Cometh Up As Wild Grass: Defying Victorian Sister Narrative Conventions. Anonymous College

Christina Rossetti wrote “For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.” Following the century of the “Rise of the Novel”, British women writers, who had been writing novels of Sensation or Manners, commonly used subplots of sister relationships to push their stories forward. Rhoda Broughton, is until this day, remembered as a sensational novelist with a knack for brazen heroines, who’s transgressive actions would eventually lead them to a conversion of passion to spirituality. Broughton’s work, thought of as wildly inappropriate due to her heroines exploring their sexuality fairly openly, was immoderately circulated amongst all classes. This popularity was mirrored in Broughton’s life. Although she never married, she was recognized for her parties and lively conversation. Cometh Up As a Flower, her second novel published in 1867, presents Eleanora Lestrange (Nell), the youngest girl of a impoverished noble family, who is manipulated by her sister Dorothea (Dolly) into a loveless marriage. She falls in love with Richard M’Gregor (Dick), a soldier she instantly becomes infatuated...