jessthanthree's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Misogyny
chickiebean_loves_books's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
_brad_white_'s review against another edition
3.0
In brief:
Lucasta Miller is a celebrated literary analyst whose knowledge and research of the Brontë’s is unmatched, even being included as part of the introduction for the Penguin Classics edition of Wuthering Heights.
But she should stick to her subject.
L.E.L was readable. It did make me want to read the literary works of Letitia Landon (which are sparse) but I wanted to read her works more than Miller’s. Miller’s account of the scandalous life of L.E.L is more informative of the time period than of Letitia herself. If interested in the Romantic period, particularly the transition between glamorous and celebrity Romantic literature to the strict and Christian Victorian literature, it is a must-read. But if at all interested in L.E.L herself there are probably more interesting critics elsewhere. Miller scandalises her life far too much. Calling her the ‘female byron’ is likely for publicity purposes and she tries to relate Letitia to famous authors such as Jane Austen and Percy Shelley through relatives of her friend’s dog. (hyperbolically stated in this review but it carries the same point) L.E.L is too dramatised, targeted at the mass audience rather than literary critics and analysts unlike her book on the Brontës.
Would I recommend it? Probably if you’re interested in Romantic literature. However be prepared for lots of dramatisation and unnecessary linking to random authors of the period who were irrelevant to the life of Letitia Landon.
Lucasta Miller is a celebrated literary analyst whose knowledge and research of the Brontë’s is unmatched, even being included as part of the introduction for the Penguin Classics edition of Wuthering Heights.
But she should stick to her subject.
L.E.L was readable. It did make me want to read the literary works of Letitia Landon (which are sparse) but I wanted to read her works more than Miller’s. Miller’s account of the scandalous life of L.E.L is more informative of the time period than of Letitia herself. If interested in the Romantic period, particularly the transition between glamorous and celebrity Romantic literature to the strict and Christian Victorian literature, it is a must-read. But if at all interested in L.E.L herself there are probably more interesting critics elsewhere. Miller scandalises her life far too much. Calling her the ‘female byron’ is likely for publicity purposes and she tries to relate Letitia to famous authors such as Jane Austen and Percy Shelley through relatives of her friend’s dog. (hyperbolically stated in this review but it carries the same point) L.E.L is too dramatised, targeted at the mass audience rather than literary critics and analysts unlike her book on the Brontës.
Would I recommend it? Probably if you’re interested in Romantic literature. However be prepared for lots of dramatisation and unnecessary linking to random authors of the period who were irrelevant to the life of Letitia Landon.
sophronisba's review against another edition
5.0
If you, like I, have a taste for books about scandalous women and the Victorian literati, this will be just your thing.
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