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nadaoq's review against another edition
3.5
Really loved the in-depth look into Victorian village life with all its tids & bits, as well as the family relationships and friendships. Not very keen on the romances or the main plot though, and the ending felt underwhelming and unsatisfactory. Still it was definitely a worthwhile read
emmamolyneux's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bloodhoney's review against another edition
4.0
It kind of lacks a plot--the introduction made a big deal about how similar it is to Middlemarch, making this a survey of domestic life. In that respect, this was really interesting, but the romance of the thing was lame--I felt bad for Maria, I think that Margaret and Hester both deserved someone better, and that's what I'd tell Martineau.
pgchuis's review against another edition
3.0
Orphans Hester and Margaret come to the village of Deerbrook to stay with their cousin, Mr Grey, while he settles their late father's estate. Mr Hope, the village apothecary, falls in love with Margaret, but Hester falls in love with him. When Mrs Grey tells him the whole village is expecting him to offer for Hester, he does indeed marry her, despite the fact that this will mean Margaret living with them.
This took me to about 40% of the novel and after that I skimmed, so the precise details of the rest of the plot escape me. I found this novel long and, in the main, humourless. On the other hand, I very much enjoyed sections of it. The feud between Mrs Grey and Mrs Rowland was an excellent plot strand which (I think) took on darker and more dramatic proportions in the second half of the book. The insularity and lack of privacy in a small village is made very clear. One thing that puzzled me was the way, after Hester's marriage, everyone suddenly agreed she had character defects. Apart from being jealous of her sister's friendship with the governess Maria, which is surely quite natural - they were all alone in the world otherwise and Hester tried to overcome this - she seemed perfectly amiable to me. Then, after her marriage she is irrational, whiny, depressive, moody - a bit of everything really!
It was, of course, a very Victorian book; Mr Hope faints at one point through pure excess of emotion, all the characters speak matter-of-factly about what God expects of them and God does indeed come through for the mismatched Hester and Hope.
I wouldn't read it again.
This took me to about 40% of the novel and after that I skimmed, so the precise details of the rest of the plot escape me. I found this novel long and, in the main, humourless. On the other hand, I very much enjoyed sections of it. The feud between Mrs Grey and Mrs Rowland was an excellent plot strand which (I think) took on darker and more dramatic proportions in the second half of the book. The insularity and lack of privacy in a small village is made very clear. One thing that puzzled me was the way, after Hester's marriage, everyone suddenly agreed she had character defects. Apart from being jealous of her sister's friendship with the governess Maria, which is surely quite natural - they were all alone in the world otherwise and Hester tried to overcome this - she seemed perfectly amiable to me. Then, after her marriage she is irrational, whiny, depressive, moody - a bit of everything really!
It was, of course, a very Victorian book; Mr Hope faints at one point through pure excess of emotion, all the characters speak matter-of-factly about what God expects of them and God does indeed come through for the mismatched Hester and Hope.
I wouldn't read it again.
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