The Odd Women

The story opens on a breezy afternoon in 1872 Clevedon, where the dependable Dr. Madden walks with his eldest daughter, Alice, along the sea‑soaked cliffs. He confides that he will secure a thousand‑pound life insurance, a practical step for a man whose modest medical practice has barely covered a large family’s needs. His gentle, self‑effacing manner reveals a father who wishes to shield his girls from the heady anxieties of money, believing that such concerns belong solely to men.

At home the Madden household hums with quiet ambition. Six daughters—Alice, Virginia, Gertrude, Martha, Isabel and the sprightly five‑year‑old Monica—share a world of books, poetry and modest schooling, each encouraged to nurture a mind as well as a modest social standing. While Dr. Madden speaks of a future where humanity rises above “sordid cares,” the everyday realities of a Victorian household linger just beyond the doorway, setting the stage for subtle tensions between duty, aspiration, and the simple hopes of a family bound together by love.