Somehow Good — Themes and Context

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In Category - Psychological Domestic Love Stories

Authors: De Morgan, William, 1839-1917 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2009 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: England -- Fiction; Mothers and daughters -- Fiction; Amnesiacs -- Fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 224,282

Reading time 976 min

Text sections 25

The catalog record for Somehow Good — Themes and Context provides practical reading context through 224,282 words, 16 hr 16 min estimated reading time, and 25 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 15.7 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “England -- Fiction,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #28345

William De Morgan's 1908 novel uses precise, ironic narration and elaborate social comedy to explore identity and memory after an electrocution erases a man's past. The excerpts reveal a distinctive voice that dissects courtship rituals, class dynamics, and the tension between sincerity and performance in Victorian domestic life.

Editorial Edition Score 4.9/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

Calculated from edition completeness, EPUB availability, text structure and catalogue metadata. Not a user rating.

How this score is calculated

Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg28345

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CHAPTER I. PAGE A RETURNED TRAVELLER. NEMESIS IN LIVERMORE'S RENTS, 1808. EXTRAVAGANCE, AND NO CASH. A PAWNED WATCH, AND A RESIDUUM OF FOURPENCE 1

A JOURNEY IN THE TWOPENNY TUBE. A VERY NICE GIRL, AND A NEGOTIATION. AN EXPOSED WIRE, AND AN ELECTROCUTION 10

KRAKATOA VILLA, AND HOW THE ELECTROCUTED TRAVELLER WENT THERE IN A CAB. A CURIOUS WELCOME TO A PERFECT STRANGER. THE STRANGER'S LABEL. A CANCELLED MEMORY. BACK LIKE A BAD SHILLING 16

HOW THE STRANGER STOPPED ON AT KRAKATOA VILLA. OF THE FREAKS OF AN EXTINGUISHED MEMORY. OF HOW THE STRANGER GOT A GOOD APPOINTMENT, BUT NONE COULD SAY WHO HE WAS, NOR WHENCE 35

THE CHRISTMAS AFTER. OF THE CHURCH OF ST. SATISFAX, AND A YOUNG IDIOT WHO CAME THERE 44

OF BOXING DAY MORNING AT KRAKATOA VILLA, AND WHAT OBSERVANT CREATURES FOSSILS ARE 53

CONCERNING PEOPLE'S PASTS, AND THE SEPARATION OF THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS. OF YET ANOTHER MAJOR, AND HOW HE GOSSIPPED AT HURKARU CLUB. SOME TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION ABOUT AN ALLEGED DIVORCE 60

THE ANTECEDENTS OF ROSALIND NIGHTINGALE, SALLY'S MOTHER. HOW BOTH CAME FROM INDIA TO ENGLAND, AND TOOK A VILLA ON A REPAIRING LEASE. SOMEWHAT OF SALLY'S UPBRINGING. SOME MORE ROPER GOSSIP, AND A CAT LET OUT OF A BAG. A PIECE OF PRESENCE OF MIND 68

HOW THOSE GIRLS DO CHATTER OVER THEIR MUSIC! MRS. NIGHTINGALE'S RESOLUTION. BUT, THE RISK! A HARD PART TO PLAY. THERE WAS ONLY MAMMA FOR THE GIRL! THE GARDEN OF LONG AGO 82

THE DANGERS OF AN UNKNOWN PAST. NETTLE-GRASPING, AND A RECURRENCE. WHO AMONG US COURTS CATECHISM ABOUT HIMSELF? A UNIVERSALLY PROVIDED YOUNG MAN. HOW ABOUT THE POOR OLD FURNITURE? 95

MORE GIRLS' CHATTER. SWEEPS AND DUSTMEN. HOW SALLY DISILLUSIONED MR. BRADSHAW. OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN 105

WHAT FENWICK AND SALLY'S MOTHER HAD BEEN SAYING IN THE BACK DRAWING-ROOM. OP. 999. BACK IN THAT OLD GARDEN AGAIN, AND HOW GERRY COULD NOT SWIM. THE OLD TARTINI SONATA 113

OF A SLEEPLESS NIGHT MRS. NIGHTINGALE HAD, AND HOW SALLY WOKE UP AND TALKED 131

HOW MILLAIS' "HUGUENOT" CAME OF A WALK IN THE BACK GARDEN. AND HOW FENWICK VERY NEARLY KISSED SALLY 139

CONCERNING DR. VEREKER AND HIS MAMMA, WHO HAD KNOWN IT ALL ALONG. HOW SALLY LUNCHED WITH THE SALES WILSONS, AND GOT SPECULATING ABOUT HER FATHER. HOW TISHY LET OUT ABOUT MAJOR ROPER. HOW THERE WAS A WEDDING 150

OF A WEDDING-PARTY AND AN OLD MAN'S RETROSPECT. A HOPE OF RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE HEREAFTER. CHARLEY'S AUNT, AND PYRAMUS AND THISBE. HOW SALLY TRIED TO PUMP THE COLONEL AND GOT HALF A BUCKETFUL 166

SALLY'S LARK, AND HOW SHE TOOK HER MEDICAL ADVISER INTO HER CONFIDENCE AFTER DIVINE SERVICE 178

OF A SWIMMING-BATH, "ET PRÆTEREA EXIGUUM" 186

HOW FENWICK KNEW ALL ABOUT THE MASS. AND HOW BARON KREUTZKAMMER RECOGNISED MR. HARRISSON. LONDON AGAIN! 191

MERE DAILY LIFE AT KRAKATOA. BUT SALLY IS QUITE FENWICK'S DAUGHTER BY NOW. OF HER VIEWS ABOUT DR. VEREKER, AND OF TISHY'S AUNT FRANCES 203

OF JULIUS BRADSHAW'S INNER SOUL. AND OF THE HABERDASHER BATTLE AT LADBROKE GROVE ROAD. ON CARPET-STRETCHING, AND VACCINATION FROM THE CALF. AN AFTER-DINNER INTERVIEW, AND GOOD RESOLUTIONS. EVASIVE TRAPPISTS 217

IT WAS THAT MRS. NIGHTINGALE'S FAULT. A SATISFACTORY CHAP, GERRY! A TELEGRAM AND A CLOUD. BRONCHITIS AND ASTHMA AND FOG. SALLY GOES TO MAYFAIR. THE OLD SOLDIER HAS NOTICE TO QUIT 236

OF A FOG THAT WAS UP-TO-DATE, AND HOW A FIRE-ENGINE RELIEVED SALLY FROM A BOY. HOW SALLY GOT IN AT A GENTLEMEN'S CLUB, AND HOW VETERANS COULD RECOLLECT HER FATHER. BUT THEY KNOW WHAT SHE CAN BE TOLD, AND WHAT SHE CAN'T. HOW MAJOR ROPER WOULD GO OUT IN THE FOG 245

HOW MAJOR ROPER MET THAT BOY, AND GOT UPSTAIRS AT BALL STREET. AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN ASTHMA AND BRONCHITIS. HOW SALLY PINIONED THE PURPLE VETERAN, AND THERE WAS NO BOY. HOW THE GOVERNOR DONE HOARCKIN', AND GOT QUALIFIED FOR A SUBJECT OF PSYCHICAL RESEARCH 260

ABOUT SIX MONTHS, AND HOW A CABMAN SAW A GHOST. OF SALLY'S AND THE DOCTOR'S "MODUS VIVENDI," AND THE SHOOSMITH FAMILY. HOW SALLY MADE TEA FOR BUDDHA, AND HOW BUDDHA FORESAW A STEPDAUGHTER. DELIRIUM TREMENS 283

MORNING AT LADBROKE GROVE ROAD, AND FAMILY DISSENSION. FACCIOLATI, AND A LEGACY. THE LAST CONCERT THIS SEASON. THE GOODY WILL COME TO IGGULDEN'S. BUT FANCY PROSY IN LOVE! 300

ST. SENNANS-ON-SEA. MISS GWENDOLEN ARKWRIGHT. WOULD ANY OTHER CHILD HAVE BEEN SALLY? HOW MRS. IGGULDEN'S COUSIN SOLOMON SURRENDERED HIS COUCH 310

HOW SALLY PUT THE FINISHING TOUCH ON THE DOCTOR, WHO COULDN'T SLEEP. OF THE GRAND DUKE OF HESSE-JUNKERSTADT. AND OF AN INTERVIEW OVERHEARD 323

OF A MARRIAGE BY SPECIAL LICENCE. ROSALIND'S COMPARISONS. OF THE THREE BRIDESMAIDS, AND HOW THE BRIDE WAS A GOOD SAILOR 331

HOW A FORTNIGHT PASSED, AND THE HONEYMOONERS RETURNED. OF A CHAT ON THE BEACH, AND MISS ARKWRIGHT'S SCIENTIFIC EXPERIENCE. ALMOST THE LAST, LAST, LAST--MAN'S HEAD! 337

HOW SALLY DIDN'T CONFESS ABOUT THE DOCTOR, AND JEREMIAH CAME TO ST. SENNANS ONCE MORE 349

Continue Reading →

William De Morgan opens Somehow Good with a narrator who treats the reader as a confederate in irony. The very first chapter titles—'A Returned Traveller. Nemesis in Livermore's Rents, 1808. Extravagance, and No Cash. A Pawned Watch, and a Residuum of Fourpence'—signal a fondness for mock-heroic deflation. The prose that follows is dense with parenthetical asides, comic hyperbole, and a narrator who comments on his own storytelling: 'Of course, that is only our nonsense.' This voice, at once worldly and playful, shapes every scene.

The Narrator's Intrusive Irony

De Morgan's narrator rarely lets a scene pass without editorial comment. When describing Sally's visits to Dr. Vereker, he breaks in: 'All this was part of the system of insincerity we have hinted at.' The word 'system' turns a social fiction into something almost bureaucratic. The narrator also invents an elaborate mock-institution—complete with 'titled Patrons and Patronesses, Committees and Sub-committees'—to satirize the pretexts that allow Sally and the doctor to meet. This is not mere decoration; the narrator's asides establish a tone of knowing complicity, inviting the reader to see through the characters' pretenses while enjoying their performance.

Social Rituals as Performance

The excerpts dwell on the mechanics of courtship as a shared fiction. Sally and Dr. Vereker maintain 'the ostentatious exclusion of Cupid' through a 'certain mechanism' of invented errands and institutional forms. The maid Craddock participates by 'keeping the door mentally on the jar' and delivering lines 'without varnish of style.' De Morgan renders these rituals with precise, comic detail: the 'hopeless and lopsided female' who appears for the fictional Mrs. Shoosmith, the doctor's mother whose form 'would not have borne anything further' toward roundness. Every gesture—Sally's knock, the maid's hesitation, the teatime visit—is choreographed to sustain a polite lie that everyone tacitly accepts.

Diction and the Texture of Domestic Life

De Morgan's word choices often carry a sly weight. The maid announces 'A person for you, Miss Sally'—'person' rather than 'woman' or 'visitor'—and the narrator notes she speaks 'without the faintest shade of humorous reserve.' The phrase 'moral gap an inch wide' for the partly open door blends physical and ethical description. Elsewhere, a character is 'precariously held together by pins,' a simile that suggests both poverty and fragility. Such details accumulate to create a world where language itself is a social instrument, used to conceal as much as to reveal.

The Unreliable Past and the Amnesiac's Predicament

The novel's central premise—a man electrocuted into amnesia—is handled through the narrator's characteristic indirection. Chapter titles refer to 'A Cancelled Memory' and 'The Dangers of an Unknown Past,' but the excerpts show the narrator more interested in the social consequences than the medical ones. The stranger who cannot remember his own name becomes a test case for how identity is constructed by others: 'None could say who he was, nor whence.' De Morgan uses the amnesia plot to probe how much of selfhood depends on memory and how much on social consensus. The narrator's ironic tone keeps the inquiry from becoming sentimental, grounding it in the same comic realism that governs the courtship scenes.

Readers will find that De Morgan's novel rewards attention to its narrative voice above all. The plot—amnesia, mistaken identity, a love story—is the skeleton; the flesh is the narrator's running commentary on how people talk, pretend, and negotiate their way through social life. Pay particular attention to the chapter titles, which often undercut the action they introduce, and to the way minor characters like maids and gossips advance the comedy. The book's length (over 220,000 words) allows De Morgan to develop his ironies at a leisurely pace.

Reading about the man whose past vanishes in an instant made me think of my grandfather, who lost his memory slowly, and how we both clung to the same fragments of stories. The Opened Shutters: A Novel — Edition Insights once gave me that same ache—the quiet knowing that identity is less solid than we pretend, a house we only see through certain windows.