousand columns out of blue-books.'

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Maria Edgeworth's sparkling satire about the Anglo-Irish family of an absentee landlord is also a landmark novel of morality and social realism.

The Absentee centres around Lord and Lady Clonbrony, a couple more concerned with London society than their duties and responsibilities to those who live and work on their Irish estates. Recognizing this negligence, their son Lord Colambre goes incognito to Ireland to observe the situation and trace the origins of his beloved cousin Grace. To put matters straight he finds a solution that will bring prosperity and contentment to every level of society, including his own family.

In her Introduction, Heidi Thomson explores the political and social themes of the book and place it in its historical context. With Castle Rackrent and The Absentee Maria Edgeworth helped create the 'regional' novel, rich in atmosphere and local character, and influenced writers as disparate as Scott, Thackeray and Turgenev.

About the Author:

Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) was born in Oxfordshire and after being educated in England, she went to Edgeworthstown in Ireland to act as her father's assistant and governess to his many other children. With her father she wrote several educational books, and as a novelist she earned the praise of Sir Walter Scott.

Heidi Thomson is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. In addition to her work on Edgeworth, she has written on Gray, Wordsworth and Keats.

Edited by Heidi Thomson and Kim Walker
With an introduction by Heidi Thomson

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1478225157
• ISBN 13: 9781478225157
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 242