Sign-In
Cart
The Absentee
Paperback
Publisher: Bibliotech Press
Published: Nov 24 2025
Pages: 190
Weight: 0.52
Height: 0.48 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Maria Edgeworth's The Absentee explores the moral and social consequences of absentee landlordism in Ireland through the story of Lord Colambre and his misguided parents, Lord and Lady Clonbrony. Living extravagantly in London, the Clonbronys neglect their Irish estate, relying on corrupt agents who exploit tenants and drive the family deep into debt. Lady Clonbrony, desperate to be accepted by English high society, goes so far as to deny her Irish identity, becoming a figure of satire and social critique.
Concerned by rumors of financial ruin and determined to discover the truth, Lord Colambre travels secretly to Ireland. There he witnesses firsthand the suffering caused by mismanagement and the dishonesty of the estate agents. His journey becomes a moral awakening, revealing his responsibilities both to his family and to Ireland itself.
Colambre ultimately exposes the corruption, persuades his parents to return home, and restores justice to the estate. With the family's affairs set right, he is free to marry Grace Nugent, whose reputation is cleared of false scandal. The novel ends by affirming that true nobility lies not in fashionable appearances but in duty, integrity, and an honest connection to one's community.
About the Author
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, education theorist, and one of the most influential literary figures of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Born in Oxfordshire, she spent most of her life at the family estate in County Longford, Ireland, where her writing was shaped by both the intellectual milieu of her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and the social realities of rural Irish life.
Edgeworth is widely regarded as a pioneer of the regional novel, using vivid local detail and carefully observed dialect to portray Irish society with a realism that was innovative for her time. Her early works, including Castle Rackrent (1800), combined satire, social commentary, and narrative experimentation, earning praise from contemporaries such as Sir Walter Scott, who later credited her as an inspiration for his own historical fiction.
Alongside fiction, Edgeworth was deeply invested in educational reform, collaborating with her father on treatises that emphasized rational upbringing, moral instruction, and the importance of nurturing children's natural curiosity. Her novels often reflected these pedagogical concerns, blending entertainment with moral purpose.
Despite the political upheavals of her era-including the Act of Union and recurring tensions between Anglo-Irish landlords and Irish tenants-Edgeworth wrote with a commitment to empathy, practical reform, and cross-cultural understanding. Her clear-sighted, humane portrayals helped shape the early development of realist fiction and left a lasting mark on Irish and British literature. Maria Edgeworth remains celebrated today for her skillful narrative voice, progressive views on education, and nuanced exploration of national identity.
19 different editions
Also available
The Absentee: An Anglo-Irish Novel of Estate, Responsibility, and Social Reform
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Absentee: An Anglo-Irish Novel of Estate, Responsibility, and Social Reform
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
Also from
Edgeworth, Maria
Maria Edgeworth - Tales & Novels. Volume I (of II): "If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves."
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Patronage: 'Promises are dangerous things to ask or to give''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Richard Lovell Edgeworth: A Selection From His Memoirs
Edgeworth, Maria
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Paperback
Memoirs of Richard Lovel Edgeworth, Begun by Himself and Concluded by His Daughter, Maria Edgeworth
Edgeworth, Maria
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Hardcover
Letters for Literary Ladies: To Which Is Added, an Essay On the Noble Science of Self-Justification
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Helen: 'It is not so easy to do good as those who have never attempted it may imagine''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - The Parent's Assistant: 'Confidence is the best proof of love''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Ormond: 'Business was his aversion; Pleasure was his business''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - An Essay on Irish Bulls: 'Obtain power, then, by all means; power is the law of man; make it yours''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Love and Law: 'Tyranny and injustice always produce cunning and falsehood''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Manoeuvring: 'No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Leonora: 'Artificial manners vanish the moment the natural passions are touched''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Early Lessons; (Volume Iv) Containing The Conclusion Of The Continuation Of Rosamond, And The Continuation Of Harry And Lucy
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Lazy Lawrence Tarlton, False Key, Being The First Volume Of The Parent'S Assistant, Or, Stories For Children
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Barring Out, Eton Montem, Being The Sixth Volume Of The Parent'S Assistant, Or, Stories For Children
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Old Poz, le Vieux Positif ou le Père Positif, petite comédie à cinq personnages: à l'usage des classes élémentaires
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Absentee: An Anglo-Irish Novel of Estate, Responsibility, and Social Reform
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
Practical Education; by Maria Edgeworth, ... and by Richard Lovell Edgeworth, ... of 2; Volume 2
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
Popular tales. By: Maria Edgeworth, and By: Richard Lovell Edgeworth: (Story collections), Volume II.
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Popular tales. By: Maria Edgeworth, and By: Richard Lovell Edgeworth: (Story collections), Volume I.
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. I
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. I
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. II
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. III
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. IV
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. IV
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
Fatherless Fanny: or, the Memoirs of a Little Mendicant, and Her Benefactors: a Modern Novel; VOL. IV
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
Castle Rackrent and The absentee. By: Maria Edgeworth AND Anne Thackeray Ritchie ( NOVEL )
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Harry and Lucy Concluded;: Being the Last Part of Early Lessons; Volume III
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
The Ballad Singer: or, Memoirs of the Bristol Family: a Most Interesting Novel; VOL. II
Edgeworth, Maria
Hardcover
Practical education. By: Maria Edgeworth and By: Richard Lovell Edgeworth: Practical Education is an educational treatise written by Maria Edge
Edgeworth, Maria
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Paperback
Maria Edgeworth - Tales of Fashionable Life: 'No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at''
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Fatherless Fanny: or, the Memoirs of a Little Mendicant, and Her Benefactors: a Modern Novel; VOL. IV
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Castle Rackrent and The absentee. By: Maria Edgeworth, illustrated By: Chris Hammond (1860-1900). Introduction By: Anne Thackeray Ritchie: Castle Rack
Ritchie, Anne Thackeray
Edgeworth, Maria
Hammond, Chris
Paperback
The Children's Miscellany: Part IV.: Consisting of Select Stories, Fables, and Dialogues, for...
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Tales and Novels (Volume 8 -- Patronage Concluded; Comic Dramas; Leonora; and Letters)
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Practical Education (Volume I): In Two Volumes, Vol. I.
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, Maria
Paperback
Practical Education (Volume II): In Two Volumes, Vol. II.
Edgeworth, Maria
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Paperback
Also in
Classic Fiction
James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 1 (Loa #26): The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie
Cooper, James Fenimore
Hardcover
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paperback
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Hardcover
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Hardcover
The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Revised and easy-to-read)
Bunyan, John
Vermilye, Alan
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Shelley, Mary
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Paperback