Condition: Acceptable: Signs of wear and consistent use. Very age toned. Front freepaper page is brittle/cracking and broken off. Previous owner's name inside front cover. See images for the condition of this book. Undated circa 1888. Sterling edition brown.
Blurb: "1888 novel about a clergyman's doubts. Robert is a boyishly likeable people person with an intellectual side. The beginning section is about Robert trying to get married to Catherine, an ascetically beautiful oldest sister who's a little too rigidly good for anyone's peace of mind. The battle Robert and Catherine's family have is to persuade Catherine she doesn't need to sacrifice herself to look after her family. Catherine's younger sister Rose is musical and rebellious and really quite anxious to get Catherine out the door. Ward is quite good at presenting both sisters sympathetically.
Fascinating portrayal of the high and low church issues in 19th century England, the way science was challenging belief, and the different ways that people of faith responded: some by denial of science, some by attempts to move from a literal interpretation of the Bible to something still spiritual. I was not aware of the role that German linguistics research early in the century and then geological research had already played in breaking the science-vs-literal-Bible issue wide open before Darwin published his research (don't worry--there isn't any actual linguistics or geology discussion in the novel).'