Pointed Roofs opens the day before Miriam Henderson and her father are to depart for Germany. George H. Thomson, whose A Reader’s Guide to Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage and Notes on Pilgrimage: Dorothy Richardson Annotated are the most complete guides to the full novel, dates this as 2 March 1893. As Thomson notes, “… in most of the individual books comprising Pilgrimage, and certainly in Pointed Roofs, a precise chronological substructure underpins the subjective surface of the narrative. Richardson wrote with the calendar before her.” This and subsequent plot summaries of the books of Pilgrimage, draws principally from Thomson’s work.
At the same time, Pointed Roofs embodies Richardson’s approach to narrative, with generous use of subjectively-chosen details and Miriam’s own thoughts and emotions, both immediate and reflective. Thus, even to describe what happens in the book as plot is perhaps misleading and goes directly against what Richardson intended. For a reader encountering Pilgrimage for the first time, however, understanding the basic sequence of events can help make sense of the narrative flow.
The organization and numbering of the chapters below reflects that of the first edition of Pointed Roofs. In the 1938 edition of Pilgrimage (and hence, of the 1967 Dent and the Virago Modern Classics editions), Dorothy Richardson reorganized the book into twelve chapters and eliminated the numbering of sections within the chapters.
Chapter I. Miriam prepares to depart to Germany, where she has obtained a post as an English teacher in a girl’s boarding school. She and her sister Harriet discuss the family’s money problems.
Chapter II. Having crossed by steamer from Harwich, Miriam and her father travel by train through the Netherlands to Hanover, Germany.
Chapter III. Miriam practices on the piano and is introduced to Ulrica Hesse, a new student. She recalls her first day at the school, which included a student concert. Miriam recalls her first English lesson at the school and her relief at finding she can handle the challenge. Later, everyone has her hair washed by Frau Krause and is told to set it in a “classical style.” Later, the students and Miriam write weekly letters home.
Chapter IV. Miriam accompanies the girls to Sunday service at a German (Lutheran) church and compares it with the English service at the local Anglican church.
Chapter V. Miriam reflects on the school’s lack of a routine. She compares the school with her own education. Activities outside the classroom are described, including visits to cafes and the dentist and Minna’s visit to an aurist (otologist). Miriam feels inadequate when she observes that Mademoiselle is more adept at engaging the girls in French conversation.
Chapter VI. A poetry reading with Fräulein Pfaff and visit to the baths. A visit from Pastor Lahmann and a game of charades. Miriam witnesses an argument between Anna and Fräulein Pfaff. The school makes a visit to a Catholic church in Hoddenheim. Minna and Miriam walk together and Minna asks Miriam to come home with her at the end of the term. Miriam plays the piano, then has a long encounter with Pastor Lahmann, which angers Fräulein Pfaff.
Chapter VII. Fräulein Pfaff reprimands Miriam for being too high-born to know how to help the servant clear the soup service. Miriam decides it is time to leave.
Chapter VIII. June. A trip to a dairy farm. Fräulein Pfaff moves Miriam to a different bedroom and Mademoiselle is upset to have to share hers with the new housekeeper. A night of thunderstorms. Miriam and Ulrica discuss confirmation. The girls go for a forest walk.
Chapter IX. The students and teachers take a trip to a country inn for tea. On the way back, Miriam observes Fräulein Pfaff and Pastor Lahmann.
Chapter X. Late June-early July. More outings. Girls talk of vacation at Nordeney on the Baltic. Fräulein Pfaff discusses Miriam’s summer plans and Miriam realizes she lacks the funds to stay. There is gossip about Mademoiselle, the French teacher, who is suspected of taking some letters, and she leaves soon after. Miriam’s sister Eve writes that their sister Harriet is engaged. Miriam departs for home by the night train.
“Endings,” Thomson writes, “are one of the conventional elements of narrative Richardson from the first rejects. Endings mean plot: ‘Plot, nowadays, save the cosmic plot, is inexcusable. Lollipops for children.'” This is one reason why Richardson saw the individual books of Pilgrimage as chapters of a whole rather than stand-alone novels.