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war veteran Joe, loses self-control and runs after Violet with a carving-knife at her shop, Henry gallantly intervenes after Violet approaches Henry for help. Violet, who sees in Henry a financially secure future, finally decides to marry him after a short courtship. Joe, meanwhile, disappears after
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Henry's parsimony drives the married couple into an increasingly wretched existence. He is aghast, for example, when Violet spends fourteen pounds vacuuming his dusty shop as a wedding present. He begins eating less and less, even forgoing meat for cheese, and refuses to go to the hospital to treat
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Their lives—in which Henry's passion for money and his obstinacy finally consume himself and his wife—are contrasted to that of their loyal maid servant Elsie
Sprickett, and it is the latter, despite her extreme poverty, who brings life and a future to the bittersweet tale.
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to
Granville Square. Bennett's steps are "twenty in number, ... divided by a half-landing into two series of ten", whereas the steps of Granville Place number (from the bottom) fifteen, with eleven more from the half-landing.
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area of London, at
Riceyman Steps. Henry harbours a secret passion for Violet Arb, a widow who inherits a neighbouring confectionery shop. When Henry tries to woo Violet, the widow realizes that they share the same
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Local
Clerkenwell society - click on 'history' and look for the slideshow relating to Riceyman Steps. This includes a set of slides with a guide to the area in which the novel is set and pictures of the steps
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his undernourishment when the doctor and his wife insist that he does. All the while Elsie stands devoted to the couple, despite having problems of her own—she pines secretly for Joe, and pilfers food to
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writing a letter to Elsie that he will come for her when he has recovered from his traumatic disorder.
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Arnold
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Granville Place in 1924, with 'Riceyman Steps' leading up to
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Elsie and the Child: A Tale of
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with a slight limp, who keeps a second-hand bookshop in the
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and maid servant in the simple, loyal Elsie
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63:Ltd
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
