Eden, Emily. The Semi-Attached Couple & The Semi-Detached House. New York: Dial Press, 1982.
From everything that I have read it seems that Noel Perrin single-handedly revived an interest in Emily Eden’s The Semi-Attached Couple, calling it “what to read when you run out of Jane Austen.” He mentions this in his book, A Reader’s Delight and again in The Washington Post.
The Semi-Attached Couple is a humorous and witty look at a Victorian couple who didn’t exactly marry for love. Surrounding their romance, or lack-thereof, is busybody family members, a cultural protocol for decorum, and good, old-fashioned Victorian society standards. Of course, Sarah married too young and Lord Teviot married too quick. Neither understands the other and isn’t sure of themselves. There is plenty of gossip, secrets, and satire in The Semi-Attached Couple.
BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in two different chapters. First, “The Book Lust of Others” (p 34), and “Viragos” (p 227). Pearl basically says the same thing in both chapters: Emily Eden is a recommendation of Noel Perrin (as mentioned before).
~*LunaSea*~ 