Major Themes
Evelyn Whitaker's novels demonstrate intimate knowledge of life both in a vicarage and in a doctor's household and these homes are frequently the settings of her novels. Her religious view was traditional Anglican and that perspective informs her writing. In Miss Toosey's Mission, Tip Cat, and Lil she comments on Puseyites, Dissenters, and Methodism.
The works of Evelyn Whitaker portray a fondness for the childhood nursery, dogs, and flowers. The author makes frequent use of the Victorian Language of flowers. She relates the blessings and burdens of children, rich and poor. She knows the streets of London and the rustic beauty of the countryside. She observes the plight of the urban poor, the rural worker displaced by industrialization, the mill worker, and the late 19th Century woman who might wish for a better education and more economic opportunity.
Having spent her whole life in the service of the sick Evelyn Whitaker was familiar with sick rooms, hospitals, and death and she often includes these settings and events in her novels.
Tip Cat (Scarlet fever), Gay (Diphtheria), and Lassie (Typhoid) present descriptions of fever epidemics and public health and hygiene education. Gay provides details of home nursing care, quarantines, and a visit to the London Fever Hospital at Homerton. Pen and Lassie include the effects of Alcoholism on family life. Laddie and Lassie present a study in gender differences in the care of aging parents.
Although sometimes attributed to her, Evelyn Whitaker is not the author of Honor Bright, or the four leaved shamrock and Gilly Flower (1889). A number of books by Evelyn Whitaker have been digitized and are available on-line.
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