Millicent Dorrington

Description

When we first meet Millicent Dorrington she is a young lady on the verge of womanhood in inter-war England. The daughter of a wealthy mill-owner and one of five children - Gordon, Denis, Janet, Lorna, Cecily and Bunny - she is tormented by the high walls of their home, White Lodge, which hold her in. The young Millicent tells her father that she is destined for great things - that she is desperate to break free. . .But while Millicent's siblings grow up, move on and experience life, their freedom confines her. Held back by the bonds of family, unable to leave her siblings behind, Millicent appears to miss out on the joys of life. But as time goes on, she becomes the centre that holds her family together. Perhaps Millicent's great destiny was, after all, to remain at home; remain at one with those who love her most and see out her final days in the warmth of the White Lodge. Tender, humorous, gentle and quietly devastating, Millicent Dorrington is the powerful story of a woman, a mother and a friend.

Richmal Crompton (1890-1969) is best known for her thirty-eight children's books featuring William Brown, which were published between 1922 and 1970. Born in Lancashire, Crompton won a scholarship to Royal Holloway in London, where she trained as a schoolteacher, graduating in 1914, before turning to writing full-time in 1923. Alongside the William stories, Crompton wrote forty-one novels for adults, including Family Roundabout, Portrait of a Family, and The Holiday, as well as nine collections of short stories.

The fascinating Millicent in MILLICENT DORRINGTON is a beautiful figure, realised with true art Morning Post A charming and beautiful character Times