The Story of Bessie Costrell

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About this book

In the village of Clinton Magna, an ageing labourer weighs what to do with the savings that promise him comfort after a lifetime of work. John Bolderfield is fond of his niece Bessie Costrell and her religious husband, Isaac, but his dying sister-in-law warns him against leaving his money with Bessie. Mrs. Humphry Ward places this family tension among cottages, allotment gardens and fields beneath a chalk hill, where neighbours take a close interest in one another's affairs.

The story moves through numbered scenes, combining rural speech with close attention to private fears. Later, Bessie faces guilty memories and anxiety as Isaac promises to help her and announces John's return. Money, trust and domestic strain shape this short novel's human concerns. Readers interested in British village life will find a story attentive to the distance between public confidence and hidden distress.

About the author

Mrs. Humphry Ward

Mary Augusta Ward (1851–1920), who published as Mrs. Humphry Ward, was a British novelist and social reformer born in Hobart, Tasmania, into the distinguished Arnold family: she was a granddaughter of Thomas Arnold of Rugby and a niece of the poet Matthew Arnold.