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A review by june_englit_phd
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth, Kathryn Kirkpatrick
4.0
“Clarence Hervey might have been more than a pleasant young man, if he had not been smitten with the desire of being thought superior in every thing, and of being the most admired person in all companies. He had been early flattered with the idea that he was a man of genius; and he imagined that, as such, he was entitled to be imprudent, wild, and eccentric. He affected singularity, in order to establish his claims to genius. He had considerable literary talents, by which he was distinguished at Oxford; but he was so dreadfully afraid of passing for a pedant, that when he came into the company of the idle and the ignorant, he pretended to disdain every species of knowledge. His chameleon character seemed to vary in different lights, and according to the different situations in which he happened to be placed. He could be all things to all men—and to all women.”
I have to admit at the outset of my review that I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped I would. This literary genre is "right up my street", and being a huge fan of classics, I had high expectations of an Austen-esque tale of a young lady coming into society. However, a quarter of the way into the book, I was beginning to find it a bit tedious and, at times, hard to follow.
The heroine of the story is Belinda Portman, who is sent by her match-making aunt to live with the fashionable Delacours in London. The problem is that Mr and Mrs Delacour don't get on well at all - he is inebriated most of the time, and seems to have illicit dealings with Mrs Luttridge; and she is flirting with Clarence Hervey - the "Mr Darcy" figure of the tale. Caught in the middle of the friendship she has with both Mrs Delacour and Clarence Hervey, things are not easy for Belinda. Throw into the mix an unpleasant admirer, (Sir Philip - who is out to make trouble in any way he can), a strange woman (aptly named Mrs Freke), jealousy, banishment, a formidable dowager, an unknown 17-year-old woman, a gambler with an obsession with roulette (and the consequences thereof) and a narrow escape for two people from disastrous marriages and you have a jam-packed-full storyline!
The novel improves as it progresses - although the ending is a little rushed. It's not what I would categorise as a "comedy", although there are some light-hearted exchanges between characters, but on the whole, is an enjoyable read.
I have to admit at the outset of my review that I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped I would. This literary genre is "right up my street", and being a huge fan of classics, I had high expectations of an Austen-esque tale of a young lady coming into society. However, a quarter of the way into the book, I was beginning to find it a bit tedious and, at times, hard to follow.
The heroine of the story is Belinda Portman, who is sent by her match-making aunt to live with the fashionable Delacours in London. The problem is that Mr and Mrs Delacour don't get on well at all - he is inebriated most of the time, and seems to have illicit dealings with Mrs Luttridge; and she is flirting with Clarence Hervey - the "Mr Darcy" figure of the tale. Caught in the middle of the friendship she has with both Mrs Delacour and Clarence Hervey, things are not easy for Belinda. Throw into the mix an unpleasant admirer, (Sir Philip - who is out to make trouble in any way he can), a strange woman (aptly named Mrs Freke), jealousy, banishment, a formidable dowager, an unknown 17-year-old woman, a gambler with an obsession with roulette (and the consequences thereof) and a narrow escape for two people from disastrous marriages and you have a jam-packed-full storyline!
The novel improves as it progresses - although the ending is a little rushed. It's not what I would categorise as a "comedy", although there are some light-hearted exchanges between characters, but on the whole, is an enjoyable read.