The Absentee centers around Lord and Lady Clonbrony, a couple more concerned with London society than their duties and responsibilities to those who live and work on their Irish estates. Recognizing this negligence, their son Lord Colambre goes incognito to Ireland to observe the situation and trace the origins of his beloved cousin Grace. To put matters straight he finds a solution that will bring prosperity and contentment to every level of society, including his own family.
In her Introduction, Heidi Thomson explores the political and social themes of the book and places it in its historical context. With
Castle Rackrent and
The Absentee, Maria Edgeworth helped create the "regional" novel, rich in atmosphere and local character, and influenced writers as disparate as Sir Walter Scott, William Thackeray, and Ivan Turgenev.
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) was the eldest daughter of an Anglo-Irish landholding family. Returning to Ireland from years in England at the age of fourteen, Maria involved herself with the management of her father's estate. She came to know the people and the country very well and wrote of it in her successful novels, including Castle Rackrent, Ennui, Ormond, and others.
Heidi Thomson is a Senior Lecturer at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
