(1866) is the third, and arguably most popular, novel of Margaret Oliphant’s Carlingford series. It recounts how Lucilla Marjoribanks -- returned to her widowed father from school -- sets out to revolutionize fashionable society in the provincial town of Carlingford by means of her Thursday Evenings (dress code: white frocks, high), and ends ten years later with her marriage to her cousin Tom.
The novel has been read as a comment on women’s lives, careers and work by critics such as Elisabeth Jay, Linda Peterson and Andrea Kaston Tange: Lucilla thrives on banal conventionalities and excels at performing femininity while getting her way. Her Thursday Evenings, comfortable dinners, and the refurnishing of the drawing room are all in pursuit of her stated goal in life,
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Citation: Reus, Anne. "Miss Marjoribanks". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 May 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33565, accessed 23 April 2024.]
