Hello!
There are 5 more days left of the Pre-Order time for the eBook of Tailored Truths! 12th September is launch day and from then the special 'early bird' price of £1,.99 will rise to something more appropriate for a lovely long read of approx. 450 pages.
Part 2 of Margaret Law's story covers her life from mid-teens to around the age of 28. During that time many things happen to her that wouldn't have happened to many young women of her Victorian working-class background.
Well-educated to the age of just short of twelve at school in the small Scottish town of Milnathort, Margaret is lucky enough to progress her own education - as a by-product - when she works as a private tutor. Initially this is with little Rachel Duncan in Novice Threads, Book 1 of the Silver Sampler Series, and then in Tailored Truths (Book 2) she has a little spell of returning to tutoring in Liverpool.
In Liverpool, Margaret is doing one-to-one English Oral speaking classes, essentially conversation classes where she is improving the oral English of teenage boys who are native French speakers. To conduct these formal lessons means Margaret's own knowledge of French improves by leaps and bounds. Margaret's employer for the evening tuition lessons is Mister Michaud, the principal of a brand-new school for boys in the area of Everton/West Derby. How did Margaret land this position? The job is a godsend at the time because it's also a live-in post, meaning her bed and board are covered. The reader of Tailored Truths will see that serendipity works in mysterious ways.
Here's a little excerpt about Margaret's thoughts on what will aid the progress of the conversation classes with Edouarde and Hong Davis. Their father is a French diplomat currently working in London. Their mother is of far-eastern origins and the boys have grown up in wonderful places like Thailand.
After
she mentioned that a careful choice of subject matter to converse about with
her pupils might mean greater success, Mister Michaud had been impressed with
her insight. He had access to a local lending library in Liverpool and readily
agreed that an account should be opened for Margaret to borrow books for
tutoring.
It was a
delight, once again, to be able to visit a library to choose study materials,
mainly for use with Edouarde, but she also found subjects which interested
Hong. The choices of materials were nothing like those that she’d selected for
little Rachel Duncan years before but the situation was similar. In choosing
materials to hone Edouarde’s English skills, she was also learning new subject
matter herself.
In
addition, she’d managed to acquire a substantial French to English dictionary
from Mister Michaud, a relatively new publication which he personally thought
was wonderful. Although taught French by his own father from an infant, Mister
Michaud acknowledged there were plenty of French words he’d never encountered,
topics which had never been relevant in his family setting. The dictionary was perfect
in helping Margaret with her own development in learning French.
The most
nerve-wracking time for Margaret was when Mister Michaud regularly tested
Edouarde and Hong Davis at the end of each week, to check on their progress.
“Hong’s
fluency is progressing remarkably well, Margaret,” Mister Michaud had stated
after one month had passed by. “Though Edouarde is another matter, Margaret. And he is the one who does not have the time to dally. His father is already
making inquiries about his entry to Cambridge.”
She
accepted the criticism and determined to do better. A confrontation came
mid-February when she and Edouarde had a very long talk. Helping the young man
with his very genuine doubts over his academic abilities was very difficult but
she was resolute about finding a way.
“Is there
something else that you’d rather do during the next few years, till you reach
your majority?” she asked.
Edouarde
looked so wryly forlorn, she almost felt guilty. “You mean apart from wanting
to travel the world and sample every new moment, in every new place?”
Margaret
patted his hand, a gentle touch but one she normally wouldn’t dream of making.
“That’s a very laudable ambition. And perhaps one your father would approve of
when you are older. But…”
He gripped
her hand and squeezed, glittering eyes staring into hers, his enthusiasm
evident in his interruption. “Do you really think so?”
Margaret
removed her hand, smiling all the while. “I wasn’t quite finished.”
The moue
he made was quite ridiculous.
“According
to Mister Michaud you are doing well with your mathematics. So, what if you
were to choose subjects like architecture and perhaps art to begin with for
your studies at Cambridge? Those topics might give you an insight into the
cultures and peoples you might visit one day. And, I think, especially
something like architecture must depend on being good at mathematics which
would be using your strengths wisely.”
Edouarde
looked thoughtful. “That plan might work with my Papa, though he is much more
interested that I study law and political philosophy.”
Margaret
felt the need to emphasise that he needed to show he was serious about his own
choices. “When do you next expect your Papa to visit you?”
“He comes
for a ‘talk’ at the end of March.”
“He is
coming,” she gently reminded him of the correct verb tense.
She waited
till he’d finished repeating his corrected sentence.
“Then we
must make sure you are ready for your father’s visit,” she declared.
There were a number of dictionaries available at this time - Boyers - being one of them, but I had to do a little bit of research to be sure that French to English (and vice versa) dictionaries were available in the early 1860s. A copy of such a dictionary from 1860 would presently cost short of £50 on Etsy, but I think I'll pass. Much as I'd love to improve on my schoolgirl French, time is presently against such a venture, though it might be fun! My problem with learning French at school in the late 1960s was that conversation classes were rare, so although I could read, compose, and translate some French to 1st year university levels, I couldn't put a conversation together.
I'd truly have loved to have had conversation classes with Margaret Law!
Pre-Order Tailored Truths for 5/6 more days
HERE
Novice Threads, Book 1 is currently also a bargain price at only 99p/99c
HERE
Slainthe!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1812995990/antique-french-english-dictionary-c-1860
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