These four novels of contemporary life in a small town include Miss Marjoribanks (1866), a young lady’s attempts at social climbing, and Salem Chapel (1863), a young intelligent nonconformist minister’s trials with his narrow-minded. The character of Miss Marjoribanks (that's pronounced "Marchbanks") is used by Oliphant both as a vehicle for social satire in the Victorian community and as an instrument to examine female modes of power in the Victorian home.
