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Aunt Rachel rightly became one of David Christie Murray's most popular works when it appeared in 1886. It's the story of two love affairs. The young Reuben Gold and Ruth Fuller face no great obstacles in their romance, but for Reuben's uncle Ezra and his one-time sweetheart Rachel Blythe the path to a happy ending is more tortuous. Years ago, it seems, Ezra's diffidence had led to the break-up of their courtship.
Even when he seemed to ha' made up what mind he'd got he'd goo and fiddle to the wench instead o' courtin' her like a Christian, or sometimes the wench 'ud mek a visit to his mother, and then he'd fiddle to her at hum. He made eyes at her for all the parish to see, and the young woman waited most tynacious. But when her had been fiddled at for three or four 'ear, her begun to see as her was under no sort o' peril o' losin' her maiden name with Ezra. So her walked theer an' then--made up her mind, an' walked at once--went into some foreign part of the country to see if her couldn't find somebody theer as'd fancy a nice-lookin' wench, and tek less time to find out what he'd took a likin' for.While the overall tone of the novel is light, there is real pathos in the depiction of the misunderstanding which has led to so many years of loneliness and sadness for them both.
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Aunt Rachel opens with a group of rustic musicians, swapping badinage and insults. Among them is a gifted young man, and among their audience is a pretty young girl. A charming and prestigious rival, an eccentric lord of the manor, and a comic rustic, and the echoes of Thomas Hardy become striking. Like Hardy, David Christie Murray is able to switch effortlessly from comedy to romance, and from sturdy humour to pathos. Ezra's realisation of the misunderstanding that had led to his estrangement from Rachel is poignant and realistic.
"Thank you, lad, thank you." He stooped as if in the act of sitting down, and Reuben, passing an arm about his waist, led him to an arm-chair. "Thank you, lad," he said again. An eight-day clock ticked in a neighbouring room. "That was how it came to pass," said the old man, in a voice so strangely commonplace that Reuben started at it. "Ah! That was how it came to pass." He was silent again for two or three minutes and the clock ticked on. "That was how it came to pass," he said again. With great deliberation he set his hands together, finger by finger, in the shape of a wedge, and then pushing them between his knees bent his head above them, and seemed to stare at the dim pattern of the carpet. He was silent for a long time now, and sat as still as if he were carved in stone.Ezra Gold and Aunt Rachel are not idealised, but portrayed as flawed and ultimately responsible for their own sad situation. And even when their twenty-five year misunderstanding is finally resolved, it's not immediately clear whether there will be a happy ending.
Page created 10 December 2002 and last
updated 10 December 2002
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