Period Piece (book) - Chapter Synopses

Chapter Synopses

Chapter Name Synopsis
I Prelude Gwen's family background; how her parents met, "Great Aunt Cara" (Caroline Lane Reynolds Slemmer Jebb) and "Great Uncle Dick" (Richard Claverhouse Jebb). The reference to Maud's suitor "Mr T" is Henry Martyn Taylor.
II Newnham Grange Newnham Grange is the family home in Cambridge, where Gwen grows up with her younger siblings Margaret, Charles (Charles Galton Darwin) and "Billy" (William). It regularly subject to flooding.
III Theories
IV Education Being educated privately.
V Ladies Aunt Cara's earlier life.
VI Propriety Acting as a "chaperon", the courting process as viewed by a child, and the need to keep up appearances to avoid scandal.
VII Aunt Etty "Aunt Etty" (Henrietta Litchfield) and her husband "Uncle Richard" (Richard Buckley Litchfield) are described. Ill health as a Darwin characteristic.
VIII Down Description of Down House, in Downe, Kent the former family home of the author's grandfather Charles Darwin, who had died before her birth, and where his widow "Grandmama" (Emma Darwin) resides with unmarried "Aunt Bessy" (Elizabeth Darwin) during the summers (spending winters in Cambridge) until the former's death.
IX Ghosts and Horrors Childhood fears.
X The Five Uncles Descriptions of the "five uncles", the Darwin brothers, sons of Charles and Emma Darwin, split into subchapters:
  • "Uncle William" (William Erasmus Darwin) and his wife "Aunt Sara".
  • "Uncle George" (Sir George Darwin) - Gwen's father but described as an uncle because "among uncles I include my father. A father is only a specialized kind of uncle anyhow"
  • "Uncle Frank" (Sir Francis Darwin), his son Bernard; his second wife "Aunt Ellen" and their daughter Frances.
  • "Uncle Lenny" (Leonard Darwin) and his wives "Aunt Bee", and Florence
  • "Uncle Horace" (Sir Horace Darwin), his wife "Aunt Ida" (Ida Darwin) and their children Nora, Erasmus and Ruth.
XI Religion The author's childhood understanding of God, and morality. Going to a boarding school as a non-conformist.
XII Sport Childhood games; cycling; card games, "Being Kind to Poor Pamela"
XIII Clothes Clothes, makeup and their difficulties.
XIV Society Disliking dance class; tea at Trinity, seeing "Great Men" (Lord Kelvin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir Francis Galton and Paul Cambon); a family picnic; the end of childhood with Frances's wedding.

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