Red Pottage

Book excerpt: Red Pottage (1899) is novel by Mary Cholmondeley. Partly based on her experience as an artist from a devoutly religious family, Red Pottage is a story of friendship, romance, and identity that faced backlash from critics for its controversial portrayal of female sexuality. Satirical and deeply observant of the hypocrisies of Victorian society, Red Pottage was an international bestseller in its time and was adapted into a 1918 silent film starring Mary Dibley, C. Aubrey Smith, and Gerald Ames. “It was a hot night in June. Hugh had thrown back his overcoat, and the throng of passers-by in the street could see, if they cared to see, ‘the glass of fashion’ in the shape of white waistcoat and shirt front, surmounted by the handsome, irritated face of their owner, leaning back with his hat tilted over his eyes.” Handsome and magnanimous, Hugh Scarlett has never had a hard time with romance. Having recently ended an affair with a local aristocrat, he has caught the eye of Rachel West, a young heiress who seems unaware of his reputation as a womanizer. Rachel, both naïve and strong-willed, shares everything with her friend Hester Gresley, a pastor’s daughter who longs to make it as a professional writer. As she struggles to overcome the animosity of her brother, a self-righteous minister, Hester looks to Rachel for guidance. Funny and tragic, Red Pottage is a timeless story of friendship that explores the lives of women in a world controlled by men. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Cholmondeley’s Red Pottage is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.