Kirsteen: The Story of a Scotch Family Seventy Years Ago

Kirsteen is the tale of a young woman from an old but impoverished Argyllshire family who escapes her domineering father and seeks her independence. Kirsteen’s options appear to be unpaid drudgery at home, or a loveless marriage. Rejecting both, she escapes to London where she makes a living through her own innate craft and skill. Though scorned by her family for choosing to work as a mantua-maker, Kirsteen becomes highly successful in the life she carves out for herself. Kirsteen is a startlingly modern novel whose powerful voice, narrative drive and ironic exposure of injustice and hypocrisy provide a fascinating perspective on women in Victorian society. First published in 1890, and written by Queen Victoria’s favourite novelist Margaret Oliphant, Kirsteen is a deep, rich novel by an author at the height of her powers.