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currerbell's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not quite sure how to evaluate this novel because my thoughts on it are all over the place. When I started to read it, I really enjoyed Braddon's style of writing. However, it quickly become repetitive. I'm not only referring to the Victorian tropes that she uses, as well as the flat, uninteresting characters, but the writing itself. I soon felt like I was reading the same thing - Isabel's naive fancies and her romantic views of life and death - over and over and over again. Braddon likes to repeat the same ideas and the same sentences, which made for a tedious read. Although I did come to like and sympathize with Isabel for her sentimental fantasies and always having her head in a book, and although the ending was better than I expected, it was overall a disappointing read.
wenda's review against another edition
2.0
It's quite clearly a copy of the premise of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (written about six or so years earlier). A young woman with vague, poetic aspirations marries a steady country doctor and is unsatisfied with the life he offers in a rather spoiled yet not mean kind of way. Romantic intrigue follows.
Although The Doctor's Wife is not a bad book per se, it has too many weaknesses to be enjoyed properly. It's very repetitive, both when it comes to expressing ideas as well as literally the choice of words. In a way, it's the kind of novel that's alright for a beach holiday, but shouldn't be observed too closely from a literary standpoint.
You can enjoy it for what it is, simple entertainment, but I wouldn't advise anyone to seek it out especially - you're so much better off with Flaubert's Madam Bovary, I might put that one on my re-read list now!
Although The Doctor's Wife is not a bad book per se, it has too many weaknesses to be enjoyed properly. It's very repetitive, both when it comes to expressing ideas as well as literally the choice of words. In a way, it's the kind of novel that's alright for a beach holiday, but shouldn't be observed too closely from a literary standpoint.
You can enjoy it for what it is, simple entertainment, but I wouldn't advise anyone to seek it out especially - you're so much better off with Flaubert's Madam Bovary, I might put that one on my re-read list now!
bookslovejenna's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Five things about The Doctor’s Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon 5/5⭐️s
1. Part Madame Bovery and part Anne of Green Gables Isabel Gilbert is “not a woman of this world”. She’s a character that longs for the passion and ideals she reads in all her novels. Reality hold little allure for her.
2. This book had me laughing out loud…guffawing really. It was just a surprisingly joyful reading experience for such a serious set of themes.
3. Ultimately, this is Braddon’s response to all her critics that belittled her works for their “sensational” aspects. This book is overflowing with allusions as Braddon tries (with apparent desperation) to establish herself as well-read.
4. While there’s no adultery in this plot - there is the woman in an unhappy marriage to a man that simply cannot relate to her. It’s her very otherworldliness- her imagination- that draws him to her but it’s exactly that that acts as a chasm between them.
5. One of the joys of this book are all the side characters. Braddon is such an excellent storyteller that even her army of insignificant characters and multiple loose ends don’t bother me in the least.
6. I genuinely enjoyed this book. Including the ending Isabel receives. Highly recommend.
1. Part Madame Bovery and part Anne of Green Gables Isabel Gilbert is “not a woman of this world”. She’s a character that longs for the passion and ideals she reads in all her novels. Reality hold little allure for her.
2. This book had me laughing out loud…guffawing really. It was just a surprisingly joyful reading experience for such a serious set of themes.
3. Ultimately, this is Braddon’s response to all her critics that belittled her works for their “sensational” aspects. This book is overflowing with allusions as Braddon tries (with apparent desperation) to establish herself as well-read.
4. While there’s no adultery in this plot - there is the woman in an unhappy marriage to a man that simply cannot relate to her. It’s her very otherworldliness- her imagination- that draws him to her but it’s exactly that that acts as a chasm between them.
5. One of the joys of this book are all the side characters. Braddon is such an excellent storyteller that even her army of insignificant characters and multiple loose ends don’t bother me in the least.
6. I genuinely enjoyed this book. Including the ending Isabel receives. Highly recommend.
bookwormandtheatremouse's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
poisoned_icecream's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
pgchuis's review
2.0
2.5* rounded down. George, "the Doctor", visits his friend Sigismund at his lodgings and falls in love with the landlord's daughter, Isabel. Isabel is addicted to novels and seeks to live as a fictional heroine, but nevertheless agrees to marry the prosaic George. Then she meets a rich neighbour, the idle Roland, and begins a very romantic dalliance with him.
Initially I quite enjoyed this story, and all the scenes featuring Sigsmund and his endless plotting of his trashy instalment novels were entertaining. I also perked up every time the wise and straight-talking Mr Raymond appeared. However, the plot moved very slowly and repetitiously, and then at the end went a little berserk, admittedly with a couple of twists I hadn't anticipated. There was a fair amount of sentimentality and death bed repentance etc - I was skimming to an extreme extent for the last 10%. The very frequent references to the novels Isabel had read and to the characters in them and the ways said characters suffered or loved etc became extremely tiring and was a much overdone device.
Apart from the slow pace and the Victorian mawkishness, my main problem was that Isabel was so completely stupid, helpless, passive and naive, and that I did not believe for a moment that Roland would have felt anything more than a passing attraction to her. She would have driven him mad after 5 minutes. Also, why did Isabel and George not have a baby, or at least express concern that they had not?
Initially I quite enjoyed this story, and all the scenes featuring Sigsmund and his endless plotting of his trashy instalment novels were entertaining. I also perked up every time the wise and straight-talking Mr Raymond appeared. However, the plot moved very slowly and repetitiously, and then at the end went a little berserk, admittedly with a couple of twists I hadn't anticipated. There was a fair amount of sentimentality and death bed repentance etc - I was skimming to an extreme extent for the last 10%. The very frequent references to the novels Isabel had read and to the characters in them and the ways said characters suffered or loved etc became extremely tiring and was a much overdone device.
Apart from the slow pace and the Victorian mawkishness, my main problem was that Isabel was so completely stupid, helpless, passive and naive, and that I did not believe for a moment that Roland would have felt anything more than a passing attraction to her. She would have driven him mad after 5 minutes. Also, why did Isabel and George not have a baby, or at least express concern that they had not?
capriciousreader's review
3.0
I think this is really more of a 3.5. Need to think on it some, it's early yet to completely decide, but it's not a 4 and I don't think it's a 3. So 3.5 will do.
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