The Story of Jessie

Florence Mabel Quiller-Couch was a younger sister of Arthur Quiller-Couch, who was Professor of English Literature at Cambridge, and wrote fiction as "Q." Like her brother and sister Lillian, she became a writer, producing a total of twenty-six published works. In "The Story of Jessie," Thomas and Patience Dawson receive a surprise letter from their daughter, Lizzie, announcing that she and her husband have problems, and she is sending her five year old daughter Jessie to live with her father and mother. Her marriage was against her parents' wishes, and Lizzie has been estranged from them since. Patience is delighted at having a grandchild about, but Thomas is troubled. Jessie, when she arrives, is the image of Lizzie as a child. Thomas and Patience must deal with their feelings about their daughter, starting with the need to house Jessie in Lizzie's old room, which Thomas hasn't entered since his daughter left.