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cattytrona's review against another edition
4.0
lady emily you will always be famous!! (this is obvi a wry joke, given she's a supporting character in a forgotten novel, but it's also indivative of a great tragedy, in that i've never met a character more worthy of being played in a tv drama adaption by an up-and-coming english actress who in 10ish years will have settled into a mildly mainstream hollywood career, in which marriage (bbc) is nought but a random footnote for her most committed fans. does this sentence make sense? tough)
ferrier is kind of an astoundingly readable writer - and you never feel it more than in the one chapter written by her friend, where the pace slows right down. but most of the book flies by, in a way which belies the time that's passed between writing and reading, because it reads so well. sure, there are tangents into tastes and philosophies of the moment, but if you're open to a little skimming, there's no impediment there.
marriage is not really a romance, which the austen comparisons unfortunately force expectation of - even though that is to ignore the secondary nature of the romance in, like, mansfield park. but i think the novel's just as interesting (if less transportive, sweeping) for its ironic disinterest in marriage plots. it's about marriage, not just weddings, and all that comes with and after it: affection, boredom, household management, regret, children, family, death, tragedy. and all from the perspective of women, in a way that's probably more radical than today can give it credit for. there's also something cool in the structure, and how time is taken out of the plot proceedings to be recieved into the rooms of various marriages, not least because the brief, satirical swings into random lives and loves seems to mimic the function of women's social lives at the time: it's all family, with only these fleeting visits into other houses to set templates or form ideas of what relationships might be.
not a life-changing book, a low four stars, but enjoyable. as much worth time and study as several more prominent classics
ferrier is kind of an astoundingly readable writer - and you never feel it more than in the one chapter written by her friend, where the pace slows right down. but most of the book flies by, in a way which belies the time that's passed between writing and reading, because it reads so well. sure, there are tangents into tastes and philosophies of the moment, but if you're open to a little skimming, there's no impediment there.
marriage is not really a romance, which the austen comparisons unfortunately force expectation of - even though that is to ignore the secondary nature of the romance in, like, mansfield park. but i think the novel's just as interesting (if less transportive, sweeping) for its ironic disinterest in marriage plots. it's about marriage, not just weddings, and all that comes with and after it: affection, boredom, household management, regret, children, family, death, tragedy. and all from the perspective of women, in a way that's probably more radical than today can give it credit for. there's also something cool in the structure, and how time is taken out of the plot proceedings to be recieved into the rooms of various marriages, not least because the brief, satirical swings into random lives and loves seems to mimic the function of women's social lives at the time: it's all family, with only these fleeting visits into other houses to set templates or form ideas of what relationships might be.
not a life-changing book, a low four stars, but enjoyable. as much worth time and study as several more prominent classics
bookmarkhoarder's review against another edition
funny
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
allie_shu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
eososray's review against another edition
3.0
It probably bodes ill that I could not remember what this book was about at all and had to track down a synopsis before I could write a review. It's only been 7 weeks since I finished it, I should have been able to remember something.
I like the setting in Scotland, it was a nice change from the typical London and Bath locations these stories usually take place in.
I did find that there was too definitive a line between the good, the bad and the silly characters. No one was ever a mix of two or three of these characteristics.
And as per usual, the goody two shoes heroine is just uninteresting and often ridiculous in her scruples. It's hard to like her at all, or all the people creating the impediments to her happiness. It is all so trifling, at least to my modern mind.
I like the setting in Scotland, it was a nice change from the typical London and Bath locations these stories usually take place in.
I did find that there was too definitive a line between the good, the bad and the silly characters. No one was ever a mix of two or three of these characteristics.
And as per usual, the goody two shoes heroine is just uninteresting and often ridiculous in her scruples. It's hard to like her at all, or all the people creating the impediments to her happiness. It is all so trifling, at least to my modern mind.
thenovelbook's review against another edition
3.0
Susan Ferrier was a Scottish author, somewhat contemporary to Jane Austen (although she lived longer and published her novels a bit later). She is sometimes called "Scotland's Jane Austen," so of course I was curious to check out Marriage, her most well-known work, as my first choice of book during Georgianuary.
I can see why she is compared to Austen, although it does her a disservice, because no one can truly match Austen for wit and economy of language. Still, Ferrier paints amusing enough portraits. I suspect that a 19th-century reader would have found much more to laugh at than I did. My chuckling moments were rather far between.
This is a tale of two generations. Lady Juliana marries for love and regrets it (because she expects to always be wealthy, pampered and amused). Her husband takes her from England to his native Scotland, and she HATES it. One of the funniest scenes in the book is her introduction to the bagpipe, and her husband's family's total confusion at why she would be frightened of such an innocuous thing. As soon as she can leave, she does, but not before bearing twin daughters. She mildly approves of one baby and is actively disgusted by the cries and ill-health of the other. Her sister-in-law, a kindly, rational, loving woman, begs to be allowed to raise the second daughter as her own, and thus the households are split.
Fast-forward about 18 years. Mary (the second daughter) has grown up into a well-adjusted, sensible, pretty girl with a sense of humor. When she goes to England to meet her long-estranged mother and sister, she's in for some rude shocks. They are cold and selfish. Mary's only ally is her cousin Emily, an honest though sometimes short-tempered girl who speaks her mind and comes to admire Mary, even though she doesn't always agree with her.
The novel examines the effect various behaviors and choices in marriage have on a person's happiness. Some love-marriages are unsuccessful, but some mercenary marriages are equally so. Mary watches and measures these different situations against the upbringing she had in Scotland, before finally engaging herself to a man that offers her every chance at a loving and rational happiness.
I liked Mary very much, I liked that she wasn't a stupid heroine, and that she was often said to laugh. She is very religious, but not judgmental of other people, and she isn't gullible or overly sentimental most of the time.
What kept me from liking this book more was that key moments of drama were glossed over. For instance, the moment when she and her suitor become engaged takes up... a couple of sentences. In fact, from that moment on there's not one line of dialogue between them. Not very satisfying. I recognize, of course, that the purpose of fiction has changed somewhat over time. Where we now expect to be entertained and to feel every feeling of our heroine, in the past the narrative's larger purpose was to illustrate lessons or broad commentary on life.
There were also whole chapters that introduced characters that were non-essential to the plot and never appeared again. Clearly, they fit into the theme of the novel, but a modern reader grows impatient with them.
I liked that the chapters were quite short (although the book itself was long), and Susan Ferrier is much more readable than Jane West (another female Georgian author from a couple of decades prior, whom I read last month). There was less moralizing and more story. But most of the time she doesn't approach the sharp prose of her neighbor to the south, Jane Austen.
I can see why she is compared to Austen, although it does her a disservice, because no one can truly match Austen for wit and economy of language. Still, Ferrier paints amusing enough portraits. I suspect that a 19th-century reader would have found much more to laugh at than I did. My chuckling moments were rather far between.
This is a tale of two generations. Lady Juliana marries for love and regrets it (because she expects to always be wealthy, pampered and amused). Her husband takes her from England to his native Scotland, and she HATES it. One of the funniest scenes in the book is her introduction to the bagpipe, and her husband's family's total confusion at why she would be frightened of such an innocuous thing. As soon as she can leave, she does, but not before bearing twin daughters. She mildly approves of one baby and is actively disgusted by the cries and ill-health of the other. Her sister-in-law, a kindly, rational, loving woman, begs to be allowed to raise the second daughter as her own, and thus the households are split.
Fast-forward about 18 years. Mary (the second daughter) has grown up into a well-adjusted, sensible, pretty girl with a sense of humor. When she goes to England to meet her long-estranged mother and sister, she's in for some rude shocks. They are cold and selfish. Mary's only ally is her cousin Emily, an honest though sometimes short-tempered girl who speaks her mind and comes to admire Mary, even though she doesn't always agree with her.
The novel examines the effect various behaviors and choices in marriage have on a person's happiness. Some love-marriages are unsuccessful, but some mercenary marriages are equally so. Mary watches and measures these different situations against the upbringing she had in Scotland, before finally engaging herself to a man that offers her every chance at a loving and rational happiness.
I liked Mary very much, I liked that she wasn't a stupid heroine, and that she was often said to laugh. She is very religious, but not judgmental of other people, and she isn't gullible or overly sentimental most of the time.
What kept me from liking this book more was that key moments of drama were glossed over. For instance, the moment when she and her suitor become engaged takes up... a couple of sentences. In fact, from that moment on there's not one line of dialogue between them. Not very satisfying. I recognize, of course, that the purpose of fiction has changed somewhat over time. Where we now expect to be entertained and to feel every feeling of our heroine, in the past the narrative's larger purpose was to illustrate lessons or broad commentary on life.
There were also whole chapters that introduced characters that were non-essential to the plot and never appeared again. Clearly, they fit into the theme of the novel, but a modern reader grows impatient with them.
I liked that the chapters were quite short (although the book itself was long), and Susan Ferrier is much more readable than Jane West (another female Georgian author from a couple of decades prior, whom I read last month). There was less moralizing and more story. But most of the time she doesn't approach the sharp prose of her neighbor to the south, Jane Austen.
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
The Scottish Jane Austen...?
When Lady Juliana is ordered by her father to marry a Duke she doesn’t love for money and social advantage, the girl refuses. Spoilt and with her head full of romantic ideas, instead she elopes with her young lover, Henry Douglas – a handsome but penurious Scotsman. Henry has relied on his guardian to keep him in style, but the guardian is furious about his marriage and cuts him off. Soon, the shallow and vain Juliana realises that living on love is not nearly as much fun as living in luxury. As their funds dwindle to nothing, they are forced to beg shelter from Henry’s father, a rather insignificant and uncouth laird in the Highlands. Their marriage continues to worsen, but Juliana bears twin daughters, one healthy, one sickly. When Juliana gets a chance to return to London, she promptly takes it, taking the healthy daughter, Adelaide, with her and leaving the other, Mary, in the hands of her sister-in-law. The story carries us through Juliana’s marriage and on to the lives of her two daughters, showing how their different upbringings determine their personalities.
Apparently when this book was originally published in 1818, it was hugely popular, outselling even Jane Austen. Now, on its recent re-publication, Ferrier is being touted as “the Scottish Jane Austen”. I fear not. While Austen’s books sparkle with wit and intelligence, this one, though often humorous, has nothing like the lightness of touch nor the true insight into society of Austen’s work. It’s grossly overlong and has large stretches of pure sentimentality that would make even Dickens cringe.
Part of the problem is that, in conjunction with so many Scottish authors following the Union, Ferrier was probably writing with an English audience in mind, and I assume that’s why she felt it necessary to drag all her characters down to London for the largest section of the book. While the Scottish sections are fun and give a believable if deliberately caricatured picture of Highland life and Edinburgh society, once she reaches London there is no sense of place and the society she describes feels considerably less authentic, more as if it’s based on books Ferrier has read than on a lifestyle she has lived and observed.
The other major flaw is one common to many writers of that era – the drooping perfection of her main female character, the good sister Mary. Often, these drearily angelic women are surrounded by quirky or dastardly characters who liven the story up, and there are some of these in this book, too. But for my taste we spend far too much time with the saintly Mary and hear far too much about her religious scruples – about her religion in general, in fact. Regular readers of my reviews will know by now that Scotland has an unhealthy relationship with religion due to the misogynistic old killjoy Knox and his buddy Calvin. And, goodness! Mary has been well trained by her pious foster-mother to see anything the least bit fun as the temptation of the Devil.
Adelaide, on the other hand, never comes to life as a character at all. There primarily to provide a contrast to Mary, her purpose is to show what happens to girls brought up by shallow mothers to consider wealth and status all-important. I felt she could either have been made hissably unlikeable (like Lady Catherine de Bourgh) or perhaps have caused the reader to pity her (like Mrs Collins) or even allowed us to laugh at her (like Mrs Bennet). But in fact I never felt I had got to know her at all, and therefore felt nothing for her.
Fortunately, the book has some redeeming qualities that make it reasonably enjoyable despite its weaknesses. Juliana’s reaction to the rough, unsophisticated life of Henry’s Highland family gives room for a lot of humour in the first section, as does Ferrier’s description of the Highland landscape as a bare, harsh, barren place of rain and mud. More realistic than the prettified, shortbread box version of the Highlands that was beginning to be created by those of a Romantic inclination at that time. As Mary travels south years later to visit her mother and sister, she stops off in Edinburgh, and Ferrier creates some excellently caricatured characters there, almost in the vein of Dickens.
The best bit for me, though, is the character of Mary’s English cousin, Lady Emily. Sarcastic and independent, Emily relentlessly mocks the aristocratic society of which she’s a part and supports droopy Mary through all her trials. One can tell Emily’s opinion of Mary’s constant moralising and rejection of fun is rather similar to my own – i.e., one suspects she often wants to slap Mary with a wet fish. But for some reason, despite this, Emily grows to love Mary and indeed, (to my horror), even occasionally wonders if she should emulate her. If there is any resemblance to Austen, it’s in the character of Emily, and it was she, not Mary, who kept me turning pages.
Overall, I enjoyed parts of the book a lot but felt that I had to trudge through too much moralistic sentimentality along the way. I’m not a great enthusiast for the women-writing-about-women-for-women type of book in general, and think this would probably work better for people who do enjoy that. It’s certainly good enough that it doesn’t deserve to have been “forgotten”, but to compare it to Austen does it a disservice by setting up expectations it doesn’t meet. As entertainment, this one has much to recommend it in parts, but neither the quality of the writing nor the depth of insight it provides take it into the true literary fiction category. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Lady Juliana is ordered by her father to marry a Duke she doesn’t love for money and social advantage, the girl refuses. Spoilt and with her head full of romantic ideas, instead she elopes with her young lover, Henry Douglas – a handsome but penurious Scotsman. Henry has relied on his guardian to keep him in style, but the guardian is furious about his marriage and cuts him off. Soon, the shallow and vain Juliana realises that living on love is not nearly as much fun as living in luxury. As their funds dwindle to nothing, they are forced to beg shelter from Henry’s father, a rather insignificant and uncouth laird in the Highlands. Their marriage continues to worsen, but Juliana bears twin daughters, one healthy, one sickly. When Juliana gets a chance to return to London, she promptly takes it, taking the healthy daughter, Adelaide, with her and leaving the other, Mary, in the hands of her sister-in-law. The story carries us through Juliana’s marriage and on to the lives of her two daughters, showing how their different upbringings determine their personalities.
Apparently when this book was originally published in 1818, it was hugely popular, outselling even Jane Austen. Now, on its recent re-publication, Ferrier is being touted as “the Scottish Jane Austen”. I fear not. While Austen’s books sparkle with wit and intelligence, this one, though often humorous, has nothing like the lightness of touch nor the true insight into society of Austen’s work. It’s grossly overlong and has large stretches of pure sentimentality that would make even Dickens cringe.
Part of the problem is that, in conjunction with so many Scottish authors following the Union, Ferrier was probably writing with an English audience in mind, and I assume that’s why she felt it necessary to drag all her characters down to London for the largest section of the book. While the Scottish sections are fun and give a believable if deliberately caricatured picture of Highland life and Edinburgh society, once she reaches London there is no sense of place and the society she describes feels considerably less authentic, more as if it’s based on books Ferrier has read than on a lifestyle she has lived and observed.
The other major flaw is one common to many writers of that era – the drooping perfection of her main female character, the good sister Mary. Often, these drearily angelic women are surrounded by quirky or dastardly characters who liven the story up, and there are some of these in this book, too. But for my taste we spend far too much time with the saintly Mary and hear far too much about her religious scruples – about her religion in general, in fact. Regular readers of my reviews will know by now that Scotland has an unhealthy relationship with religion due to the misogynistic old killjoy Knox and his buddy Calvin. And, goodness! Mary has been well trained by her pious foster-mother to see anything the least bit fun as the temptation of the Devil.
Adelaide, on the other hand, never comes to life as a character at all. There primarily to provide a contrast to Mary, her purpose is to show what happens to girls brought up by shallow mothers to consider wealth and status all-important. I felt she could either have been made hissably unlikeable (like Lady Catherine de Bourgh) or perhaps have caused the reader to pity her (like Mrs Collins) or even allowed us to laugh at her (like Mrs Bennet). But in fact I never felt I had got to know her at all, and therefore felt nothing for her.
Fortunately, the book has some redeeming qualities that make it reasonably enjoyable despite its weaknesses. Juliana’s reaction to the rough, unsophisticated life of Henry’s Highland family gives room for a lot of humour in the first section, as does Ferrier’s description of the Highland landscape as a bare, harsh, barren place of rain and mud. More realistic than the prettified, shortbread box version of the Highlands that was beginning to be created by those of a Romantic inclination at that time. As Mary travels south years later to visit her mother and sister, she stops off in Edinburgh, and Ferrier creates some excellently caricatured characters there, almost in the vein of Dickens.
The best bit for me, though, is the character of Mary’s English cousin, Lady Emily. Sarcastic and independent, Emily relentlessly mocks the aristocratic society of which she’s a part and supports droopy Mary through all her trials. One can tell Emily’s opinion of Mary’s constant moralising and rejection of fun is rather similar to my own – i.e., one suspects she often wants to slap Mary with a wet fish. But for some reason, despite this, Emily grows to love Mary and indeed, (to my horror), even occasionally wonders if she should emulate her. If there is any resemblance to Austen, it’s in the character of Emily, and it was she, not Mary, who kept me turning pages.
Overall, I enjoyed parts of the book a lot but felt that I had to trudge through too much moralistic sentimentality along the way. I’m not a great enthusiast for the women-writing-about-women-for-women type of book in general, and think this would probably work better for people who do enjoy that. It’s certainly good enough that it doesn’t deserve to have been “forgotten”, but to compare it to Austen does it a disservice by setting up expectations it doesn’t meet. As entertainment, this one has much to recommend it in parts, but neither the quality of the writing nor the depth of insight it provides take it into the true literary fiction category. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
chocolateclaire's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This story hasn't been designed with plot in mind (because nothing much happens) so I could say it's more character-driven, but with a big *. This story is not designed for the characters to go on a journey and learn from all their mistakes, I find it's more about them realising and regretting their youthful misadventures, but being unable to do anything about it. Henry and Juliana's relationship kept me entertained for most of the story (Lady Juliana is a wonderful character to dislike) but when they are out of the picture, I felt the story slow down a little too much. My first impressions of Mary aren't particularly good, she feels a little flat at the moment. I'd have to see how her character turns out in the next volume, but I suspect she won't develop either.
vanessa_vi's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
annagrac's review against another edition
2.0
I love Georgette Heyer and thought this would be somewhat similar. I was rather disappointed in that it is not a typical romance plot of boy meets girl, but more of a family saga. If you like that kind of thing it's well-written and you may well enjoy it. I'd recommend this book if you enjoyed A Civil Contract or Pencarrow or maybe even the Poldark series.