Physical description

Hard cover book. Maid In Waiting
Author: John Galsworthy
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Date: 1931
Further Information: Green cloth boards, gilt/black spine with gilt lettering, authors initials emblem in gilt to front cover. William Heinemann publisher's device on the title page, Spine has a Library sticker.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on the spine with the typed text PAT FIC GAL
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library covered by a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service
Flyleaf has a stamp from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute

Summary

Maid in Waiting (1931) is the first novel in Galsworthy’s trilogy End of the Chapter, the last of the Forsyte Chronicles. It shifts from the Forsytes to their cousins, the Cherrells (the name is spelled ‘Charwell’ but pronounced ‘Cherrell’). The family’s one constant in a changing age is their ancestral home, Condaford Grange, which is especially precious to young Elizabeth (‘Dinny’) Cherrell. Her brother faces extradition to South America, falsely accused of murder, and her cousin is threatened by her mentally unstable husband. Dinny does all she can to shield them. The story begins in 1928, with Captain Ferse back from a mental institution; the question is whether he has truly recovered. Dornford is also smitten with Dinny, and a society divorce scandal shocks the family. The first chapter also deals with the death of Uncle ‘Cuffs’ Cherrell, a bishop.