Besides the Shuttle, what else has Persephone abridged?

I just posted on my blog about the Shuttle being abridged and it's sparked a lot of discussion. You can read it here:
http://theliterarystew.blogspot.com

Someone posted a question asking if besides the Shuttle, what else has Persephone abridged? It's a good question and unfortunately I couldn't find the answer to that on the internet. Does anyone know?

Tuppy - on a site I went on it said that the Ffolliott character was the one cut. Check your Persephone copy for mention of him. In my 100 year old copy there is an extensive scene featuring him from page 158 on (Chapter - The Particular Incident). I thought him sort of pivotal to the book. He is always off camera but he is the means the evil husband uses to blackmail his wife.

Romain - There definitely wasn't a character called Ffolliot in the Persephone version. Pivotal to the book? That's shocking that they cut him out then. Do you know why Persephone abridged the book? I do wonder why they did as they do publish a lot of long books like Dorothy Whipples' for example, without condensing them.

I'll really have to read the original someday!

You should comment on my site and mention exactly what you said. I think it makes for an interesting discussion. No one quite knew what was cut or what the differences were between the two versions. Thanks for answering my questions.

Tuppy - on my way to bed. The gist of Ffolliott is that he is a local clergyman concerned for the beleaguered wife. His attempts to help her are translated by the evil husband into an affair. This keeps the beleaguered wife where she is for fear of losing her child and her reputation. If the charge of an affair becomes public the clergyman will also be ruined. His name crops up briefly at the end - I think. I will try to remember where I read all this and get back to you tomorrow. For me he was important in explaining why the wife was so bloody helpless.

Romain - this is really intriguing! I can't believe Persephone cut this out! I couldn't understand why she was so helpless and there seemed to be a lapse of quite a number of years between the time she got married to the time Bettina grew up and decided to find out what happened to Rosalie. I couldn't understand how she lived with her husband all that time without attempting to get help from her family.
Oh, I would love for you to comment on my post about this! It really caused a lot of discussion but no one seemed to know what exactly was cut out.

Romain - ok I just checked my Persephone edition (it's been a while since I read it). There is a clergyman called Ffolliot and a chapter called A Particular Incident. In it Rosalie tells Bettina about the young clergyman who tried to help her and how her husband translated their friendship into an 'affair.' So it is in the Persephone! I don't know if the 100 year old version had a more extensive plot line or not. I completely forgot about this character though because he never appears since he is just mentioned by Rosalie.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1903155614/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=U...

Hope this link works to the Amazon page. The reference to Ffolliott is in one of the 4 reviews. I don't know how much he is cut out of the Persephone edition because I don't own it but this is where I got my information from.

Romain- thanks for the link. It's true that in the Persephone he is just referenced in that chapter as a friend from the past who tried to help her. We never actually meet Ffolliott. In the original, are there actual scenes with Rosalie and Ffollliot?

You know what Tuppy - we don't. He is mentioned in passing a few times and, having read the above mentioned review, I fully expected him to reappear but if he does, I missed it. I thought he was a plot device to justify Betty not immediately horse whipping the caddish husband and throwing him out. And of course to justify why the wife doesn't just leave etc.

Perhaps after all Persephone just edited out some of the purple prose. Or 50% of the peasants swooning in delight at Betty's feet (she is after all seriously over the top and adored by so many people in the book, half a dozen could be safely blue pencilled without losing the gist of the novel.) There are several chapters in the book devoted to doting peasants bowing and scraping. p.283 - "... she stopped the carriage before old Doby's cottage... and Doby, standing up touching his forelock and Mrs Welden curtsying, gazed at her with prayer in their eyes..." Eeeek! So perhaps they just chopped those sort of things and left all the main characters.

oooh yes, that's way too much! I would have been really annoyed! If that's the case then Persephone did a great job. Bettina was a wonderful character and so enterprising! Really a strong female heroine.

Full text of The Shuttle is available from Project Gutenberg

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/506

Romain - I've written to Nicola and got a few answers but she's quite busy so I wasn't able to find out what exactly was cut out. Can you give me the name of the chapter where I can find page 283 that you referenced above? The pages are different in the Persephone edition.

Someone mentioned also that is was the typewriter salesman who was cut out of the book but that wasn't so. However, in hindsight, I don't understand why he appeared anyway. Basically he becomes friends with the man who will eventually be Bettina's husband, sells her some typewriters and visits her dad when he goes back to NY. Was there much more than this?

The chapter was A Particular Incident. I thought the typewriter guy completely unnecessary too. I think he was another plot device. An excuse for the would be suitor to visit Bettina - to see his old mate the typewriter guy. Also 'comic relief'? But no - he wasn't in it more than you state.

I am listing the chapters to see if they removed an entire chapter - something purely descriptive for instance. I am not going to type the complete chapter name but just enough so you can compare to the Persephone copy.

The weaving of the shuttle
A lack of...
Young lady...
A mistake of...
On both sides of...
An unfair...
On board...
The second class...
Lady jane Grey
Is Lady Anstruther...
I thought you had...
Ughtred
One of the...
In the gardens
The first man
The particular...
Townlinson...
The fiftenneth...
Spring in Bond St
Things occur
Kedgers
One of Mr...
Introducing...
The Political...
We began to...
What it must be...
Life
Setting them...
The thread of...
A return
No she would not
A great ball
For Lady jane
Red...
The tidal wave
By the roadside
Closed corridors
At Shandys
On the marshes
Don't go on..
She would do...
In the ballroom...
His chance...
A footstep...
The passing bell...
Listening...
I have no word...
The Moment
At Stornham...
The Primeval thing

Phew! 50 in all.

Romain - thanks so much for typing that! The Persephone edition has only 25 chapters. The second chapter for example is missing, "A Lack of..." Also missing: "On board", "Is Lady Anstruthers", " I thought you had", etc... I see that they also renamed some chapters. In place of the latter two for example is a chapter called "You didn't forget?"

Persephone's book has 476 pages. How many does yours have?

The Chapter called "Lady Jane Grey" for example is not in it...later you lissted another one "For Lady Jane" which is also missing in mine. Why is she in the book? Is that the character from history, the queen who reigned for 6 days?

If you go to the Project Gutenberg link I put up you can see all the chapter headings without having to type anything. For example scroll down on this page to see chapter headings with live links http://www.gutenberg.org/files/506/506-h/506-h.htm

Digfish, thanks for that. I didn't see the chapter headings when I first went to the link. On first inspection, it's very difficult to say exactly what was cut. Chapters 1 and 2 appear to have been merged for example into one.

I forgot to say thanks to you Tuppy for contacting Nicola about this. I don't have a PB copy of The Shuttle. I wondered whether the preface or introduction even mentions that the book is abridged? I don't mind if a book is abridged so long as it is declared up front! :)

digfish- I'm trying to gather as much info as I can as I want to do a follow-up post about it next week. Nicola was very helpful but of course she was quite busy and couldn't recall exactly what was cut.
Well, that's the thing, the Persephone edition only says it is abridged on the publication info page in small print. Of course, no one ever really reads that page. I didn't even know till someone mentioned it. It's not stated on the preface or inside title page.

My book has 512 - but that is close enough with different typeface etc.

After she arrives in England she goes on a tour of London and during her time at the Tower discusses L J Grey. I can see we could lose that chapter (p.92-98) with no trouble. For Lady Jane is p328-343 and contains a lot of dialogue. But it was not possible of course to have a follow up chapter to one you have deleted, so perhaps the name was changed.
On Board cannot be missing because it is there she meets the love interest. Is Lady Anstruther st Home is when she arrives at her sister's house and must also be there in some form.

I'll hand this over to you Tuppy - it is deeply confusing so let us know what you decided is missing!!!

Romain - that must be it! In the PE edition she does not go on a tour of the tower of London, nor is there a discussion about L.J. Grey. I've seen the chapters in the project Gutenberg site and there does seem to be a big chunk of that taken out. Of course, I don't know what else was removed here and there. It's possible a lot of the purple prose you mentioned from the peasants was also taken out. Anyway, will let you know when I do my post. Thanks for all your help.

So glad that you're taking this up with such interest and I look forward to reading your follow-up post.

(Paperback_Reader)

Thanks bunnyb. You know I just recently found out that you were Claire from Paperback Reader. It's so funny how many of the people with book blogs I love are actually also a part of the Virago group.

Yes, there are a few of us that are part of this group and the VMC one :). I admire people who can keep one moniker for everything!

Romain & Digfish - just posted on my blog about this topic: http://theliterarystew.blogspot.com/2009/11/shuttle-some-answers.html
Thanks to both of you for all your help. Couldn't have written this follow-up without all your leads.