Told by an Idiot

In late-Victorian England, the Garden family is once again unsettled when Mr. Garden, a clergyman long prone to changing convictions, announces that he has "lost his faith" and intends to join the Ethical Society. His wife receives the news with calm pragmatism, but their six children react in sharply different ways: Victoria is scandalized and practical, Maurice skeptical, Stanley idealistic, and the younger ones more puzzled than alarmed. Rose Macaulay turns this domestic crisis into a witty portrait of a household where religion, politics, fashion, books, and social reform compete for attention, and where reduced income is always a possibility. As the family talks, each child emerges as a distinct modern temperament. Vicky embodies aesthetic flair and social ambition; Stanley is earnest about Ruskin, Morris, feminism, and the promise of work, beauty, and independence; Maurice distrusts sermonizing and modern literary pretensions; Rome is beautiful, observant, and detached; and innocent Una seems untouched by the era's restless ideas. Through their conversations and habits, the novel explores the comedy of sincerity in a changing world, the "New Girl" ideal, and the shifting roles open to women. Against lectures, winter gardens, and royal pageantry, Imogen's dreamy imagination and anxious wonder reveal how children experience modern life, public spectacle, and history itself. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.