B. M. Croker's Married or Single is a novel of manners that delves into the social pressures and limited options facing middle-class women in the late Victorian or Edwardian era. The title itself poses the central question that defined the lives of most women of the period, for whom spinsterhood often carried a stigma of failure. The story likely follows the lives of several female characters, often sisters or close friends, who represent different paths and attitudes towards marriage. One may be a pragmatic beauty seeking a wealthy match to secure her future; another might be a more idealistic woman holding out for love, regardless of financial considerations; and a third could represent the "redundant woman," facing the prospect of a life of dependency and limited means as a single woman. Croker, with her sharp eye for social detail, would have set their stories against a backdrop of Anglo-Indian society or life in England, exploring the rituals of the season, the complexities of courtship, and the harsh economic realities that made marriage a necessity rather than a choice for many. The novel would serve as both an entertaining social drama and a subtle commentary on the plight of women, questioning whether matrimony is the only route to happiness and respectability, or if a single life, though more challenging, could also offer fulfillment.

Table of Contents:

• Married or Single (Volume 1). Part 1

• Married or Single (Volume 1). Part 2

• Married or Single (Volume 2). Part 1

• Married or Single (Volume 2). Part 2

• Married or Single (Volume 3). Part 1

• Married or Single (Volume 3). Part 2