Letter from Bond Street, by Bessie Hollins
An original letter written in a nineteenth-century voice; a period simulation, not an archival document.
In this letter, written in 1863, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been apprenticed to a fashionable dressmaker in London writes home to her mother in the country.
Dearest Mother, I am so sorry not to have written before now, but you will forgive me when I tell you that it is the Season, and that Madame has more orders than she has ever had, so that there has not been a minute. You must not worry about me. I am very well and very happy, and I am learning a great deal.
You would not believe the silks, Mother. On Monday we began a ball dress for a young lady who is to be presented at Court, in a white glacé silk so fine that you can see your hand through it, with forty yards of tulle and a hundred little rosebuds to be sewn on by hand. I was allowed to do twelve of the rosebuds myself, and Madame said only two of them must come off again. When it was finished and hung up on the stand, all sixteen of us stood round it without speaking, it was so beautiful.
We work in a long room at the top of the house, under the roof. There is a skylight, but it does not open, and when the gas is lit in the evening it is very warm. In the busy weeks we sit until twelve or one, and on Wednesday, when the ball dress was promised, we did not go to bed at all, but Madame sent up strong tea at three o’clock to keep us going, which was kind of her. We sleep six in a room in the next house, and Kitty, who is from Norwich, shares my bed. She is my dearest friend here and she makes me laugh about everything.
The food is plain but there is enough of it, and on Sundays we have meat. My eyes are a little weak with the fine work, but Kitty says everybody’s are at first, and that they get stronger.
Please do not tell Father that I fainted last Thursday. It was only the heat, and I was quite well again after a glass of water, and Madame was not at all cross. I only mention it because Kitty has written to her own mother about it, and I did not want you to hear it from anybody else and think it was something.
When the Season is over in July we are to have a whole week at home. I count the days. Give my love to Father and to Tom and Lizzie, and tell Lizzie I have saved her a piece of the white silk for her doll. Your loving daughter, Bessie.
“The writer is happy in her new life in London.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
You should comment on:
You must refer to the text to support your comments.
120 exam-style questions on Eduqas GCSE English Language 2.1.1 Two unseen non-fiction texts, 19th and 21st century. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.