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THE ABSENTEE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Maria Edgeworth,Heidi Thomson | 320 pages | 03 May 2000 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780140436457 | English | London, United Kingdom The Absentee - Wikipedia To discourage the match, Lady Dashfort slyly lets slip that Grace was born out of wedlock, and is therefore illegitimate. This is confirmed by letter by his mother, who while a social climber and generally frivolous, is very loving to Grace and has never told her about her parentage. Colambre is heartbroken and feels he can never love a woman with such a heritage. He visits his family estate and discovers that his father's agents are oppressing the local peasantry and probably cheating his father as well. He reveals himself to the evil agents, and there is a race back to London, Colambre trying to stop his father from signing documents that would ruin some of the good peasants, the agents trying to get the papers signed. Colambre makes it back just in time to stop his father from ruining the people, and he then assists his father in paying off his debts, on condition that the Clonbrony family returns to live in Ireland. The final section concerns Colambre's love for Grace and how it is discovered that she is both legitimate and an heiress. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For topics with a similar name, see Absentee disambiguation. The Absentee. Maria Edgeworth. Practical Education Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Edgeworth tells us that much of it was written while Maria was suffering a misery of toothache. Laura thanks Mar68 Oct 20, AM. Oct 02, Gregg rated it really liked it. Here's a great little volume written by one of Jane Austen's contemporaries, a prolific author for whom Austen herself had much admiration. If the novel's subject matter - the social impact of absentee landlords on rural Ireland - gives you pause, then fret not. I too worried that I would not be able to follow such a specific and now forgotten social issue, but that proved not to be the case at all. Indeed, Edgeworth assumes zero knowledge on the part of the reader, weaving her subject into an Here's a great little volume written by one of Jane Austen's contemporaries, a prolific author for whom Austen herself had much admiration. Indeed, Edgeworth assumes zero knowledge on the part of the reader, weaving her subject into an engaging story line. Above all else, The Absentee is a social polemic taking on the guise of a genteel comedy. It bears many of the same charms and flaws as the work of Miss Austen herself. In order for this story to work, the characters need to be wholly one dimensional they are and countless coincidences need to take place they do. Still, if you give yourself up to it, you will find these pages moving faster than a carriage on an open roadway. The prose is delightful, the depictions of Ireland engrossing, and the social commentary dead-on. What more could a person want from a book? Feb 14, Renee M rated it really liked it. I enjoyed this very much. The main story is simple enough. Heir on the verge of inheritance travels to his native Ireland incognito and witnesses the abuse of his tenants at the hands of the steward. Since the steward is also duping his father out of funds and lands, the young man must rush home to save the day. Plus, a little romance. I felt the romance to be less successful, but the rest of the book was delightful. The opening scenes in London with his mother and the snobs of the ton were bril I enjoyed this very much. The opening scenes in London with his mother and the snobs of the ton were brilliant. And I especially loved the sections about Ireland. Aug 20, Melissa Lenhardt rated it really liked it Shelves: books , the-classics-club. I never heard of her before I saw this Penguin edition at the used book store. Plus, I liked the cover. Especially when seen years on. She skewered not only the vacuous attempts of an Anglo-Irish gentlewoman to be admitted into London society, a society that would never accept her no matter what she did, but she also lambasted the haughty, condescending, cruel and pettiness of those same society ladies. There were a few too many coincidences to be believable but, unlike real life, plots hinge on coincidental acquaintances. Part romance and part adventure, The Absentee would be an enjoyable read for any fan of Regency literature. Nov 03, Zab rated it liked it Shelves: nineteenthcenturyrocks. You have to love Maria Edgeworth! Ok, you don't have to, but I do. It's amazing how reassuring it is to know that, in addition to true love conquering all, the lovers are going to turn out to be rational beings who enjoy reading, thinking, and learning, and who avoid the temptations to gambling, living beyond their means, and bad estate management. If you love Wuthering Heights, you sure won't love The Absentee, at least not for the same reasons. May 06, Wanda rated it liked it Recommended to Wanda by: Bettie. Shelves: , bbc. Thank you. View all 3 comments. Mar 03, Abigail Rieley rated it liked it. I read The Absentee as research so I'm not really in a position to comment on how the book ranks as entertainment. That said, I enjoyed this tale of absentee landlords, unscrupulous agents, scurrilous businessmen, stained reputations and rather improbable coincidences. This is an honestly political book and Maria Edgeworth makes her views of absenteeism absolutely plain. It is a landlord's duty, she suggests, to guide their simple tenants to a virtuous and industrious existence and not to beggar I read The Absentee as research so I'm not really in a position to comment on how the book ranks as entertainment. It is a landlord's duty, she suggests, to guide their simple tenants to a virtuous and industrious existence and not to beggar their land by extravagant living away from home. It's a thesis that's hard to argue with and there's no doubt that Edgeworth herself practised what she preached but sometimes the broad strokes of her argument are a little hard to take. Her descriptions of the excesses of the Anglo Irish community read uncomfortably close to the similarly extravagant behaviour of the Celtic Tiger years. It's depressing to realise that in some ways not a lot has changed in two hundred years. Edgeworth writes from within her class. She was one of the ascendancy class herself and stops far short of encouraging anything approaching a revolution. The best way forward in her opinion is for landlords to tend their estates responsibly and through example to inspire their faithful tenants. It's not an argument that sits well with modern independent Ireland but her portrait of Ireland and the Irish is undoubtedly affectionate and she has obviously observed her subject well. With her earlier book Castle Rackrent, she is credited with inventing the regional novel and is known to have influenced writers as diverse as Walter Scott, Ivan Turgenev and Jane Austen. She was certainly one of the earliest writers to employ social realism and for the most part writes an unsentimental account of life in early 19th century Ireland. The only sour note in the book is the character of Mordecai the coach maker. He's painted as a scheming, avaricious jew and this sparkling piece of anti-Semitism was rightly picked up soon after the book's publication. Edgeworth received a letter from an American Jewish woman Rachel Mordecai complaining about her depiction of a Jewish character. In fairness, Edgeworth was so struck by their correspondence that she wrote the novel Harrington as an apology to the Jewish community. But that knowledge doesn't help much when reading The Absentee. All in all The Absentee is a good read but it's worth a look just for the historical perspective. Apr 11, Jimmy Burns rated it really liked it. Edgeworth was known as 'The Voice of Ireland' and this book was an attempt to bring the plight of ordinary Irish people to a wider audience. The title refers to the role played by largely English landowners in Ireland who were ready to take their income from their privileged position and leave the running of their estates in the hands of unscrupulous managers. The novel takes the form of the son of an absentee landord undertaking an odyssey through his native country and finding for himself the a Edgeworth was known as 'The Voice of Ireland' and this book was an attempt to bring the plight of ordinary Irish people to a wider audience. The novel takes the form of the son of an absentee landord undertaking an odyssey through his native country and finding for himself the abhorent ways of the grasping land agents. Edgeworth was a contemporary of Jane Austen and equally well known but she wrote with a social conscience and an empathy for the downtrodden. There is a convoluted sub theme of loves lost and found that provides the novel with a happy and contented ending. At times the dialogue is obtuse and gets in the way of the storyline and it would come as no surprise to the reader that the book began life as a drama intended to be performed on the stage. At times the 'good' characters are too 'good' and the 'bad' characters too 'bad' and Edgeworth's attempts to display the native brogue can be excruciatingly painful.
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