The Father and Daughter with Dangers of Coquetry, and: The Old Manor House (review)

REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS307 Amelia Opie. The Father and Daughter with Dangers of Coquetry, ed. Shelley King and John B. Pierce. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2003. 377pp. US15.95;CDN18.95;UK8.99. ISBN 1-55111-187-X. Charlotte Smith. The Old Manor House, ed. Jacqueline M. Labbe. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2002. 587pp. US15.95;CDN18.95; UK8.99. ISBN 1-55111-213-2. Broadview Press should be commended for its production of affordable paperback editions of earlier literary works. While other presses have also published books by Charlotte Smith (1749-1806) and Amelia Opie (1769-1853), die two texts under review are fine additions to die list of dieir works available for use in the classroom. Jacqueline M. Labbe's edition of TL· Old Manor House follows die conventional Broadview format ofan introduction, die text of die novel, and dien a selection ofbackground materials in an appendix. The bibliography could have been longer to include, for instance, the pioneering books on Smith by Florence Hilbish (1941) and Carroll Lee Fry (1980), and die letters of William Cowper (rather than citing him secondhand). While Labbe's introduction perhaps focuses too much on her own view of the romance elements in the novel, and some of her footnotes continue this emphasis (see 187), she provides a valuable context for reading diis important novel. Smith often used a character's name for the titles of her fiction (such as Emmeline and Desmond, which are also available in Broadview editions) , but die tide TAe OldManorHouserefers to a place, Rayland Hall. The wonders of die house, its grounds, its various rooms, and, indeed, its Gotiiic hallways and enclosures are presented against a harsh background of troublesome new neighbours and family conflicts regarding die hereditary line. Its owners are three spinster sisters, only one ofwhom is alive when the storyactually begins. The noble Mrs Rayland is satirized for herpride and her stubbornness, butshe is not a cardboard character. Anna Laetitia Barbauld diought of her as die most interesting person in the book (18), and Sir Walter Scott admiringly compared her to Queen Elizabeth in her grasping of all to which she was entided (531). Her companion and housekeeper Mrs Lennard (who is later fooled into a marriage with die avaricious Roker) also produces some surprises, and Smidi's portrayal of the two "old ladies" (314), as diey are often called, resists readers' expectations. In die younger generation, die preferred heir Orlando falls in love widi die teautiful and gende Monimia, the housekeeper's niece, and, as Labbe points out, Smith refuses the temptation to make Monimia an heiress in disguise (48). TL· Old ManorHouse is noteworthy for its explicit social critique, dealing with the problems of gambling, patronage, and poverty. When Orlando 308 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION17:2 actually travels to North America to fight for the British in the American War ofIndependence, Smith paints die ravages ofwar in a way that draws attention to die terrible conditions soldiers had to endure. Orlando's encounters with die North American Indians reveal both the brutality of their own practices ofwar and die example ofhumanity in the case ofone Native leader who helps Orlando. Later, Orlando often finds assistance in unlikelyplaces: a French captain, die young clerk Dawson, and die crippled soldier. In many ways, TL· Old Manor House is about goodness and where one can find it. Orlando demonstrates goodness in his own behaviour, andyetlife is often hard for him: die story resembles a parable at times. Reviewers were surprised that the plotting Mrs Lennard was actually brought into the old manor house at die end (528). It might have been more seemly to settle her in a cottage somewhere. But Mrs Lennard repented, she was forgiven, and Smith gave her a place in the near-heavenly mansion ofa restored Rayland Hall. Like Smidi, Amelia Opie was also a prolific writer, tiiough Opie's fiction was not as ambitious as Smidi's. Opie righdy defined herself as a writer of tales, not as a novel writer (262), and die Broadview edition exemplifies how powerful the shorter genre can be. Shelley King and John B. Pierce have prepared an excellent edition ofOpie's work, with a strong introduction and detailed...