Sophia and her cousin Jack have been very much on their own, after Sophia's father, Sir Edward Williams left four years earlier for Jamaica in the West Indies, where he owns a plantation. When he unexpectedly returns home to Littlecote, bringing Sophia's Aunt Amelia with him, he finds Sophia is not the lady he expected. His steward has been fired by Sophia for stealing from the estate, as well as her governess who was to teach and chaperone her. Instead he finds Sophia has been learning Latin, Greek and mathematics, all subjects that to her father's thinking won't be of use to her as a married woman. As a lady of birth and breeding he expects her to be accomplished in things that matter; embroidery, painting and dancing.
Sophia's father promptly ships Jack off to the cavalry and orders Sophia's horse sold. To punish her, Sophia's father makes her carry all her poetry books to a huge bonfire and burn them. She is forced to burn her books of Shakespeare, Pope and Dryden, and the poetry of Wycherly, and Congreve. Sophia vows to get revenge on her father for this. Because he wants to marry her off and considers her reputation ruined, and since the London season is over, Sophia's father decides to rent a house in "the Bath"; Bath England, famous for its healing waters.
On the three day trip to Bath, Sophia is forced to ride in the carriage instead of travelling on horseback. She is given a book of sermons to read on the journey. Sophia questions her Aunt Amelia's motivation for her sudden interest in her, and is told that the Bath is a city known for its refined entertainment. When they stop at the first post house, Sophia goes for a long walk up a windswept hill. As punishment for being thirty minutes late for dinner, she is made to stand and watch as her father and aunt eat dinner. Locked in their room with Aunt Amelia, Sophia waits until her aunt falls asleep and escapes through the window!
Outside, the servants and maids are very amused seeing Sophia climb down from her room.The servant who served their table at dinner brings Sophia some food. That servant is Bill Smith and he tells Sophia that his father took his sister Jenny to the Bath over a year ago and he's not heard from her since. In exchange for bringing her food, Sophia promises to find out about his sister, Jenny who has gone to Bath to find work. Bill tells Sophia that she will know his sister by the missing tip of her pinkie finger on the left hand.
The next day on their way to Bath, Sophia and her aunt and father encounter a stagecoach accident which forces them to take another route into Bath. However, just before reaching the city their stagecoach comes to a halt before a very steep hill. Sophia's father orders her and her aunt to walk down the hill while the stagecoach attempts the road. It is at this point that they are robbed by two masked highwaymen. In a remarkable co-incidence, one of the highwaymen is Bill Smith's sister, Jenny whom Sophia recognizes by the missing finger on her left hand. Sophia quietly lets Jenny know that her brother is worried about her but she doesn't respond. The next day, Sophia wonders how the robbers managed to miss her father's pocket watch and her aunt's jewelry. Aunt Amelia reveals that her father has a hidden compartment in the chaise which Sophia plans to investigate later on.
On her first walk through the town, Sophia encounters Jenny who tells her that she does not want her brother knowing that she robs coaches for a living. Back at their residence at Number 1 Trim Avenue, Sophia is forced by her father to be measured for gowns. He has subscribed to the balls at Guildhall and to Harrison's tea room. Her father also engages a dancemaster to teach Sophia, and a lady's maid named Dawes. Sophia spends her days taking dancing lessons and roaming Bath at night.
At her first dance at the upper ballroom at Guildhall, Sophia tries to make everyone dislike her so that no one will be interested in marrying her. She succeeds admirably by insulting the men who dance with her and wolfing down the meats that her aunt tells her are supposed to be for the men. When Sophia insults Mr. Wimpole, her enraged father decides it is time to leave. However, a handsome young man who heard the insult requests a dance. During this dance, Sophia and the stranger verbally duel with one another but he is determined to meet her again. They do meet again at Harrison's Assembly Rooms. On a walk in the gardens, Sophia learns that he is Mr. Charleton. Mr. Charleton asks Sophia if she reads the newspapers and is aware of the riots in London. Sophia is puzzled by this line of questions because as she tells him this doesn't concern her. She doesn't care who is king. Charleton, who also didn't get along with his father, recognizes that Sophia being beaten by her father.
After her father discovers her attempt to write her cousin Jack and Bill Smith, he cruelly punishes her. Sophia decides that she will get revenge upon him by robbing his chaise when he leaves to go to London. To achieve this, Sophia spends several nights attempting to hunt down Jenny Smith and finally is able to find her. She asks Jenny to help her rob her father's chaise, by providing her with boys clothing and a gun. However, she doesn't want Jenny involved because that will upset her brother Bill. Instead she wants Jenny to provide an accomplice. However, Sophia, with Jenny's help, barely manages to pull off the robbery.
After a successful robbery, Sophia senses that Mr. Charleton suspects what she has done. During one evening at Guildhall, Sophia is introduced to Captain Mould, an older man who she is forced to spend the evening dancing and having supper with. It is at this time that Jenny's brother, Bill Smith appears in Bath and through Mr. Allen, Sophia is able to correspond with him. Sophia's situation takes a distressing turn when the revolting Captain Mould reveals his intention to ask her father for her hand in marriage. She is completely revulsed by Mould whom she considers to be like a lizard. He tells her that their age difference will allow him to "form" her as he wishes but to Sophia this is just another form of subjugation.
Even though Mr. Charleton treats her kindly and with great deference, and often helps her, Sophia discovers that he knows about her involvement with Mrs. Oswald's "accident". After tricking Mr. Charleton into helping her purchase boy's clothing, she spends a night wandering Bath and helps Jenny to escape from a desperate situation. But when she returns to her lodging, Mr. Charleton is waiting for her on the roof! He accuses Sophia of being involved in a plot to overthrow the King. Stunned, Sophia tells him "I don't give a tinker's pot what king is on the throne! I just want to get out." Charleton explains what is happening and that there is a rebellion planned in the Bath, but despite Sophia's repeated denials, he does not believe her. Mr. Charleton's suspicions seem to be confirmed when he sees her at the mob in the Bath, not realizing that this was just a coincidence.
She furthers his suspicions when she agrees to help Jenny commit another robbery in exchange for her replacing the boy's clothing that Mr. Charleton has taken from Sophia's rooftop hiding place. Jenny doesn't know who is paying for the robbery but they have offered her five guineas to get the man's papers. When the two girls hold up the curricle, Sophia discovers that they are robbing Mr. Charleton. During the robbery he recognizes Sophia and offers her money but asks that she not take the papers. Sophia doesn't listen and she and Jenny escape, again just barely.
As the season is coming to an end in Bath and her father has received no offers of marriage, Sophia finds herself threatened by her father. He tells her he will sell her if he has to, in order to rid himself of his unmarriageable daughter. At the ball at Guildhall, Mr. Charleton reveals to Sophia that he knows it was she who held up his curricle and stole his papers. He tells her she has become involved in something that could very well involve the security of England. Mr. Charleton also questions Sophia about the notes her Aunt Amelia is passing on. This piques Sophia's interest because she has noticed her aunt passing notes to Captain Mould. She becomes determined to secure one of the notes to give to Mr. Charleton. Sophia is able to steal the note given to Captain Mould by her Aunt Amelia and she is also able to locate the papers they stole from Mr. Charleton and arranges to have the note and papers given to Mr. Charleton.
On the day of the Masquerade Ball, Sophia is dressed in a virginal white dress with a gold mask and a gold sash. When she tells Dawes that the gold spoils the effect of the costume as Persephone, the unwilling child-bride of the underworld, Dawes tells her that she won't be wearing the sash in the morning with the gown. Sophia forces Dawes to reveal what she suspects, that she will marry in the morning. At the ball, Sophia is drawn into further intrigue when Mr. Charleton asks her to dance. Spiriting her to a more secluded spot he tells her about the plot to depose the king and asks for her help. Even though she has set things right with Mr. Charleton, saves his life, and helps him thwart the rebellion, the deepening crisis within her own family leads Sophia to flee the Bath along with Jenny. As Sophia and Jenny struggle to survive, a new and unforeseen opportunity appears once again in the form of Mr. Charleton!
Discussion
Set in 1715 around the historical event of the failed rebellion of (Catholic)Stuart supporters to reclaim the British throne from the protestant King George, The Girl in the Mask was a surprisingly entertaining read.
Set in 1715 around the historical event of the failed rebellion of (Catholic)Stuart supporters to reclaim the British throne from the protestant King George, The Girl in the Mask was a surprisingly entertaining read.
In 1707 the unification of the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kindgom of England created the Kingdom of Great Britain. A new Parliament was created that added forty-five Members of Parliament from Scotland. However, unification was unpopular in Scotland. In 1715, one year after the death of Queen Anne and the succession of George I (a German from the House of Hanover) to the English throne, an unsuccessful attempt was made to put a Catholic Stuart back on the throne. James II, a Catholic was king of England (and Ireland) until he was deposed in 1688. England, Scotland and Ireland were then ruled over by the protestant Mary II and her husband William III. In 1715 an attempt was made to place the exiled James Edward Stuart, a Catholic and the heir of James II back on the throne of England. The rebellion was led by the Earl of Mar, John Erskine and was unsuccessful. As she writes in her Historical Note, "During the summer of 1715, a larger number of supporters of the Stuart heir to the throne gathered in Bath. Many horses were stabled outside the city and large caches of weapons and gunpowder were secreted in places like Slippery Lane. However, the rebellion was defeated before it really began. largely thanks to the vigilance of Ralph Allen, postmaster at Bath...."
The novel opens a year into the reign of George I and there are riots in London, in protest. Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch of England, has died and has been succeeded by George I (a German from the House of Hanover). Many are not happy because he is not Catholic and he is German. Sophia's father believes that a Stuart should be on the throne while her Aunt Amelia has stated that she was a supporter of Queen Anne. Sophia, as a young girl, has no interest in who is king. The division King George has created in London, is evident in Bath as well. Whenever somone arrives in Bath, the bells are rung to announce their arrival. When Sir William Wyndham, leader of those who oppose George I, arrives in Bath and the bells ring out, there is an angry outburst in the Harrison rooms. Soon the Bath sees demonstrations and violence. Eventually Sophia is told that a rebellion is being planned, starting in the west, in Bath, "to overthrow the government, depose the king and crown the pretender in his place (a reference to the exiled Catholic and rightful heir to the throne, James Edward Stuart who is in France). It is eventually revealed that Sophia's aunt has been helping Captain Mould, a leader in the rebellion. And investigating the rebellion is Mr. Chaleton, an agent working for King George I.
While the Jacobite rebellion forms the background of the novel, the story focuses on the rebellion of a young girl against the expectations of women in 18th century England. Sophia is an intelligent but willful and rebellious young girl who doesn't want to conform to her father's idea of womanhood. She doesn't want to learn embroidery and painting but wants to be educated. She's doesn't want to be married, but there are almost no options for women of her social class.
Her father however is determined that Sophia will follow social conventions. He has her books burned, her horse sold and sets about ensuring she meets those expectations with the use of beatings and other punishments. This sets up a contest of wills that plays out throughout the novel. Although she stands up to him, Sophia is afraid of him too. "My old fear of my father was reasserting itself. Every capitulation I made reinforced his power over me, but the violence in him brought back so many hateful, half-suppressed memories from my childhood. I could feel my resolve crumbling." "Dancing, balls, promenades, tea parties, and at the end of it a husband of my father's choosing.I could see no escape from my grim future and it seemed I didn't even have the capability to rebel."
Even Mr. Charleton, who appears to be a sympathetic friend to Sophia doesn't understand her situation. It's not immediately clear how or why he comes to believe that she's involved in the Jacobite rebellion, even when Sophia vehemently denies this. (Later it's revealed that he suspects her because of her aunt's association with Captain Mould.) It's quite clear that as a man he just doesn't understand her situation. When Mr. Charleton threatens to take back her boy's clothing Sophia tells him "Please, you don't understand, you have no idea!...My life is unendurable. What do I care about politics? How can they matter to me compared to the life I'm condemned to lead? I'm confined and hemmed in, allowed to exercise neither my mind nor my body. I would go insane without some escape. That is all I have!" However, Mr. Charleton, like all the men in Sophia's life, doesn't believe she is "confined" or even restricted. He counters that she is able to go to balls, the baths and the tea room. What more could she want?!! But Sophia tells him that this is really just an illusion of freedom: "No books except for religious ones, no learning at all...Dawdling along in a ridiculous gown at my aunt's side, exchanging nothings with people I don't care about. Waiting to be married to an old man like Captain Mould who will be as bad as my father. Being told what to do, even what to think!... To never be allowed more? To have no hope?" Sophia wants a more meaningful life than what she is being given.
Determined to rebel and even punish her father, Sophia decides to rob his chaise. This development in the story really does stretche credibility. Robbing a chaise or stagecoach was considered so serious a crime that the penalty in England was death by hanging. If Sophia were to be caught, this would be her fate, something she would have known. Yet she only seems to consider herself a criminal if she helps Jenny rob. "It was bad enough that I'd robbed my own father. But at least there was some justification in my own mind for what I'd done. To betray the movements of strangers to a couple of highwaymen was quite another thing. That would make me a criminal." Nevertheless, Sophia continues to rob coaches, robbing Mr. Oswald and then Mr. Charleton. Credibility is stretched even further when, near the end of the novel, Sophia and Jenny who have been robbing coaches with impunity to stave off starvation, attempt unsuccessfully to rob Mr. Charleton's chaise again.
Sophia's intelligence and resourcefulness comes into play when she agrees to help Mr. Charleton. She is able to steal several notes that have been passed to Captain Mould and her Aunt Amelia, and she rescues Mr. Charleton from certain death when he is locked in the basement of the Guildhall. Believing she is unable to outwit her father, she decides to flee with Jenny rather than risk being forced to marry Captain Mould.
Marie-Louise Jensen has crafted interesting and different characters: the unconventional heroine, Sophia Williams, the indifferent and calculating Aunt Amelia, the brutish Sir Edward - Sophia's abusive father, the unscrupulous Captain Mould, and the handsome, chivalrous Mr. Charleton.
Some of the situations in the novel feel contrived, for example, when Sophia happens to have her coach robbed by Jenny Smith the girl she's just promised to watch for, or when Mr. Charleton and Ralph Allen suddenly appear repeatedly to save Sophia from a desperate situation. While the author ties up all the loose ends quickly and neatly, this too feels contrived: Captain Mould escapes to the continent, Aunt Amelia vanishes, and Sophia's father is killed in a duel, while Sophia and Jenny become spies working with Mr. Charleton.
Nevertheless, fans of historical fiction will enjoy The Girl in the Mask, with its spirited heroine and touch of adventure and romance.
Book Details:
The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen
Oxford University Press
311 pp.
The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen
Oxford University Press
311 pp.
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