Somerville and Ross: Claire Connolly

The stories in Experiences of an Irish R. M. are almost entirely concerned with the doings of Skebawn in south-western Ireland and its surroundings. At the centre is the figure of Major Yeates, the Irish Resident Magistrate, who muddles through life as best he can and whose adventures always tell worse against himself. Each short tale offers a dazzling succession of incidents, quickfire dialogue and turnabouts of fate. They contain linguistic verve, dense social detail and what was termed by a contemporary, ‘demoniac energy’. The tough, roving humour of these sharply observed stories brought Edith Somerville and Martin Ross financial security and critical success.

‘The stories are rich in dialogue – indeed on many pages there is only dialogue – while the quick exchange of words beats out the rhythm of history on the move.’ Claire Connolly from her preface to The Experiences of an Irish R. M.

In 1894, the London evening newspaper the St James’s Gazette announced ‘a real acquisition’, a new novel from the publishers Ward and Downey. The Real Charlotte was the first collaborative success of many for Somerville and Ross and was received as a fresh, original, and funny treatment of Irish life. It tells the story of clever, greedy Charlotte Mullen, an Irish spinster, who takes in the beautiful Francie Fitzgerald. But soon after there are crossed lines of desire, money and land, and Charlotte and Francie quickly become rivals.

‘The novel’s dark energies – concerned with histories of gender, property, desire, and institutionalization – carry it forth into our present moment. It remains indispensable reading.’ Claire Connolly from her preface to The Real Charlotte