Dividing Waters

"Dividing Waters" by I. A. R. Wylie is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story centers around Nora Ingestre, a young woman grappling with familial responsibilities and her own aspirations as her family faces financial ruin. The narrative explores themes of sacrifice, identity, and the struggle between personal desires and societal expectations. The beginning of "Dividing Waters" introduces the Ingestre family, who are in turmoil over their declining fortunes due to the Reverend John Ingestre's financial misadventures. As they gather to discuss their situation, Nora's father reveals the necessity of sacrifices for the family's wellbeing, particularly that she may need to abandon her musical studies. Nora, conflicted yet determined, grapples with feelings of frustration over her curtailed future while her brother Miles expresses his own disdain for the situation. As tensions rise, Nora's mother, Mrs. Ingestre, attempts to maintain a delicate balance and ultimately proposes sending Nora to work as a companion to a lady in Germany, which sets the stage for Nora's journey of self-discovery and defiance against societal norms. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Ida Alexa Ross Wylie, known by her pen name I.A.R. Wylie, was an Australian-British-American novelist, screenwriter, short story writer, poet, and suffragette sympathiser who was honoured by the journalistic and literary establishments of her time, and received international recognition for her works. Between 1915 and 1953, more than thirty of her novels and stories were adapted into films, including Keeper of the Flame (1942), which was directed by George Cukor and starred Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.