Charlotte Yonge, Magnum Bonum

Talia Schaffer (Queens College, CUNY)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
The Magnum Bonum, or, Mother Carey's Brood

(1879) is the last of Charlotte M. Yonge's very popular family sagas. The Brownlow family, headed by the inexperienced young widow Caroline, includes headstrong Janet, mischievous Jock, and three other siblings. Their father had been pursuing a remarkable medical discovery when he died, nicknamed “The Magnum Bonum” and he enjoins Carey to bequeath his notes to the most deserving son. Janet is actually the most brilliant doctor of the family, but her very ambition for the Magnum Bonum proves her unworthy of it. When Jock represses his rebelliousness, Carey awards him the Magnum Bonum – but ironically, it is no longer medically useful. The novel is particularly poignant in its depiction of a strong woman (an early female doctor) devastated by…

148 words

Citation: Schaffer, Talia. "Magnum Bonum". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3771, accessed 29 March 2024.]

3771 Magnum Bonum 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.