Hester (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Oliphant, Margaret

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199555494 ISBN 13: 9780199555499

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Hester tells the story of the aging but powerful Catherine Vernon, and her conflict with the young and determined Hester, whose growing attachment to Edward, Catherine's favorite, spells disaster for all concerned.
Catherine Vernon, jilted in her youth, has risen to power in a man's world as head of the family bank. She thinks she sees through everyone and rules over a family of dependents with knowing cynicism. But there are two people in Redborough who resist her. One is Hester, a young relation with a personality as strong as Catherine's, and as determined to find a role for herself. The other is Edward, who Catherine treats like a son. Conflict between the young and the old is inevitable, and in its depiction of the complex relationships that develop between the three principal characters, Hester is a masterpiece of psychological realism. In exploring the difficulty of understanding human nature, it is also a compulsive story of financial and sexual risk-taking that inevitably results in a searing climax. Margaret Oliphant is one of the great Victorian novelists, and this edition re-establishes her importance.

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About this title

About the Author

Philip Davis is Professor of English. Brian Nellist is Senior Honorary Fellow in the English Department. Both are at the University of Liverpool.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199555494
• ISBN 13: 9780199555499
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512
• Editor: Davis Philip, Nellist Brian