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Ellen Melville is a beautiful suffragette who, at seventeen, wants passionately to experience all that life can give her. From her abandoned, impoverished mother she inherits only a capacity for love and this she freely gives when she meets Richard Yaverland, charming, experienced, a man of the world. But Richard is the illegitamate son of a powerful and frustrated woman. Marion Yaverland uses her own betrayal by Richard's father to imprison her son, creating a murderous bond which destroys everything it touches. The strugges of Ellen and Richard to survive the sins of their fathers takes its inevitable course: giving freely to her passionate lover, Ellen commences a re-enactment of all that has gone before.
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LibraryThing member lauralkeet
This novel is primarily the story of two strong women. Ellen Melville is 17 years old, working as a typist in an Edinburgh legal office by day and participating in suffragist meetings and demonstrations nights and weekends. She is outspoken and confident, and naive enough to be surprised by hostile
The first half of this book is Ellen's story; the second half belongs to Marion. Richard and his mother are extremely close -- in fact, their relationship borders on the unhealthy. Marion has strong, mixed emotions about Richard and Ellen's relationship. She professes to love Ellen almost at first sight, and yet inwardly wrestles with the impact that marriage will have on Marion's relationship with her son. Just as I was asking myself, "What is this woman's problem?", Marion's "back story" was revealed in the form of one long, sleepless night filled with memories going back to Marion's youth. She had been in love with Harry, a young squire, who left for military service. Then Marion learned she was pregnant. She was subject to public shame, including an incident in which she was stoned by townspeople. For her own safety she entered into marriage with a man who offered her security and didn't even require that they live together. Marion doted on the illegitimate Richard, and found herself completely unable to love a second child borne of her marriage. As the two children came of age they were treated quite differently, and this had serious consequences when they reached adulthood. As Marion herself said, "Every mother is a judge who sentences the children for the sins of the father." (p.346)
Rebecca West was a pioneer in feminist literature who knew from personal experience what it meant to be an outspoken, strong woman. Published in 1922, The Judge portrays two such women and shows how society failed each of them. However, while the book is well-written, the prose is dense and requires concentration. The ending is abrupt and felt somewhat contrived. I would not consider this West's best work, but for those who would like to read more early 20th century novels written by women,it's worth a try.
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crowds during demonstrations. She is also completely unaware of her effect on the opposite sex. The men in the office treat her as an object, except for Richard Yaverland, a client of the firm. Richard is much older than Ellen, and more worldly, but also more liberal in his political views. When Ellen and Richard decide to marry, they journey to the south of England to meet Richard's mother, Marion. The first half of this book is Ellen's story; the second half belongs to Marion. Richard and his mother are extremely close -- in fact, their relationship borders on the unhealthy. Marion has strong, mixed emotions about Richard and Ellen's relationship. She professes to love Ellen almost at first sight, and yet inwardly wrestles with the impact that marriage will have on Marion's relationship with her son. Just as I was asking myself, "What is this woman's problem?", Marion's "back story" was revealed in the form of one long, sleepless night filled with memories going back to Marion's youth. She had been in love with Harry, a young squire, who left for military service. Then Marion learned she was pregnant. She was subject to public shame, including an incident in which she was stoned by townspeople. For her own safety she entered into marriage with a man who offered her security and didn't even require that they live together. Marion doted on the illegitimate Richard, and found herself completely unable to love a second child borne of her marriage. As the two children came of age they were treated quite differently, and this had serious consequences when they reached adulthood. As Marion herself said, "Every mother is a judge who sentences the children for the sins of the father." (p.346)
Rebecca West was a pioneer in feminist literature who knew from personal experience what it meant to be an outspoken, strong woman. Published in 1922, The Judge portrays two such women and shows how society failed each of them. However, while the book is well-written, the prose is dense and requires concentration. The ending is abrupt and felt somewhat contrived. I would not consider this West's best work, but for those who would like to read more early 20th century novels written by women,it's worth a try.
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LibraryThing member GarySeverance
Rebecca West’s novel The Judge (1922) shows her progress as a writer of fiction four years after the publication of her first novel The Return of the Soldier (see my review on Amazon). Intricate character development and engaging descriptions of the Scot and English environments are presented in
The Judge, a much longer novel, is evenly paced though the story is limited in action and scope. The tale of a poor young girl’s fascination with the beauty of life and her domination by an older more experienced and economically set man is simple and direct. The entanglements of Richard’s past begin to restrict Ellen’s emotional and physical freedom. The Yaverland family history entangles the intelligent young girl and forces her to endure the seamier borders of her fate. The story becomes complex as West tightens the psychological noose on Ellen. Using retrospective descriptions Richard’s mother Marion and her persecution by people in a small British sea town West structures the characters’ future and pushes them toward an inevitable outcome.
If you like a tightly structured story, psychologically intimate character portraits, and poetically detailed descriptions of settings, you will enjoy reading The Judge. While reading you can consider the power of people, related by family or sharing a community, to judge each other and administer sentences for the perception of sins committed against them.
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both novels. The psychological tension and interweaving of the landscapes guiding the story are more evident in West’s second novel producing a work that is more coherent and interesting.The Judge, a much longer novel, is evenly paced though the story is limited in action and scope. The tale of a poor young girl’s fascination with the beauty of life and her domination by an older more experienced and economically set man is simple and direct. The entanglements of Richard’s past begin to restrict Ellen’s emotional and physical freedom. The Yaverland family history entangles the intelligent young girl and forces her to endure the seamier borders of her fate. The story becomes complex as West tightens the psychological noose on Ellen. Using retrospective descriptions Richard’s mother Marion and her persecution by people in a small British sea town West structures the characters’ future and pushes them toward an inevitable outcome.
If you like a tightly structured story, psychologically intimate character portraits, and poetically detailed descriptions of settings, you will enjoy reading The Judge. While reading you can consider the power of people, related by family or sharing a community, to judge each other and administer sentences for the perception of sins committed against them.
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LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
This is an excellent study of Marion, whom some would say was a bad mother, but she was very complex. West gives many reasons for her acting and thinking as she does. No one was harder on her than herself. She tries repeatedly to overcome feelings that it seems unfortunately reasonable for her to
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have. Her failing, and that of Ellen the youngest character, was that they were mired in romantic thinking (and the restrictions of a sexually repressive society). Everything that didn't exemplify perfect love was second rate. Rebecca West keeps having Richard, the Greek god love interest, say how intellectual the Scots are, and Ellen certainly got the most pleasure in life from thought and fantasy. She also, at the age of 17, 18, 19 didn't know what sex was - not that she hadn't experienced it, but that she didn't know how babies were made, thinking it might involve some kind of tender kiss. Kind of a strange concept. Marion, on the other hand, was very sensual, in fact too sensual when she lost the love of her life and had to devote herself to loving only her son. Who was The Judge? Everyone, including the reader. This is a great psychological and sociological study that I'm glad I read. All the characters grab the reader's attention, and when she wants to depict a person as repulsive, she does a fine enough job to make anyone reject the poor lad, and feel sorry for him while doing it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kasthu
The Judge is set in 1910s Edinburgh and focuses on the love story between a young typist and suffragette, Ellen; and Richard Yaverland, a charming explorer who has literally been all over the world. Their relationship is overshadowed by the relationship between Richard’s mother and father,
Sigh. No matter how hard I try, I just seem to strike out with Rebecca West’s novels. I wasn’t a big fan of Harriet Hume, and I didn’t particularly like The Judge, either. I think it has something to do with West’s manner of exposition; she doesn’t focus on plot, so that all of the action tends to take place in her characters’ heads. She also has this fantastical ability to know exactly what each of her characters is thinking or feeling, which makes for stilted, ponderous reading and overblown prose. Even the nature of her characters’ thoughts is confusing; they all have the ability to jump all over the place when introspecting.
I know that other people love Rebecca West’s novels for their depth and complexity, but I just didn’t like any of the characters all that much, to the point where there were many places where I wanted to give up on reading this book. As it was, it was slow going.
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creating an intricate tale about what happens when the past starts to catch up and interfere with the present.Sigh. No matter how hard I try, I just seem to strike out with Rebecca West’s novels. I wasn’t a big fan of Harriet Hume, and I didn’t particularly like The Judge, either. I think it has something to do with West’s manner of exposition; she doesn’t focus on plot, so that all of the action tends to take place in her characters’ heads. She also has this fantastical ability to know exactly what each of her characters is thinking or feeling, which makes for stilted, ponderous reading and overblown prose. Even the nature of her characters’ thoughts is confusing; they all have the ability to jump all over the place when introspecting.
I know that other people love Rebecca West’s novels for their depth and complexity, but I just didn’t like any of the characters all that much, to the point where there were many places where I wanted to give up on reading this book. As it was, it was slow going.
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LibraryThing member mahallett
depressing story. started as a love story, turned into can i live with my husband and his mother, ended up with murder and everyone's life, except perhaps ellen's is over. it was wordy too, but i never wanted to stop reading.
LibraryThing member eowynfaramir
Like many people, I was shocked by the transition from Book 1 to Book 2 of this novel. However, since I read an interesting scholarly journal article on this novel in the journal "English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920," the two pieces fall more into place in their relationship to each other.
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The article is titled "The Judge Reexamined: Rebecca West's Underrated Gothic Romance," by Philip E. Ray, who was at that time at Connecticut College. The article is in Volume 31, Number 3, Year 1988, pp. 297-307 of the journal. Ray argues very convincingly that, though there are some problems with the novel, it is not the disaster that some critics have claimed it to be; it simply needs to looked at through the proper lens. Ray shows that The Judge has the qualities of a Gothic novel. With that said, the transition from Book 1 to Book 2 is still too abrupt, in my opinion. Overall, I'm glad I discovered this novel--it is brilliant but bizarre at times. Show Less
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Original publication date
1922