Reviews

This book was bonkers and I loved it. It had everything from a man convicted of murder insisting he's innocent to a woman abandoning her husband and children, only to be abandoned in turn by the man who tricked her into running off, plus a few cases of mistaken identity. The plots are so implausible even the characters comment on how implausible they are, but it's a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for some escapist literature.

ruthiella's review against another edition

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3.0

I think I am laboring under the misconception that I love Victorian era literature. The more I read, the more I am coming to believe that I may just love Dickens and Trollope.

I was annoyed throughout most of the first half of East Lynne because the author heavily foreshadowed EVERY plot point. I know that this does not bother some readers; I know that people go to see Shakespeare tragedies performed even though they are fully acquainted with the knowledge of who dies at the end; however, when I read, I LIKE TO BE SURPRISED. I was a little heartened when a murder mystery storyline was introduced, but then I figured out who the murderer was in about two pages …*sigh*. Also obnoxious was the fact that for this tragic novel to work, the characters had to be completely OBTUSE and never tell anyone the truth, until it is too late, of course. I found the second half to be better; I still knew which way the train of tragedy was chugging, but I was along for the ride by then. And it got a little nutty it a sort of fun, soap opera like-way when one character returns in disguise and no one recognizes him/her. And there is a final deathbed scene which is absolutely over-the-top.

This title was my choice for the “Classic Written by a Woman” in the Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 hosted at the blog Books and Chocolate. If you like high melodrama, this is your book. Personally it was a bit too much for me.

riannab21's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bellagaiadodd's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

silverliningsandpages's review against another edition

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4.0

The author Ellen Wood builds on the preoccupation of the Victorian middle classes with the degeneration of decent society. This is another classic example of “sensation fiction” as it bears all the racy hallmarks of what were considered appalling (but fascinating) themes. It has it ALL going on....murder, seduction, promiscuity, elopement, passion, jealousy, divorce, villainous tricksters, disguises, fraud and diseases!

jessicaxmaria's review against another edition

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2.0

Generally, a terrible book. But kind of fascinating? I mean... mostly quite predictable (duh, that awful cad Levison who stole away Lady Isabel is also the murderer who framed Richard Hare! It just took 800 pages to get there...)... but this reads like some moral soap opera for those times. The Lady Isabel decides to run away because a somewhat hot dude was like "hey, your husband's cheating on you I bet," and then because obvs she made the wrong move, she's suddenly the saddest person on the planet, pregnant with the cad's baby, deserted by said cad, and then in a horrible train accident that kills the baby and leaves her disfigured. Everybody thinks she's dead and then she tortures herself by disguising as a governess to be with her kids. And the last part of the book is just a bunch of "isn't this crazy? That she has to witness all this? But don't forget, she made the worst mistake a woman could make and now she's paying for it." COOL.

Also, Miss Corny is the worst. I'm so glad I don't have to read about her again. The fact that Isabel exonerates her in the end for not being part of the reason she was driven out was total bullshit.

You know, totally low-brow fun.

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