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A review by ruthiella
East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood
3.0
I think I am laboring under the misconception that I love Victorian era literature. The more I read, the more I am coming to believe that I may just love Dickens and Trollope.
I was annoyed throughout most of the first half of East Lynne because the author heavily foreshadowed EVERY plot point. I know that this does not bother some readers; I know that people go to see Shakespeare tragedies performed even though they are fully acquainted with the knowledge of who dies at the end; however, when I read, I LIKE TO BE SURPRISED. I was a little heartened when a murder mystery storyline was introduced, but then I figured out who the murderer was in about two pages …*sigh*. Also obnoxious was the fact that for this tragic novel to work, the characters had to be completely OBTUSE and never tell anyone the truth, until it is too late, of course. I found the second half to be better; I still knew which way the train of tragedy was chugging, but I was along for the ride by then. And it got a little nutty it a sort of fun, soap opera like-way when one character returns in disguise and no one recognizes him/her. And there is a final deathbed scene which is absolutely over-the-top.
This title was my choice for the “Classic Written by a Woman” in the Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 hosted at the blog Books and Chocolate. If you like high melodrama, this is your book. Personally it was a bit too much for me.
I was annoyed throughout most of the first half of East Lynne because the author heavily foreshadowed EVERY plot point. I know that this does not bother some readers; I know that people go to see Shakespeare tragedies performed even though they are fully acquainted with the knowledge of who dies at the end; however, when I read, I LIKE TO BE SURPRISED. I was a little heartened when a murder mystery storyline was introduced, but then I figured out who the murderer was in about two pages …*sigh*. Also obnoxious was the fact that for this tragic novel to work, the characters had to be completely OBTUSE and never tell anyone the truth, until it is too late, of course. I found the second half to be better; I still knew which way the train of tragedy was chugging, but I was along for the ride by then. And it got a little nutty it a sort of fun, soap opera like-way when one character returns in disguise and no one recognizes him/her. And there is a final deathbed scene which is absolutely over-the-top.
This title was my choice for the “Classic Written by a Woman” in the Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 hosted at the blog Books and Chocolate. If you like high melodrama, this is your book. Personally it was a bit too much for me.