In Dimple Hill, we enter a new phase in Pilgrimage. London is left behind. Much of the book takes place on the Roscorla family farm near Windmill Hill in Sussex. Instead of a hectic schedule of work, Lycurgan lectures, meeting with friends, visiting cafes, and writing and talking late into the night, the days are quiet, slow, and filled with reading, thinking, and observing.
However, in the structure of the book there are also signs of Dorothy Richardson’s increasing physical and creative exhaustion. Of the 15 chapters in Dimple Hill, the last 8 average under four pages each. Richardson’s long chapters and long sentences start to fall away. Richardson was 62 when the book was published and had spent decades living on the edge of poverty and consumed with translations, housekeeping, and care for her husband. So, ironically, as Richardson was writing about Miriam’s time of recouperation and redirection, she herself was struggling to keep to the creative course she had set for herself.
Chapter 1
Staying with Florence and Grace Broom, Miriam joins them on a visit to Chichester Cathedral. She recalls her farewell to Mr. Hancock and thinks of herself as ready to join “company with the self she had known long ago.”
Chapter 2
After a week with the Brooms, Miriam is boarding with Mrs. Peebles (“the old woman”). She recalls being in a forest as a child and goes out to explore the countryside. She thinks of various people and especially of reading Ralph Waldo Emerson and discussing him with Hypo Wilson: “Emerson saw everything. The outside, as well as the inside things you don’t believe in.” The next day she attends a Church of England service and recalls the joy of being out in the country.
Chapter 3
A flashback to before her departure from London. She sees Amabel, now involved romantically with Michael Shatov. She recalls a letter from Michael suggesting, “If you are seeking a quiet place for your writing, why should you not go to the family of my fellow-boarder here….” as she approaches the Roscorla’s farm, where she sees “a little group of grey-clad Quaker women, smiling a gentle welcome.”
Chapter 4
Miriam’s first evening at the Roscorla’s.
Chapter 5
A long chapter tracing Miriam’s first day at the farm. She breakfasts with the family, talks with Richard, one of the two brothers doing much of the farm work, visits a nearby church, reads, watches the rain, has tea with Mrs. Roscorla, walks by the greenhouse, and after supper, sits with the family as Richard reads from the Bible. She feels herself experiencing “a depth of gladness” in the sound his reading.
Chapter 6
Miriam works thinning grapes in the greenhouse. Later, she meets a neighbor, Miss Shillingfold, whom she finds abrasive.
Chapter 7
Miriam has tea with Rachel Roscorla and recalls a visit by Mr. Hancock, the dentist, to her family’s home in Abingdon years before she went to work for him. She goes with the Roscorlas to a Quaker meeting and reflects on how the Quakers accept Frankie, “the local idiot.” We become aware of a mutual attraction between Miriam and Richard Roscorla.
Chapter 8
Miriam cleans the Roscorla’s summer house and recalls an earlier visit with Michael and Amabel. She reflects on her past attempts at writing.
Chapter 9
Some weeks into her stay, Miriam reflects on her growing friendship with Rachel Roscorla.
Chapter 10
Miriam talks with Mr. Mayne, a Quaker now also staying with the Roscorlas. She tells Alfred of a visit to the nearby coast.
Chapter 11
Miriam feeds the ducks and thinks of a recent day when Richard was away from the farm.
Chapter 12
Miriam recalls a picnic with Richard, Rachel and others. Later, talking with Rachel, she feels a need to reestablish her independence. “Let me go … send me away before it is too late,” she begs.
Chapter 13
Back in London, Miriam meets with Amabel, who shows off her wedding dress. She goes to the Registry Office with Michael, Amabel, and Amabel’s brother Tony for the civil ceremony.
Chapter 14
Miriam encounters Hypo Wilson at a Lycurgan meeting. They both say they plan to leave the Lycurgans. Hypo suggests that he visit Miriam at the Roscorla’s, but she puts him off: “‘You wouldn’t see them. Coming deliberately down, with a prepared spy-glass, you wouldn’t see them.”
Chapter 15
Miriam writes to Amabel, telling of her plan to leave the Roscorlas. Mrs. Harcourt, an acquaintance from Oberland has told her of an affordable pension near Geneva that she may visit.