Reviews

East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood

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anthvl82's review

emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Apparently there is a racier, slang-ridden first edition of this that was later edited to be more "appropriate". I'm not sure which version I got but it was terribly tedious. It really took about 200 pages before it became the least bit interesting and then it was just one ridiculous impossibility after another after that. Why am I giving it three stars? Because it's sort of like a super cruddy soap opera---it goes on and on so unbelievably that you can't help but be hooked and by the time you realize you've been had, you're emotionally invested and have to keep at it. The morals of the story are 100% right on and I'm impressed to see a woman writing about a strong, Godly, sensitive, leader of a husband and father, but it does all seem a bit far-fetched. Still, this was on the "Best 100 Books List" published in 1899 so I suppose it was dear to at least a generation or two.

I was not at all pleased with the way it ended---I really wanted "Madame Vine" to have a happier ending. There were several memorable moments and lines that I appreciated. This was my favorite:

"The very hour of her departure she awoke to what she had done...Oh, reader, believe me! Lady--wife--mother! Should you ever be tempted to abandon your home, so will you awake. Whatever trials may be the lot of your married life, though they may magnify themselves to your crushed spirits as beyond the endurance of woman to bear, resolve to bear them; fall down upon your knees and pray to be enabled to bear them; pray for patience; pray for strength to resist the demon that would urge you to escape; bear unto death , rather than forfeit your fair name and your good conscience; for be assured that the alternative, if you rush on to it, will be found far worse than death."

This book hit home a little and maybe I'm expressing that in my cynical attitude. I was that kid from that family whose mother/wife ran off with another man. All has been forgiven but can't be forgotten and sometimes the grief is overwhelming. I can't help but wonder how our world would look now had the Victorian sense of morals and duty been promoted into the 20th and 21st centuries.

rach_eb's review

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3.0

Wow, what a wild ride. This seems to be going for a Middlemarch-esque narrator effect, but it comes off like Middlemarch would if it was super salacious and lacked its subtlety and nuance. I do appreciate the scandal of it all, but the moralizing got tiresome and the plot was just a liiiiittle too unbelievable for me (a husband not recognizing his wife because of colored glasses and baggy clothes? Really?).

amylynn_p's review

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slow-paced

2.0

laurenjpegler's review against another edition

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3.0

quite slow but a really good story! don’t think the audiobook was for me tho…

saralynnburnett's review

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5.0

Have you met a book that you carry around all day and pull out of your purse to eagerly read at every moment you can spare? I've met a few and this is one of them. I even found myself reaching for it while stuck in traffic! (terrible, I know). East Lynne is the very definition of a Victorian sensation novel - murder, disguise, exile, deception, a love triangle, humor, a horrific train accident, - it had it all. I hesitate to talk about any plot details because this book launches right into the drama in the first chapter... just read it, you won't regret it. I can't for the life of me figure out why this book isn't more widely read since it has all the twists of a Wilkie Collins novel and the lovely conversational tone of an Anthony Trollope book. I wish I could find more Ellen Wood books available in print but I can't seem to!

indianajane's review against another edition

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4.0

I have wanted to read East Lynne for a while, because it is one of those novels that women in other novels are reading. I enjoyed the story more than I anticipated and was amused by the omniscient narrator's interjections. While there is some scandal in the book, it isn't the "scandalous" book that I had expected. This is probably the epitome of Victorian sensation literature, and if you enjoy English literature you should get your hands on it.

maplessence's review

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3.0

3.5★

I nearly gave up on this title, but I was reading this as a group read & Charlene (one of the moderators of the Women's Classic Literature Enthusiasts) encouraged me to carry on - & I'm very glad I did.

This is an interesting book. Wood I think has a naturally engaging writing style and used a lot of dialogue to drive her narrative forward. One of the main problems for me was that even allowing for Lady Isabel's start in life with a very selfish father, is her sickliness and determination to take the worst possible view of other characters actions - except for the person she really should be wary of!

By the middle of Part Two the unrelenting misery was getting to me a bit and if it hadn't been a group read I would have made this a DNF. And this would have been a pity as this book is not only about Isabel and her elopement with the dissolute Francis Levison.

But the third part ties things together really nicely! The boredom I felt in the middle had made me forget that there was also a murder mystery in the first part. It becomes very obvious who the murder is but

Spoiler

I did enjoy reading him getting his comeuppance - and a ducking!

Of course in this age, Isabel must pay for her crimes against society. But although improbable this part does have some touching moments.

Illustration from my copy

I don't think I will read another Wood title, but I'm glad to have read her most popular title. It shows an interesting take on Victorian morality.