Scan barcode
chalkletters's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
As mentioned in my The Mill on the Floss review, Romola is the high water mark showing how far through George Eliot’s works I made it when trying to read the entire canon of a single author. During my last attempt, I’m not even sure I made it to the title character before giving up, and I can still see why! I’ve previously praised Silas Marner and Adam Bede for being easier to read than I expected, but Romola was hard going all the way through. I’m starting to wonder if it’s a historical fiction problem, because I similarly struggled with Rob Roy.
While George Eliot gives a lot more historical context in Romola than she does in her English novels, it’s not enough and it’s not particularly engaging. It’s not crucial to the plot that readers understand the conflict between Florence and Rome, or the religious debate happening between various flavours of Christianity, but the book might read better with some background knowledge because without it, certain passages are a slog of detail not moving the plot and characters forward.
The character-focused stories are interesting! Tito is an incredibly morally flawed character who sits at the centre of a web of consequences, all of which he’s trying to avoid. Wanting to find out whether he succeeds or fails is definitely enough to keep a reader going, even without the nobler and more likeable characters who rotate around him. Tessa and Romola are similar to Hetty and Dinah in the way George Eliot describes them, but they have a very different dynamic.
There’s a lot of potential for drama, even without a full understanding of the cultural context, but Romola never quite lives up to that potential. The ending, in particular, all came a bit too quickly and wrapped up too neatly. Romola’s conversion to Christianity was another place that lacked the necessary depth, which undermined the whole of the Girolamo Savonarola plot line.
I don’t think Romola will be one of the George Eliot novels that I revisit, but I’m glad I can say I’ve read it now and finally take it off my TBR!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Murder
Minor: Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
More...