I saw a BBC moive titled, The Making of a Lady, which was just awesome! Then I discovered that it was based on a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett the author of The Little Princess and The Secret Garden, two of my favorite childhood books. So, I immediately found it on Amazon, downloaded it in one click and started reading.
The story was different, of course, from the movie. Really the movie had the bones of the plot, but mixed it around a great deal. I liked both for different reasons. The novel was rich with characterization and the mood and feeling of the time. The movie was thrillingly romantic.
Emily Fox-Seaton is a penniless gentlewoman making her way in the world by doing odds and ends service jobs for the fine ladies of London. Emily is just too good and the Lady Maria, an employer, invites her to the country where she unknowing draws the attention of Lady Maria's cousin, the Marquis of Walderhurst. Soon, she finds herself married to him and growing to love him before he is whisked off to do his duty in India. Unfortunately, that leaves her exposed to the machinations of the man who would inherit the Marquis' wealth and name should he die without an heir.
I was annoyed, at times, with Emily. She was too good, all the time, but then like the other characters in the novel, I grew to love her, her kindness, her innocence, and her beauty. In the movie she never seemed to grow, to become the lady of the title, but in the novel her goodness enriches her love, which in turn enriches her.
If you love classics like Rebecca by Dauphne du Maurier and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, you will so enjoy Emily, the Marchioness of Walderhurst.
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