LISE LILLYWHITE

by Margery Sharp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 1951

There's gentle irony in this story of a naive young girl, half-French, half-English, reared in the Continental tradition in France, trained for only one thing, a successful and opulent marriage. Orphaned, she is dominated by an ambitious aunt, and cushioned a bit by a retiring grandfather, whose spark of adventure seems to have burned itself out when he ran away from the stringencies of his Somerset home. The Lillywhite family showed small concern when old Charles brought his daughter and grand-daughter, Lise, back to England. Only Martin, who had glimpsed the lovely Lise, took their problems to heart. Martin was a bachelor, elusive, purse-proud, and astounded at finding himself half in love with his intensively chaperoned young cousin. But Tante Amalie found him merely useful. She wanted to be invited to Somerset. When the invitation came it was through Martin's sister, Susanna, and his charming sister-in-law Kate. Lise proved a among the county neighbors until she played ducks and drakes with the not wholly balanced Lord Mull, at which point she and her aunt were shipped back to London. A second adventure directed (by Tante Amalie) towards matrimony, found Martin seriously concerned, for the man the aunt had snared for Lise was a Polish Count of doubtful moral principles, who played up his indubitably alluring past and his prosperous present to win his suit for Lise's hand. At the grand finale, Lise took things into her own hands, threw at her suitor the whole of her hitherto unguessed repulsion for his source of affluence, and took herself out of the matrimonial market with a solution no one would have dreamed was in her mind. It is a charming tale with a surprise ending, and some subtle twists characteristically Margery Sharp. Modern- a blend of sophistication and simplicity, and while not top drawer Sharp, delightful time passing for the ladies.

Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1951

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION