[7] Pearn described her childhood in some detail in Marguerite Reilly, her second novel, which was closely based on her family history, spanning four generations since their arrival from Ireland in the mid-1840s,[8] and The First Rebellion, which focuses on an incident during her time as a sixth-former in a Catholic convent boarding school in London.
[2] Unable to return as planned to Madrid in the summer of 1936, as a result of the military uprising in July, Pearn became involved in the Aid to Spain movement at Oxford.
"[3] Bowen considered the characterisation of the man "a masterpiece" - he was "indolent, incalculable, conservative",[3] while the author had "succeeded in putting across on us one of the most odious, arid, shrewish and egocentric young heroines on record ... and ... in investing the love-affair ... with mystery, pain and poetry.
[6] The heroine was considered "a formidable piece of characterisation",[4] "an extraordinary study ... [a] feature of the tale is the masterly manner in which the author builds up Marguerite's portrait.
Marguerite is determined to better herself and her family; she is "boastful, unscrupulous, generous-hearted";[13] "a dominating, deplorable and heroic character, on a scale that English fiction seldom affords;"[6] "through the skill of the author, a very living person emerges.
"[13] Reviews were also carried in other leading international publications, including The New York Times (which described it as "unusual ... a total surprise"),[16] The Spectator,[17] The Listener (by Henry Reed),[18] and The Bell literary magazine, Dublin.
The Tatler recommended it "for its lack of sentimentality, for the skill with which the gloom is frequently relieved by subtle humour, and for the sheer perfection of Miss Lake's style,"[22] while The Sphere said "it is the development of the four characters ... which will hold the reader and reveal the writer's quite exceptional talent and quality.
"[21] Pearn drew on her time as a student at a Catholic boarding school in London, run by nuns from the Convent of Notre Dame de Namur, in writing The First Rebellion.
[23] The heroine, Peggy, was "a robust young person",[24] who "falls foul of a nun and goes back to school one term to find that her enemy has been appointed headmistress.
"[5] A contemporary of hers at Notre Dame School in Southwark, run by a Belgian order of nuns, provides an insight into Pearn's personal allure, as well as the extent of the achievement for a girl of her background to win a scholarship to Oxford at that time: "As well as her beauty, regal manner and reputedly formidable intellect, she had the most wonderful voice […] She sang ‘Ave Maria’ with such clear bell-like notes in the school hall at the end of term [...] Then to crown everything we heard that she had won a scholarship to Oxford University.