The Stone of Chastity

by Margery Sharp
Category: "Fiction - Humorous Novels"
Pages:180
Year of Publication:1940
Date Added:02/25/2021
Date Read:09/27/2022
Notes:Armed Services Edition

Professor Pounce, researcher of folklore, hears a story about a stone of chastity, located in a creek near the small village of Gillenham. Legend has it that no woman who has fallen before marriage or cheated in marriage can step on the stone without falling into the water. The story is told mostly from the point of view of Nicholas, the professor's nephew, who has been dragged along to help. The professor's plan is to have all the women in the village step on the stone. Opposition rises from the very proper Mrs. Pye, but the rest of the women in town are happy to take the test and cross the creek without mishap. The only ones who fall are Carmen, brought along by the professor because of her known past, as a test case, and Nicholas's own mother, who confesses that she and Nicolas's father were never properly married. Nobody really believes the stone works, but the women of the town who passed the test are happy to pretend it's true.
My Rating: 6

Reviews for The Stone of Chastity

Review - Stone of Chastity, The

Rather amusing concept and plot, but the story wanders a lot into various sub-plots involving Nicholas and three girls that don't really have anything to do with the main story.
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