Talk:Jessamy

Date query

The date written in the cupboard is July 23rd, 1914, which is stated to be "precisely 43 years before" the present day action of the novel. That implies that the present day is 1957, whereas the novel was published in 1967. Looks like a slip to me: as I don't have have a copy I can't check, but somebody else might like to. GrindtXX (talk) 18:12, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Thank you and I'll correct it straight away. Brian Bmcln1 (talk) 20:34, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Edition queries

I just finishing reading Jessamy in the Bobbs-Merrill edition from the Open Library, and I very much appreciated this article. I noticed a couple of differences, and wondered if they were mistakes or changes made for the American edition. The first is just the name of the groom, which is Stubbs rather than Stubbins. More importantly, Kitto says in the final chapter that the 1914 Jessamy did not live to grow up – and so she could not have been the modern Jessamy's grandmother, although she was clearly some relation. -- Robina Fox (talk) 02:52, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

The last chapter in my copy (Chapter 28, Collins, London, 1967) doesn't have that remark by Kitto. The main indication as to what relation the other Jessamy was to the modern one comes towards the end of Chapter 26: "'Aunt Maggie, why was I ever called Jessamy?' ... 'It was your mother's name.... she said that the eldest daughter was always called Jessamy in her family.'" A couple of paragraphs on, Aunt Maggie again: "'Come to think of it I seem to remember something about an old aunt or great-aunt or some such, who once worked at Posset Place.' 'With a niece called Jessamy?' said Jess eagerly." A few remarks later, Jess herself says, "'She was called Jessamy, I know she was!'" Well, unless there's something somewhere else, I don't think we've quite established that Jessamy was Jessamy's grandmother, simply that she came two generations later as the next Jessamy but one, so J1 could have been a great-aunt. Bmcln1 (talk) 16:32, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

Well, that is intriguing. Perhaps the Collins editor thought the conversation depressing, or it may be that the edition is generally shorter. The Bobbs-Merrill edition has 246 pages, which is a lot more, even with a different font and page size, and it is not illustrated. For interest, here is the passage:

"I'm afraid I may have been talking nonsense. My head gets confused, you know. I almost thought I was talking to the other Jessamy—the one I used to know, who died."

"Did you say... died?" said Jessamy in a whisper. Kitto nodded.

"She never grew up. She was always delicate after the accident in the mulberry tree."

"Oh, poor poor Jessamy!" said the Jessamy who was so very much alive, and the figure against the pillows seemed to swell and waver through the tears that filled her eyes.

"But perhaps she wouldn't have been very good at being a grownup," said Kitto. "Some people aren't, you know. Odd, you should have seemed so like her in the dimmer light—even her voice. Now I can see there is a certain likeness, but no more. She was such a thin little thing, she looked as if you could blow her away! But that is enough about the other Jessamy. Tell me more about yourself."

The conversation about the family name seems to be the same. As to the first Jessamy being the other's great-aunt, Mrs. Rumbold says to the Parkinsons, "My own sister's child and I'm all she's got." (Chapter 5 / p.42) – though that may not have been strictly accurate, of course. So it's really anyone's guess! -- Robina Fox (talk) 01:17, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

I'm afraid I can't give you a proper reference, but I seem to remember reading that Sleigh wrote a "different" ending for the American edition. It's interesting to see that confirmed. The UK ending is a bit vague. The passage you quote makes it all plainer. My only problem is that I didn't get a general feeling that the earlier Jessamy was frail as I was reading the book. On the contrary. She seemed very active and busy. The thinness is mentioned in the last chapter of the UK edition, but thinness and weakness don't correlate well in little girls, as you'll know if you've been kicked by a few! The other rumour I heard was that the US editors didn't like the idea of the younger Jessamy fulfilling a dream of going to boarding school on Kitto's money. Is that correct? Does his money go on something else? Bmcln1 (talk) 10:14, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

He does offer, right at the end, in a letter, contingent on her aunts' approval, saying: "Many years ago I made a promise to someone, which I want to redeem." So he remembered. It rounds the story off nicely, I think. -- Robina Fox (talk) 03:12, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

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