Gertrude's Commonplace Book

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. “From Aurora Leigh, First Book by Elizabeth...” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/145567/aurora-leigh-book-1. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Gerturde's entry

I truly do just love this passage. I feel as if it encompassases my own life, and I can draw courage from it, as the narrator will not give up, so nor will I. I found this book at the local library in the poetry section a few weeks before father died. Soon after he died, I…

Gertrude's entry

How I've always wanted to travel! I expected by the age of 20 to have already been through Europe, meeting new people in every city. However, with father's death, I had to completely change my plans in life. I relied on the idea that father's wealth would help me travel the world independently, but his death caught me and all of my sisters by surprise, and his inheritance wouldn't help us survive long enough to settle down or find a career. We were thrown into the world with $500 and few skills to aid us, but, using our father's connections to very wealthy and very…

Gertrude's Entry

This is an image that I received from the lovely Conny Graham, who was travelling through France with her husband Mr. Graham, who believed that I could be a teacher, and I also believe that may be a possibility. They said that the traits that people define me as, such as caring, a leader, hard-working, intelligent, and a good writer would make me a good teacher, but I'm hesitant to believe them as I think they're being polite. However, taking on the motherly role for my sisters, learning about photography and art helped me realize that, as long as I put effort into…