A review by pgchuis
The Cloven Foot by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

4.0

As per the blurb, there were many, many typos, errors and a couple of places where the text was out of order. At times it was hard to work out what a particular sentence should actually have said. With the benefit of hindsight I would have paid more for a decent version.

John Treverton will inherit a large estate from his estranged uncle, provided that he marries Laura, his uncle's ward/adopted daughter, within a year after the death. But... is John free to marry?

An enjoyable story, with lots of twists and turns and comic relief provided by Laura's friend Celia. Morally troubling to me in that

John's extremely foolish, cowardly and duplicitous behaviour was so readily forgiven by all his friends once it became apparent that circumstances had prevented him from committing bigamy (even though he had intended to) and he hadn't actually murdered La Chicot (even though he wasn't willing to allow the courts to determine this). Not sure what Laura saw in him. Also not entirely convinced George's marriage will be a happy one, but on his own head be it!