Life-tangles : $b or, The journal of Rhoda Frith

"Life-tangles" by Agnes Giberne is an epistolary novel written in the late 19th century. It follows Rhoda Frith, a candid seventeen-year-old diarist, as she wrestles with temper, jealousy, duty, and faith amid domestic frictions after her mother’s return from India, the presence of older cousins Clarissa and Juliet, and the care of toddler twins. When tensions peak, a stay with her principled Uncle Basil and saintly, invalid Aunt Marian, and the example of the overburdened yet steadfast Millicent Farrars, begin to redirect her toward humility and service. The opening of the novel shows Rhoda eagerly awaiting her mother’s homecoming, only to be stung by a flat reunion, clingy twins who reject her, and cousins who seem to manage everything. In journal entries she veers between resolutions and outbursts: chafing at correction, failing at early-morning practice, struggling to teach the twins, and resenting Juliet’s “meddling,” until her mother’s gentle but firm reproofs and Uncle Basil’s frank talk expose her self-will—along with the revelation that the cousins are actually subsidizing the household. After a public flare-up over a proposed visit, Rhoda’s mother decrees a three-month stay with Uncle Basil, where Rhoda meets calm, incisive Aunt Marian and is set to useful tasks; she also encounters Millicent Farrars, a quietly heroic rector’s daughter running a large, frugal home. The excerpt closes with a hinted thread—Millicent’s telltale reaction to the name Ernest Derwentwater and her father’s wary questions—signaling complications to come.