{"id":718,"date":"2014-07-08T16:02:45","date_gmt":"2014-07-08T16:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/?page_id=718"},"modified":"2016-07-04T04:23:31","modified_gmt":"2016-07-04T04:23:31","slug":"on-the-carpet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/?page_id=718","title":{"rendered":"On the Carpet"},"content":{"rendered":"
On the Carpet<\/div><\/div>\n

The term, on the carpet<\/em>, meant, \u201cunder consideration or discussion,\u201d and, in Penelope Skinner\u2019s world, it specifically referred to a belle\u2019s status as unattached and marriageable. Penelope\u2019s letters paint an unusually clear and vivid portrait of the lives of elite young women of the Upper South in the late 1830s.<\/p>\n

As this sparkling correspondence opens, thirteen-year-old Penelope (1818-1841) and her younger brother Trim (1820-1862) are semi-orphans exiled to distant boarding schools from the malarial climate of their plantation home in Edenton, North Carolina. They are partners in solitude, close companions, a single indivisible family unit. Outspoken and independent, Pen shares her innermost thoughts with her brother as she recounts her life as a belle \u201con the carpet.\u201d From an exhilarating whirl of parties and beaux, Pen\u2019s life descends over a period of three years into \u201cthe blues prodigious bad.\u201d After thirty offers and three failed highly publicized engagements, her search for a husband turns desperate; she considers eloping out West with a penniless young doctor. When she finally marries at twenty-one, she undergoes an almost immediate transformation into a virtuous matron \u2013 pious, demure, obedient. Her account of her pregnancy in 1840 is unique for this period of women\u2019s writing.<\/p>\n

The lives of young white southern women who came of age in the 1830s and 1840s are not well represented in published primary sources. Penelope Skinner\u2019s fresh voice fills that gap and sheds new light on the complex social, familial, and romantic elements of antebellum courtship; the precarious nature of marriage negotiations; and the sheer exhausting frustration of being both pawn and agent while \u201con the carpet.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this scholarly, thoroughly researched account, Maillard (The Belles of Williamsburg, 2015, etc.), a Skinner descendant, has assembled a valuable collection of primary sources and provided illuminating notes, comments, illustrations, and an extensive bibliography and index<\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kirkus Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A fascinating, scholarly glimpse into what it meant to be a Southern belle<\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kirkus Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

On the Carpet<\/strong>\u00a0offers much to scholars and the general public in format and substance, on topics that appeal to both audiences, in an accessible and enticing format. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Mary Sherrer<\/a>,\u00a0Pinckney Papers Projects, University of South Carolina.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Read a sample letter<\/a><\/span> or purchase the ebook from Kindle<\/span><\/a> iBooks<\/span><\/a><\/span> or Kobo<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Carpet<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The term, on the carpet, meant, \u201cunder consideration or discussion,\u201d and, in Penelope Skinner\u2019s world, it specifically referred to a belle\u2019s status as unattached and marriageable. Penelope\u2019s letters paint an unusually clear and vivid portrait of the lives of elite … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":725,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4M6TH-bA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/718"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3695,"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/718\/revisions\/3695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnerfamilypapers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}