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llorenza's review against another edition
4.0
Voor wie al eens graag een Victoriaanse roman achterover slaat, is dit een echte aanrader. Een boek geschreven door twee vrouwen (net Vrouwendag geweest, dus dat moest ik wel vermelden) dat uitblinkt in schitterende karaktertekeningen. Het boek begint erg humoristisch, waarbij de kleine kantjes van de mensen (en hun huisdieren!) erg herkenbaar geschetst worden, en evolueert langzaam maar zeker naar een donkerder en dramatischer verhaal.
Blijkbaar zou dit boek een "vergeten klassieker" zijn (het aantal ratings op Goodreads bevestigt dit), en dat is zonde, want het is heerlijk leesvoer dat nog helemaal niet gedateerd aanvoelt en dat perfect naast het werk van Jane Austen kan staan, al is de sfeer toch lichtjes anders. Het einde is wel -hmm- apart te noemen. Of toch op zijn minst abrupt. Vandaar toch "maar" vier sterretjes.
Blijkbaar zou dit boek een "vergeten klassieker" zijn (het aantal ratings op Goodreads bevestigt dit), en dat is zonde, want het is heerlijk leesvoer dat nog helemaal niet gedateerd aanvoelt en dat perfect naast het werk van Jane Austen kan staan, al is de sfeer toch lichtjes anders. Het einde is wel -hmm- apart te noemen. Of toch op zijn minst abrupt. Vandaar toch "maar" vier sterretjes.
jloucks's review against another edition
4.0
Not my usual genre as this novel is more about romance than I usually take to, but the individuality of the characters and their well-drawn personalities drew me into this one rather unexpectedly. Quite enjoyable!
sandra_buckwell's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
gryndlepuffpaste's review against another edition
i like the idea of the ugly woman as protagonist but i was just bored whenever they weren't talking about how ugly she was
fiona_claffey_kelly's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
mfrank's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
atg's review against another edition
5.0
Excellently written. Very dark novel but with much humour. The scene is set in rural Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century. The characters: the landed gentry, the land agent, soldiers in the British army, respectable middling farmers and lower landed society and one or two servants. Interestingly the landowners are the most noble while nearly everybody else is foul or petty to a lesser or greater degree. Despite the stereotyping the characters are extremely well developed as is the plot and the prose is a sheer pleasure to read.
albatrossonhalfpointe's review against another edition
2.0
I'm really not too sure what to think of this book. For starters, I'm not entirely sure who I'm supposed to consider the focal character. It's named after Charlotte, and it ends on Charlotte, but it's mostly more focused on Francie and her trials and tribulations, to which Charlotte certainly contributes, but only sort of.
And then there's the fact that the story also focuses fairly on Francie's romantic life, and again, I just don't know what to think. Am I supposed to root for any of her three suitors? It reminds me a little of Twilight in that respect: all of the options are terrible in their own ways, and "none of the above" really should be an option.
I mean, you've got Hawkins, who's a total non-starter. He's an utter scoundrel who leads Francie on with what is obviously no intention whatsoever of ever actually marrying her. Only when she ends up married to someone else does he truly give her the time of day, and even there, he pulls out all the pick-up artist negging stops, with such gems as "You're not a bit like what you used to be. You seem to take a delight in snubbing and shutting me up. I must say, I never thought you'd have turned into a prig!" Like, seriously, dude? You seduced her, never told her you were already engaged, went off and started ignoring her letters, and when you deign to give her the time of day after she's moved on, you get all whiny about her daring to be upset with you? Ugh. What's worse though, is that I guess it worked? From the beginning, he was always the one she was in love with, and no amount of assholery is sufficient to change that, right to the end, which is perhaps the most infuriating part.
Then there's Lambert. He's not quite as obviously awful as Hawkins, but he came across as pretty skeezy right from the beginning to me, because he came across as considerably older than her (not so old, I guess, as to be considered unsuitable at the time) and the relationship always seemed very paternal or at least avuncular. But at the same time, he was also clearly chasing Francie. So between the combination of fatherliness and horndogginess and the fact that he was also married to someone else at the time, he's also just straight up gross.So when she finally ends up marrying him (after his wife dies), even though there are some elements of their relationship and situation that make sense, it's still just icky.
So that leaves Christopher. He's clearly the best match, even though she doesn't really feel that way about him. They got on pretty well, though, and he's not inherently an asshole, so if she could have just gotten past the whole Hawkins nonsense, they probably could have made a perfectly lovely life together. So I suppose in his case, it's not so much that he's terrible; it's just that she basically can't see him because of Hawkins. And that's just sad.
And then there's the ending. I've already spoiled thewhole marrying Lambert thing, but I'll keep quiet about the ending, except to say that it occurs very suddenly, and leaves you with a very WTF sort of feeling.
And then there's the fact that the story also focuses fairly on Francie's romantic life, and again, I just don't know what to think. Am I supposed to root for any of her three suitors? It reminds me a little of Twilight in that respect: all of the options are terrible in their own ways, and "none of the above" really should be an option.
I mean, you've got Hawkins, who's a total non-starter. He's an utter scoundrel who leads Francie on with what is obviously no intention whatsoever of ever actually marrying her. Only when she ends up married to someone else does he truly give her the time of day, and even there, he pulls out all the pick-up artist negging stops, with such gems as "You're not a bit like what you used to be. You seem to take a delight in snubbing and shutting me up. I must say, I never thought you'd have turned into a prig!" Like, seriously, dude? You seduced her, never told her you were already engaged, went off and started ignoring her letters, and when you deign to give her the time of day after she's moved on, you get all whiny about her daring to be upset with you? Ugh. What's worse though, is that I guess it worked? From the beginning, he was always the one she was in love with, and no amount of assholery is sufficient to change that, right to the end, which is perhaps the most infuriating part.
Then there's Lambert. He's not quite as obviously awful as Hawkins, but he came across as pretty skeezy right from the beginning to me, because he came across as considerably older than her (not so old, I guess, as to be considered unsuitable at the time) and the relationship always seemed very paternal or at least avuncular. But at the same time, he was also clearly chasing Francie. So between the combination of fatherliness and horndogginess and the fact that he was also married to someone else at the time, he's also just straight up gross.
So that leaves Christopher. He's clearly the best match, even though she doesn't really feel that way about him. They got on pretty well, though, and he's not inherently an asshole, so if she could have just gotten past the whole Hawkins nonsense, they probably could have made a perfectly lovely life together. So I suppose in his case, it's not so much that he's terrible; it's just that she basically can't see him because of Hawkins. And that's just sad.
And then there's the ending. I've already spoiled the