princessleia4life's review against another edition
3.0
It was an interesting read in the fact that it is so different from what else Louisa May Alcott wrote, but it was too gothic and dramatic for my taste.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
4.0
This book is different from anything else Alcott has written (that I have read). It is much darker in tone and action. It is the story of a young woman -unloved, innocent, and lovely- who falls in love with an older, more experienced man. Time reveals him to be a villian, unworthy of her love and companionship, and she leaves him. Thus begins the long fatal love chase.
I really enjoy the evolution of Rosamund's character. She is always strong-minded, with a determination to do right. One of my favorite moments, though, comes when she is given two distinct examples of love: the selfish, demanding, deceptive love that Phillip Tempest feels for her, as opposed to the self-sacrificing, disinterested love that Father Ignatius shows for her. It was hard to see her fleeing this dangerous man, while still feeling a helpless, foolish love for him. It was delightful to see her cured of it by being brought to a knowledge of what love truly looks like.
I've read this book before; this time, I think I'll actually buy it for my personal library.
I really enjoy the evolution of Rosamund's character. She is always strong-minded, with a determination to do right. One of my favorite moments, though, comes when she is given two distinct examples of love: the selfish, demanding, deceptive love that Phillip Tempest feels for her, as opposed to the self-sacrificing, disinterested love that Father Ignatius shows for her. It was hard to see her fleeing this dangerous man, while still feeling a helpless, foolish love for him. It was delightful to see her cured of it by being brought to a knowledge of what love truly looks like.
I've read this book before; this time, I think I'll actually buy it for my personal library.
drpschmidt's review against another edition
2.0
Compared to my love of Little Women, this book was a disappointment.
bethany_bastert's review against another edition
3.0
I almost gave this book a four...it would be more like a three and a half. It was definitely a good book. For a book written over a hundred years ago, I got through it fast. I am always intrigued by books that are published years and years after the author's death. Anyway, I loved that the story was about a young woman who is constantly striving to acheive her independence. It was definitely worth the read...I would recommend it to anyone.
stagasaurus's review against another edition
3.0
A Long Fatal Love Chase was written by Louisa May Alcott in 1866 (two years before Little Women) and never published. LMA wrote it after travelling in Europe and returning home to find her family’s finances “as I expected, behind hand when the money-maker was away”.
According to Kent Bicknell, the editor who restored the book from manuscripts in 1995, she wrote the book in response to a publisher’s request for something sensational. LMA wrote A Long Fatal Love Chase and he turned it down as too sensational. LMA made some attempts to make it less exciting but then it got abandoned and only refound years later in her manuscripts mislabeled as something else. The 1995 published book is the restoration of her original “sensational” version.
I think LMA had qualms about it herself. In Little Women two years later Jo writes some sensational pieces for the newspaper and there is a description of a conversation between her and Bhaer about it. I’ve cut a few paragraphs out to try to bring out the essence of the reference:
As Bhaer was fictional, I think this is LMA’s own conscience speaking here. It shows both sides of her argument really well. I hope she’d be happy with A Long Fatal Love Chase being published in the 1990s, when the sensational past seems tame enough to us.
There is a StephenieMeyerness about it. Everyone who meets the heroine seems to adore her. The heroine is feisty and likeable though. Like a Dan Brown novel it races around Europe fast enough to make me bewildered. On hearing that they were on a moor in Staffordshire at one point my brain protested “but I thought they were on a boat in Germany?” I often had to flip back several pages to work out at what point they had got on a train or boat to another country. After a while it was slightly exhausting but the book does what it says on the tin.
As to the sensation, it might definitely have “put ideas in girls heads” but I don’t want to give any spoilers beyond that. It’s not shocking by modern standards but it goes places where other Louisa May Alcott books don’t tread.
According to Kent Bicknell, the editor who restored the book from manuscripts in 1995, she wrote the book in response to a publisher’s request for something sensational. LMA wrote A Long Fatal Love Chase and he turned it down as too sensational. LMA made some attempts to make it less exciting but then it got abandoned and only refound years later in her manuscripts mislabeled as something else. The 1995 published book is the restoration of her original “sensational” version.
I think LMA had qualms about it herself. In Little Women two years later Jo writes some sensational pieces for the newspaper and there is a description of a conversation between her and Bhaer about it. I’ve cut a few paragraphs out to try to bring out the essence of the reference:
“All may not be bad only silly, you know ; and if there is a demand for it, I don’t see any harm in supplying it. Many very respectable people make an honest living out of what are called sensation stories,” said Jo, scratching gathers so energetically that a row of little slits followed her pin.
"There is a demand for whisky, but I think you and I do not care to sell it. If the respectable people knew what harm they did, they would not feel that the living was honest. They haf no right to put poison in the sugar plum and let the small ones eat it. No ; they should think a little, and sweep mud in the street before they do this thing!”
As soon as she went to her room she got out her papers, and carefully re-read every one of her stories. Being a little short-sighted, Mr. Bhaer sometimes used eyeglasses, and Jo had tried them once, smiling to see how they magnified the fine print of her book ; now she seemed to have got on the Professor’s mental or moral spectacles also, for the faults of those poor stories glared at her dreadfully, and filled her with dismay.
"They are trash, and will soon be worse than trash if I go on ; for each is more sensational than the last. I’ve gone blindly on, hurting myself and other people, for the sake of money ; I know it’s so, for I can’t read this stuff in sober earnest without being horribly ashamed of it ; and what should I do if they were seen at home, or Mr. Bhaer got hold of them ? ”
Jo turned hot at the bare idea, and stuffed the whole bundle into her stove, nearly setting the chimney afire with the blaze.
But when nothing remained of all her three months’ work, except a heap of ashes, and the money in her lap, Jo looked sober, as she sat on the floor, wondering what she ought to do about her wages.
As Bhaer was fictional, I think this is LMA’s own conscience speaking here. It shows both sides of her argument really well. I hope she’d be happy with A Long Fatal Love Chase being published in the 1990s, when the sensational past seems tame enough to us.
There is a StephenieMeyerness about it. Everyone who meets the heroine seems to adore her. The heroine is feisty and likeable though. Like a Dan Brown novel it races around Europe fast enough to make me bewildered. On hearing that they were on a moor in Staffordshire at one point my brain protested “but I thought they were on a boat in Germany?” I often had to flip back several pages to work out at what point they had got on a train or boat to another country. After a while it was slightly exhausting but the book does what it says on the tin.
As to the sensation, it might definitely have “put ideas in girls heads” but I don’t want to give any spoilers beyond that. It’s not shocking by modern standards but it goes places where other Louisa May Alcott books don’t tread.
jackievr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cpeterson164's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up because it is by one of my favorite childhood authors and because it is reportedly Stephen King's most favorite book (what an unusual combination!) Alcott's amazingly clear and homey style of writing is there, for sure, but also there are themes of suspense, murder, twisted love and betrayal -- all very skillfully developed and brought to satisfying conclusion. Not a Russian masterpiece, but I enjoyed it!
nadoislandgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Talk about melodramatic! Not what I expected from the author of Little Women.