Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

3 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Confinement, Classism, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal cruelty

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm often cautious when it comes to classics, as I find some of them dull and hard to read. This one held my attention, and I was really happy to have discovered it.

Lady Audley's Secret is a mystery novel with a hint of Gothic and feminism. It is steeped in the prejudices and discriminations of its time, but also offers a nuanced view that was quite welcome. For instance, it places female beauty on a pedestal, but questions the relation between beauty and moral values. It tells the story of wealthy people, but also includes a couple of poor characters (the treatment of which leaves to be desired, but deserves to be noted nevertheless).

At the heart of the story is the mysterious disappearance of a barrister's best friend shortly after he came back from Australia, and how this may or may not be related to the wedding of an old lord with a young a pretty governess (this part is sometimes very uncomfortable when the lord refers to his wife as his child, keep that in mind). The author finds a balance between the barrister's prejudice towards women and the point of view of the young lady, which represents half of the narration. The suspense may not last long for modern readers, but it's the kind of story where you are given some final clues at the very end, so that even if you can guess some elements, you really get the full picture at the time of the final reveal.

Overall, it may not be a new favourite, but it's a book I enjoyed and would recommend with the caveat stated above.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Murder

jowmy4's review against another edition

emotional mysterious relaxing slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Other content worth warning about: bigamy. Regarding the portrayal of mental illness, people with a fairly academic interest about historical and cultural perspectives of "madness" will probably find this book quite interesting, but I suspect that people who are personally affected may find it incredibly upsetting because

one of the characters has "latent insanity", and is essentially the villain of the story. Note also the 'forced institutionalisation' warning.

I also considered warning for homophobia or biphobia because

the main character is almost certainly in love with his (male) friend, and later falls in love with that friend's sister, who looks just like him. So both the main character and the book itself seem to carry some internalised homophobia or biphobia.

The main character, though likable (in my opinion - your mileage may vary), holds some views which are somewhat uncomfortable to modern audiences, especially about women. The author tries to give some sort of an explanation for his opinions about women, but it's a weak excuse at best and not really logically consistent with the timeline of when he has those thoughts. If you going to read this novel, I would say that you have to be prepared to be "preached to". I think that's a warning that can probably apply to most literature of the era (I think all that I have read lately have had at least one moment where the authorial voice gets a bit "preachy" about religious or moral matters, and that's to say nothing of the characters) but the moral preaching does seem particularly strong here.