Mary Barton

"Giving voice to the suffering that from time to time befalls these mute people" and attempting to reconcile their interests with those of haughty patrons was the purpose of her first novel, Mary Barton (1848). "I want a job, it's my right," cries one of its protagonists: in this atmosphere of social tension, aggravated by poverty and unemployment, the adventure of a girl who flirts with the handsome son of the employer and despises the suitor is inscribed -an old childhood playmate, honest and intelligent- who would give his life for her. A plot full of extreme situations, a cultivated and punctilious writing and some characters described with sympathy and vigor enhance the value of this novel.