Thady Quirk is the ever-present steward to four generations of a dying dynasty in Castle Racrent, hilariously flattering and encouraging his hapless masters on their road to ruin. Ingeniously drawing on an actual chronicle of Maria Edgeworth's family experiences, the narrative subtly emerges as a devastating commentary on the Anglo Irish occupation of rural Ireland. This volume also includes Ennui, a natural sequel to Castle Rackrent with its family nurse of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the lazy and gullible English earl, Lord Glenthorn, learns a shocking secret that will drive him and his nurse apart

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