'All-sufficient to one another'? Charlotte Yonge and the family chronicle

Sanders, Valerie

Abstract

Charlotte Yonge had an immature mind, an undistinguished style, and the values of a pious schoolgirl', Robert Liddell complained, as long ago as 1947. If Yonge herself ever thought of her life as 'starved' or limited, it was in the area of childhood companionship. Yonge's whole life was spent writing: not just family chronicles, but historical tales, history books for young people, and a history of Christian names. Yonge is particularly sympathetic to the dilemmas of the eldest children, who suddenly find themselves, at fifteen or sixteen, responsible for the welfare of crowds of juniors irresponsibly brought into the world by exhausted parents. Despite her emphasis on family values, the movement of these family chronicles is actually towards a splitting and scattering of families who were once crammed together in claustrophobic English houses.

Citation

Sanders, V. (2024). 'All-sufficient to one another'? Charlotte Yonge and the family chronicle. In K. Boardman, & S. Jones (Eds.), Popular Victorian Women Writers (90-110). Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526185617.00010

• Online Publication Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 90-110
• Book Title: Popular Victorian Women Writers
• Chapter Number: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526185617.00010
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5001344