Esther Waters "Annotated" Wordworth Classics
Esther Waters is a novel by George Moore, first published in 1894, but subsequently revised several times. It is widely considered Moore's finest novel. Esther Waters concerns the eponymous heroine, a poor but pious woman whose life takes an unfortunate series of turns that end up pitting her personal conscience against prevailing social standards.Esther Waters begins by describing Esther's upbringing by devout Plymouth Brethren parents in a small town in Devonshire. The Plymouth Brethren was a small, non-conformist evangelical church that others often looked at askance. Esther's father dies while she is young, and her mother moves the family to London. There she remarries to a man who is abusive to both her and Esther. Esther's stepfather pulls her out of school before she learns to read or write - a decision that will haunt her the rest of her life.Esther gets a job working for the Barfields, a family of newly wealthy horse breeders and racers. She takes a position as a kitchen maid. During her tenure with the Barfields, the young - and beautiful - Esther fatefully meets a footman named William Latch, who seduces and impregnates her. William promises to marry Esther, but elopes with the Barfields' niece, with whom he has been having an affair, leaving Esther pregnant and abandoned. Once Esther's pregnancy becomes obvious, Mrs. Barfield - a fellow Plymouth Sister, and a friend to Esther - regretfully fires Esther because, she says, she would make a poor example to the other girls.