Esther Waters By George Moore (Annotated Edition)

Book excerpt: Esther Waters is a novel by George Moore, first published in 1894, but subsequently revised several times. It is widely considered Moore's finest novel. Esther Waters concerns the eponymous heroine, a poor but pious woman whose life takes an unfortunate series of turns that end up pitting her personal conscience against prevailing social standards.Esther Waters begins by describing Esther's upbringing by devout Plymouth Brethren parents in a small town in Devonshire. The Plymouth Brethren was a small, non-conformist evangelical church that others often looked at askance. Esther's father dies while she is young, and her mother moves the family to London. There she remarries to a man who is abusive to both her and Esther. Esther's stepfather pulls her out of school before she learns to read or write - a decision that will haunt her the rest of her life.Esther gets a job working for the Barfields, a family of newly wealthy horse breeders and racers. She takes a position as a kitchen maid. During her tenure with the Barfields, the young - and beautiful - Esther fatefully meets a footman named William Latch, who seduces and impregnates her. William promises to marry Esther, but elopes with the Barfields' niece, with whom he has been having an affair, leaving Esther pregnant and abandoned. Once Esther's pregnancy becomes obvious, Mrs. Barfield - a fellow Plymouth Sister, and a friend to Esther - regretfully fires Esther because, she says, she would make a poor example to the other girls.Esther returns to London, renting a room outside her family home to avoid her stepfather. Her mother dies giving birth to her eighth child at the same time as Esther finally gives birth to her own son, a healthy baby boy named Jack. Esther's younger sister comes to her during her confinement to beg for money for a trip to Australia - the family is going to emigrate.Desperate for money, Esther decides to become a wet nurse, taking a job suckling the child of a wealthy woman. The woman disallows Esther to be in contact with her own child out of fear of disease, so Esther has to place her own son in the care of a baby farmer. When Esther does visit her son, he is sickly, and Esther fears for his life. She immediately reclaims her child, ending her employment with the wealthy woman, and resigning herself to the fact that she will now have to enter a workhouse for food and shelter. She has no other choice.