Miss Mole

By E.H. Young

Book Overview

"Miss Mole" is a witty and perceptive domestic novel that explores the complexities of social class and human nature in provincial England. The story follows Hannah Mole, a sharp-witted, unconventional middle-aged woman who survives on her own terms by working as a companion and housekeeper. When she enters the service of the respectable but stifling Reverend Robert Corder and his family, her presence brings a hidden vitality and a keen sense of irony to a household bound by rigid expectations.

While she appears to be a mere servant of modest means, Hannah possesses a rich inner life and a courageous spirit that allows her to navigate the hypocrisies of her employers and the local community. The novel masterfully balances humor and poignant social observation, painting a vivid portrait of a woman who refuses to be defined by her domestic status. As Hannah becomes an indispensable part of the Corder household, her influence begins to challenge the structures of their lives, leading to unexpected transformations. A celebrated character study, "Miss Mole" remains a sophisticated look at the quiet rebellions and triumphs of an independent woman in a constrained society.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025792505
• ISBN13: 9781025792507
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A stunningly good novel

I read this book after reading "The Misses Mallet", which I thought was brilliant. "Miss Mole" is even better. It is a tour de force character study of a funny, intelligent woman. Miss Mole is employed as a housekeeper, and through her eyes we see the foibles of those with whom she comes into contact. It is a tragedy that this wonderful author is largely out of print.

The world aslant

E. H. Young's delightful Hannah Mole is over forty, unmarried, and always on the run for new work as a companion, nanny, or housekeeper. Although proud of her work, she realizes her humorously sharp tongue and satirical perception of the world will always get her tossed from each new job; yet despite her hand-to-mouth circumstances, she keeps fairly happy by always amazing herself at the qualities and peculiarities of human nature. This much-loved, but little-known 1930 masterpiece, which details the return of Miss Mole to her favorite city of Radstowe (really Bristol) to care for a clergyman's family is told with an angularity and asperity befitting its great central character. Nothing in this novel is ever told straightforwardly, but always at a kind of slant like sunlight through spar; but this is the way Miss Mole herself views the world, and the result is a very comic and very intelligent novel by one of the most unjustly forgotten British novelists who might be best characterized (with her quirkiness and love of aphortism) as an early 20th-century George Meredith.