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(More customer reviews)Set in 1910 Massachusetts, a 20-year-old schoolteacher comes to a picturesque New England town to begin her teaching career. Behavior is strictly proscribed, indicative of the moral constraints of the time. Eleanor Gray takes up residence in Alice Harrison's boarding house, peopled with eclectic, proper individuals, warmly welcomed by her fellow boarders.
Accidentally overhearing a heated discussion between a male and a female outside her door, Eleanor crosses to the window, where she observes a young woman leaving the house. Eleanor is struck by the presence and beauty, the corn-silk hair and translucent skin of Evangeline Sewell, a ward of the town for many years; it is whispered that Evangeline is pregnant.
With the typical unrestrained romanticism of the era, Evangeline is constantly in Eleanor's thoughts, as she builds Evangeline's plight into mythic proportions. As a teacher, Gray feels that she "has a moral right to project herself into situations where other persons might be loathe to go." Characteristic of the post-Victorian era and her own obscure reasoning, Eleanor develops an obsession with all things concerning Evangeline, writing to the girl to offer her friendship and unconditional support.
When Evangeline dramatically returns to the town, her intentions are unclear, but Gray has become an ardent supporter. The schoolteacher has a number of friends in the town, all of them supportive, particularly the men. When there is a conflict between Gray's "love" for the sixteen-year-old Evangeline and her standing as a schoolteacher and accepted member of the community, Eleanor makes her choice based purely on an excess of emotion and romanticized notions, regardless of the consequences.
Technically precise, Kennedy's writing is as pristine as the New England countryside, replete with the grandeur of nature. Gray's unfettered imagination is not unusual for the times; in fact, Eleanor Gray is the ideal, a young spinster with an overactive sense of duty and a tendency to stick her nose in someone else's business.
There is some suggestion of awakening sexuality and confusion in Gray's runaway feelings for Evangeline, yet the issue is not really addressed. Eleanor's impetuous nature and lack of self-control do not make for an endearing character. The impulsive plunge into Evangeline's affairs is ridiculous, as is the immediate adulation of everyone in the boarding house, so awed by the erudition of a twenty-year-old. The pastoral beauty of the country and the elegant construction of the novel are impressive; I acknowledge the author's skill, but the lack of passion hinders my appreciation of the book. Luan Gaines/2004.
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In a triumphant return, a critically acclaimed novelist offers a beautifully written coming-of-age story set in rural Massachusetts in 1910.
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