Jaen

The story of Jaen (set in the English countryside in the 1700s) and various other people in her life is engaging and informative about the times. Surprisingly there are many issues that face contemporary women. For example, how to keep from getting pregnant. Jaen is forced into a marriage by getting pregnant accidentally. She must move from all that is familiar to a household full of strangers and leave her beloved sister and mother behind at a young age. She does not love her husband. She keeps getting pregnant, and having children, but she doesn't feel a lot of love for them. Her husband is abusive and gives her no credit for a brain, and she soon acquires a habit of losing herself in dreaminess, probably as an escape. The story goes on to portray how other female characters in the family clash with the social order of the time and come to terms with it. The book offers great comparison points for girls today, who may have a negative view of what is available to them. If they'd been born a hundred or more years before, it could have been far worse in many respects. It's not a tragic drama like a Thomas Hardy novel, but I thought it was a worthwhile read. I wasn't bored, and the characters were interesting. They all got a bit of attention, a bit of fleshing out from the writer, and they were all capable of surprising (not predictable). The story would make a great TV mini-series.