02637cam a22003613u 4500 77998 UtSlPG 20260610134816.0 m cr n 260607r20261873utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 PS Guernsey, Lucy Ellen, 1826-1899 Homes made and marred Homes made & marred Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2026 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2026-02-21 "Homes made and marred" by Lucy Ellen Guernsey is a didactic domestic novel written in the mid-19th century. It explores how temperance, self-control, and Christian forbearance can either build or break working-class homes, following Matthew Hill and his wife Jane as their marriage is tested by pride, anger, and drink, with wise counsel from Mrs. Oakland and the steady example of Benjamin and Ellen Field countered by the corrosive influence of the gossiping Mrs. Swinden. The opening of the story introduces Matthew, a capable young workman, seeking to marry Jane, a housemaid whom Mrs. Oakland warns has a dangerous temper. Early married comfort gives way to a crisis when a brick and soot fall down the chimney; Jane’s outburst drives Matthew to the pub, he returns drunk, and a fever sends him to the infirmary, where Jane’s coldness hardens him. The Fields model patient, prayerful love, but Jane embraces pride and the “cordial” urged by her meddling neighbor Mrs. Swinden, neglects the children’s schooling, and doses her baby; Matthew, hurt yet employed, sends money but stays away until Mrs. Oakland unexpectedly meets him at a station and urges him to return. A stationer’s grim tale of a mother ruined by drink and a policeman’s news that Mrs. Swinden’s husband has been killed on the railway deepen the warnings, while the scene shifts to another household preparing to welcome an elderly guest, signaling new threads that will connect to the central theme of homes either made or marred. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: London: The Religious Tract Society, 1873 Christian life -- Fiction Conduct of life -- Fiction Temperance -- Fiction Families -- Fiction Spouses -- Fiction Temper -- Fiction https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77998 118718 118718