The marriage of Susan

Description

"The marriage of Susan" by Helen Reimensnyder Martin is a novel written in the early 20th century. Set among Pennsylvania Dutch communities, it follows Susan Schrekengust, a principled young schoolteacher, whose love for the well-bred, ambitious Sidney Houghton collides with family pride, class prejudice, and moral conviction. The opening of the story shows Sidney’s mother arriving in the village of Reifsville to stop her son’s engagement, only to be disarmed by Susan’s poise—and a bold feint that the powerful Uncle George Houghton wishes to marry her. That evening we meet Susan’s plain, affectionate Mennonite family and see how different her home life is from Sidney’s world. Sidney arrives, alternately charmed and uneasy, and presses Susan to accept a secret, “natural” union while deferring marriage for money and status; their values clash. The narrative then jumps to spring: Susan senses Sidney’s retreat through silence and society notes pairing him with Laura Beresford, and she confronts him in his rooms, where she finds he has sold the furniture she paid for and is angling for advantage. Cornered, he balks, and Susan reveals she is carrying his child and insists on marriage—just as Laura appears and Susan collapses. A year later, Susan is teaching in another district, emotionally dulled, avoiding the persistent attentions of Sidney’s dour half-brother, Joe Houghton, hinting at the heavy cost of what has passed. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• Inheritance and succession -- Fiction
• Man-woman relationships -- Fiction
• American fiction -- 20th century
• Families -- Fiction
• Spouses -- Fiction
• PS