The Clever Woman of the Family

This is a Boundary Bay Classics edition of the classic novel The Clever Woman of the Family by Charlotte M. Yonge. Published in 1865, it follows Rachel Curtis, an intelligent, restless young Victorian woman determined to find some serious purpose beyond the narrow domestic sphere expected of her. Her ambitious schemes for self-improvement and charitable usefulness draw her into an entanglement with a smooth-talking philanthropist whose intentions are far from what they seem, while a quieter, truer heroism unfolds among the more conventional members of her family and circle. Combining social comedy with earnest moral and religious reflection, the novel is regarded as one of Yonge’s most enduring examinations of ambition, humility, and a woman’s proper sphere in Victorian England.