Discipline

Ellen Percy looks back on a childhood in which affection and praise encouraged her to expect every wish to be granted. Her mother gives way to tears and caprice, while her prosperous father links happiness with money and leisure. Mary Brunton tells this British novel through Ellen's own account, allowing the narrator to question the vanity that may survive even an apparently honest confession. Family habits and small acts of indulgence become the starting point for a story about character and conscience.

Later, Miss Mortimer encourages Ellen to study, read widely and take part in charitable work. Ellen makes small articles to help meet her needs, yet remains troubled by pride about dependence and earning a living. Her heated religious discussions with Sidney show how conviction can outrun patience. Readers interested in moral fiction will find a close examination of education, friendship and Christian conduct, with change measured through everyday choices and the narrator's scrutiny of her motives.