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ashleylm's review against another edition
4.0
A small, tight, perfectly-calibrated novella, that demonstrate very well the art of being just the right size and stopping in just the right place. It is sinister and insistent, and works both on the surface and as a metaphor. Well done.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
muchadoaboutashley's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
12dejamoo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Haunting, mesmerising, succinct. This book was excellent and just exactly the right length. I would liken this mastery of the thriller to that of Daphne du Maurier. Fantastic
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence and Terminal illness
ashbandicoot90's review against another edition
2.0
Takes about 90% of the way in to the book for any spooky vibes to really kick in. Pretty uninteresting.
wendoxford's review against another edition
3.0
PD James wrote the introduction to the edition I read and, on reading it, at the end of the novel, I found myself in alignment with her thoughts. The small assembly of characters could easily be dismissed as wooden or one dimensional but this is not a parody of a stereotypical sickly, consumptive woman.
It defies pigeon holing as Melly lies on her chaise-longue and is "transported" in her febrile state to 1864 as Millie - same malady, same couch, different house in the midst of her own different story and family.
It seemed to me that Laski is merely scattering possibilities and leaving the reader to draw from their own reserves to join the dots. It drills down into that familiar disorientation experienced as you drift off to sleep, that moment of transient truths. Such a clever way to kick linear narrative into the long grass.
It defies pigeon holing as Melly lies on her chaise-longue and is "transported" in her febrile state to 1864 as Millie - same malady, same couch, different house in the midst of her own different story and family.
It seemed to me that Laski is merely scattering possibilities and leaving the reader to draw from their own reserves to join the dots. It drills down into that familiar disorientation experienced as you drift off to sleep, that moment of transient truths. Such a clever way to kick linear narrative into the long grass.
piper_sh's review against another edition
4.0
Similar in tone to "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "Therese Raquin".
flappermyrtle's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book I might not have picked up, weren't it for the fact that Persephone has reprinted it and it must, therefore, be good. This as an illustration of the store I put in the Persephone crew's literary judgement.
I believe "The Victorian Chaise Longue is one of the early Persephone's - a quick check shows it was in fact the 6th novel of their run. I can see why a book such as this was chosen; it is short (about a 100 pages), thrilling, and classifies as classic Persephone both in terms of its forgotten female author and veritably twice when looking at its subject matter.
The strange story, woven through two periods of time and the mind of two - or maybe one? I was never quite sure - women in quite the same position but with bewilderingly different cultural contexts, leading to a shocking difference in their treatment. Both Milly and Melanie have had a child recently, a child they have not been allowed to see because of their TB inflammation that leaves both of them bedridden and dependent on others.
Female sexuality is the big elephant in the room in both stories, the doctors referring to 'energetic behaviour' in Melanie, exhausting herself with excitement over small things. Melanie herself, a woman in the 20th century, is able to speak of it, albeit in somewhat vague terms. In the Victorian part of the book, the word cannot be spoken, and it is incomprehensible to many characters that a woman herself would desire a man sexually. This is why it takes Melanie forever to work out what has happened to Milly, why she is in this position and, frighteningly, that she will never get better or get a proper hearing from someone who might help her. I thought this opposition was made very clear and forces home how so many women were treated as if they were porcelain dolls, not allowed any say in their recovery, their wishes often not granted as if from an unruly child rather than a fully grown adult. Reading this book in the 21st century in that sense adds a third layer, contrasting the Victorian, early-20th century and contemporary situation of women, illness and childbirth in a very interesting way. Considering campaigns like "Behandel me als een dame" in which women ask to be heard by their doctors and a call to doctors to take into account different effects medicines and illness might have on women's and men's bodies, this is still a battle that is raging.
Unfortunately, I did not feel the stifling fear many other reviewers rave on about. While the Victorian room Milly is in is painted in detail, I felt Melanie's confusion blurred it all. Additionally, her mind is so active, trying to look for solutions, way to make sense of her current situation, that I hardly realised the body was prostrate, except for when she attempts to sit up and fails miserably. I read this book lying in the sun, which might not have helped me inhabit the dark, stuffy room with its bad smell, either. The moment she realises she is inhabiting a dead body and all those around her are dead, too, the clothes rotting away, the food decayed, is morbid and dreadful, though.
The whole religion-thing is lost upon me. The idea of reincarnation appealed to me, and the story poses a few interesting questions here, but I felt it was perhaps too spiritual a turn to give to a horror story with a fairly simple premise.
Finally, that is what it is: a well-written little story with horror elements, very precise descriptions and a psychological side that makes it more interesting. It is perhaps too short to cover all the themes it would like to discuss, but that is also part of its charm, the in-medias-res nature of it all. Definitely worth a try if you like other Persephone Books or perhaps stories in the style of Edgar Allen Poe, which this reminded me of in some ways.
I believe "The Victorian Chaise Longue is one of the early Persephone's - a quick check shows it was in fact the 6th novel of their run. I can see why a book such as this was chosen; it is short (about a 100 pages), thrilling, and classifies as classic Persephone both in terms of its forgotten female author and veritably twice when looking at its subject matter.
The strange story, woven through two periods of time and the mind of two - or maybe one? I was never quite sure - women in quite the same position but with bewilderingly different cultural contexts, leading to a shocking difference in their treatment. Both Milly and Melanie have had a child recently, a child they have not been allowed to see because of their TB inflammation that leaves both of them bedridden and dependent on others.
Female sexuality is the big elephant in the room in both stories, the doctors referring to 'energetic behaviour' in Melanie, exhausting herself with excitement over small things. Melanie herself, a woman in the 20th century, is able to speak of it, albeit in somewhat vague terms. In the Victorian part of the book, the word cannot be spoken, and it is incomprehensible to many characters that a woman herself would desire a man sexually. This is why it takes Melanie forever to work out what has happened to Milly, why she is in this position and, frighteningly, that she will never get better or get a proper hearing from someone who might help her. I thought this opposition was made very clear and forces home how so many women were treated as if they were porcelain dolls, not allowed any say in their recovery, their wishes often not granted as if from an unruly child rather than a fully grown adult. Reading this book in the 21st century in that sense adds a third layer, contrasting the Victorian, early-20th century and contemporary situation of women, illness and childbirth in a very interesting way. Considering campaigns like "Behandel me als een dame" in which women ask to be heard by their doctors and a call to doctors to take into account different effects medicines and illness might have on women's and men's bodies, this is still a battle that is raging.
Unfortunately, I did not feel the stifling fear many other reviewers rave on about. While the Victorian room Milly is in is painted in detail, I felt Melanie's confusion blurred it all. Additionally, her mind is so active, trying to look for solutions, way to make sense of her current situation, that I hardly realised the body was prostrate, except for when she attempts to sit up and fails miserably. I read this book lying in the sun, which might not have helped me inhabit the dark, stuffy room with its bad smell, either. The moment she realises she is inhabiting a dead body and all those around her are dead, too, the clothes rotting away, the food decayed, is morbid and dreadful, though.
The whole religion-thing is lost upon me. The idea of reincarnation appealed to me, and the story poses a few interesting questions here, but I felt it was perhaps too spiritual a turn to give to a horror story with a fairly simple premise.
Finally, that is what it is: a well-written little story with horror elements, very precise descriptions and a psychological side that makes it more interesting. It is perhaps too short to cover all the themes it would like to discuss, but that is also part of its charm, the in-medias-res nature of it all. Definitely worth a try if you like other Persephone Books or perhaps stories in the style of Edgar Allen Poe, which this reminded me of in some ways.
beth79's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mmaadeline's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0