Crossriggs (Virago Modern Classics)

Unhappily momentarily out of print, _Crossriggs_ is all kinds of a pleasant surprise. It reads as though you took Austen and crossed it with Louisa May Alcott and threw in a dash of Barbara Pym. This is the story of the Hope girls-- Alexandra, who lives as an old-maid-in-waiting with her eccentric vegetarian father and Mathilda, who moves home to England with her children after being widowed in Canada. Alex is a clever, attractive, independent woman who does what she has to do for other people, and who in the end is forced to figure out what she wants for herself. This was, as the book cover notes, the "New Woman" of the 1890s, somebody whose redemption can come from something besides relationships. Alex is so real, so full of humor, she would be challenging even for an audience of today. I really loved it, and warmly recommend it. Skip the pedantic introduction if you buy the Virago edition.