The Foolish Gentlewoman

“The Foolish Gentlewoman has a moral. I meant it to show that the right thing to do is always the thing that is not only right, but nearest to your hand.” — Margery Sharp

An Exacting Craft

For an author whose work is chiefly characterized as ‘light fiction’, it may come as a surprise to find that Ms. Sharp was so very, very serious about the responsibility of crafting a good story.

Meeting Martha: The Eye of Love

Introducing a most unusual heroine, Martha–‘A compelling portrait of genius’.

Cluny Brown

‘When you rang up a plumber you didn’t expect—well, you didn’t expect Cluny.’ This delightful novel was first published in 1944, and quickly became one of Sharp’s most popular works. It represents a favorite theme she returned to often: what happens when the quirky misfit, the Unruly Element, the carefree original who just doesn’t fit any…

Harlequin House

This is a novel that must be considered in the light of the historical context. It was written in 1939; that brooding summer of gloom that immediately preceded Britain’s declaration of war on Germany. The British–and particularly Londoners–in the year preceding September, 1939, were beginning to prepare for air raids, evacuations, food shortages, and what…

The Gipsy in the Parlour

This little known, under-appreciated novel from Margery Sharp resonates from its opening paragraph to the last. ‘In the heat of a spacious August noon, in the heart of the great summer of 1870, the three famous Sylvester women waited in their parlor to receive and make welcome the fourth. ‘Themselves matched the day. The parlor…

Rosa

“My father was a very important person,” said Rosa. Once again Margery Sharp takes us on a sprightly tour through British cultural change. She gives us a bit of Victorian sentiment, a smattering of gauchos and revolution, an old English country house, a diverse assortment of characters who are both keepers of tradition and irreverent ‘thumb-your-nose-at-it’…

The Nymph and the Nobleman

‘It may be the moon had something to do with it.’ This novelette, like a Pavlova pastry, crisp on the outside, all soft and melting on the inside, goes well with an afternoon cup of tea and a sweet sprinkling of thoughtful reflections. One of the earliest of Sharp’s works, The Nymph and the Nobleman was later…

Lise Lillywhite

‘When Charles Blagden Lillywhite, born in Somerset, 1873, resident in France since 1900, finally returned to England in 1946, the news of his repatriation did not arouse any strong family enthusiasm. ‘In company with the old man came a daughter, Amélie, and a grand-daughter, Lise….’ The reason for old Charles Lillywhite’s return to his…

Three Companion Pieces

This book is an anthology of three novelettes. Although publishing dates and editions vary, they are all early works. You can read more detail about each story on their own page: Sophy Cassmajor The Nymph and the Nobleman The Tigress on the Hearth Sophy Cassmajor (1934) and The Nymph and the Nobleman (1932) were published individually…