A review by kumipaul
Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

3.0

As I began this book, I mistakenly thought that I could simply read it as I would read any novel. However, I was frustrated to follow "the story" as the verse got in my way. I found myself wading through the imagery of the poem in search of a plot, when I recognized my error and began to read the verse as a true poem and let the meaning appear as it might through the images. Some sections remained frustrating, when I felt that Aurora was rambling on about life and love in general, while Aurora's descriptions of her travel south through France to Italy were beautiful. The story had strong feminist elements in Aurora, and while Romney was sometimes the object of her derision, he was never really a bad guy. I enjoyed the relationship between Aurora and Marion Erle, and overall, once I accepted the book as more poem than novel, I found it a worthwhile read.