Consequences: The 1919 Literary Fiction Classic

About ConsequencesConsequences is a work of literary fiction by British author E. M. Delafield, first published in 1919.‘It seemed to Alex that when she joined the mysterious ranks of grown-up-people everything would be different. She never doubted that with long dresses and piled-up hair, her whole personality would change, and the meaningless chaos of life reduce itself to some comprehensible solution.’In this poignant and sad story, E. M. Delafield explores two central themes intricately woven together in affluent Victorian households in the late nineteenth century: upper class expectations and the woman’s place in the world. Alex, the eldest daughter of a society couple is awkward, overly sensitive, and easily hurt. When she rejects an offer of marriage from her only suitor, she is convinced the single remaining option left to her is to enter a convent.But it becomes clear to Alex that the difficult, austere, religious life of a nun will never fulfil the sense of purpose and direction she seeks, and there seems no other path forward. In Consequences, Delafield recreates a vivid picture of privileged Victorian life, the nervous social buzz of a young debutante, and the fate of women of a certain class who choose not to marry.