The Poor Clare

The Poor Clare

By

4.5
(2 Reviews)
The Poor Clare by Elizabeth Gaskell

Published:

1856

Pages:

54

Downloads:

1,070

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The Poor Clare

By

4.5
(2 Reviews)

Book Excerpt

dead; and Bridget's heart was gnawed by anxiety, and she knew not whom to ask for news of her child. She could not write, and fine Squire had managed her communication with her daughter. She walked off to Hurst; and got a good priest there - one whom she had known at Antwerp - to write for her. But no answer came. It was like crying into the awful stainless of night.

One day, Bridget was missed by those neighbours who had been accustomed to mark her goings-out and comings-in. She had never been sociable with any of them; but the sight of her had become a part of their daily lives, and slow wonder arose in their minds, as morning after morning came, and her house-door remained closed, her window dead from any glitter, or light of fire within. At length, some one tried the door; it was locked. Two or three laid their heads together, before daring to look in through the blank unshuttered window. But, at last, they summoned tip courage, and then saw that Bridget's absence from their little world was not th

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A dark, gothic story about what follows when a well-to-do man purposely kills the dog that is all a poor old woman has of her daughter's memory: She calls down curses on him that visit an evil phantom on the next generation. Very well done, but not pleasant reading.
A beautiful story illustrating that your curse returns to you three times.
In the late 1700s, a lawyer is hired to find the heir to an Irish estate. He meets a variety of pleasant and fearful people, comes up against superstition, religious conflicts, wars and poverty only to keep finding dead ends. He meets an odd girl who is good and kind, but who has a demonic and ghostly twin that haunts her.
The lawyer's backstory, which opens the piece could have been shorter, but the plotting is twisting and absorbing, the characters real and distinct, and the descriptions are sharp.
Recommended to anyone who likes good writing.