A Fluttered Dovecote

"A Fluttered Dovecote" by George Manville Fenn is a novel written in the late 19th century. The story revolves around Laura Bozerne, a young woman who reflects on her troubled experiences as her parents decide to send her away to a finishing school, a transition she fears and resents. The narrative captures her feelings of isolation, disappointment, and her longing for freedom in a constricting environment filled with absurdity and unkind figures. The opening of the book introduces Laura as she attempts to document her emotional struggles and the chaotic experiences of her past year. It begins with her expressing sorrow over her forced return to education, interspersed with humorous observations about her family dynamics, particularly the absurdities of her mother and father's back-and-forth over a provincial advertisement for the new school, The Cedars. Laura's writing, tinted with sarcasm and introspection, sets the tone for the novel as she recounts her apprehensions about the school environment, characterizing it as a prison where she feels stifled by rules and judgment, setting the stage for her development throughout the narrative. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

George Manville Fenn was a prolific English novelist, journalist, editor and educationalist. Many of his novels were written with young adults in mind. His final book was his biography of a fellow writer for juveniles, George Alfred Henty.