Rhoda Fleming — Complete

In a quiet Kentish parish, the modest brick house of Queen Anne's Farm stands beneath a tangled wall of ivy and flint, its garden a riot of tulips, dahlias and stubborn poppies. Mrs. Fleming, the keen‑hearted mistress of the home, tends the beds with a poet’s devotion, naming her first daughter after a prize‑winning dahlia and the second Rhoda, a child drawn to quiet Bible study and the enduring cycles of bloom. The sisters grow up amid gossip‑filled fields, their lives framed by the rhythm of planting, harvest, and the occasional clash between rural propriety and personal ambition.

As the seasons turn, Mrs. Fleming’s fervent love of flowers meets the harsh realities of a farm that struggles to put food on the table, prompting neighbours to mutter about “vanity” and “weeds” in a respectable garden. Yet she clings to a simple creed—good bread, good beef, and sturdy children—insisting that beauty and sustenance can coexist. The first act sets the stage for a subtle battle between aesthetic desire, familial duty, and the expectations of a community that watches every blossom.