pickThis book is BANANAS & I'm not ashamed to say that I was riveted. How you get along with it will depend on your tolerance for all of the bourgeois Victorian anxieties that come alive in these sensation novels; in this case, we have the usual fears & prejudices about "otherness" in relation to bodies, disability, & also ideal womanhood. The protagonist being an intelligent, independent woman is welcome; the embedded notions of femininity, less so!
batsy I found it strange & fascinating. I feel like the book was unintentionally revealing of the middle-class British Victorian psyche & it was all kinds of amusing, intriguing, & ugly. Lol. The mystery's resolution was also wild because of the notions of propriety that govern the conduct of the "good" characters. The men are absurd & the husband is beyond useless! This was a trip. Read it for #cloakanddaggerchristmas for the Inspector Bucket prompt. 2y
Cathythoughts Great review 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 2y
Amiable Love your review! 👍🏼 2y
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Lindy Stacked! 2y
Suet624 I only want to read about anxieties that make me laugh. :) Sounds like this might be the one to do it. 2y
Billypar Great review - sounds memorable to say the least! I've been curious about trying The Woman in White but I'm always a little hesitant to pick up giant 19th century tomes 🙂 2y
batsy @Cathythoughts @Amiable Thank you! 💕 2y
batsy @Lindy @Suet624 Just feel that I should warn you guys that what I found interesting might drive others up the wall 😅 2y
batsy @Billypar Ooh, The Woman in White is really fun! Right up my street with its weird Gothic-y detective fiction vibes 🙂 2y
merelybookish What a rollicking review! Your enjoyment of the book comes through! You manage to make Victorian lit (which I do love) sound...fun! And congrats on one inspector down. 😀 2y
quietjenn Well then! I'm convinced! Love this review. 2y
batsy @merelybookish Thank you! I love Victorian lit too, so maybe I'm predisposed to being somewhat favourable to this but Collins definitely has a knack of making things weird in a way that I enjoy 😁 2y
batsy @quietjenn Thank you! I hope it's a good read for you when you get to it. 2y
LeahBergen I‘m always down for some good bourgeois Victorian anxieties. 😆😆 2y
LeahBergen @Billypar I‘ve been meaning to read it for years, too! 2y
BarbaraBB Sounds great! I loved Woman in White and The Moonstone and have been looking for more Collins I just bought a copy of![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
The New Magdalen: A Novel 2y
The New Magdalen: A Novelbatsy @LeahBergen Right? The whole point of reading, imo 😂 2y
batsy @BarbaraBB Oh, nice! I haven't read that one. I'm looking forward to more Collins 🙂 2y
Ruthiella Not sure how I overlooked this post previously? Definitely stacking. Have you read No Name? Also bananas is the best possible way! 📚 🍌 2y
batsy @Ruthiella I haven't and I'm very excited to learn that it's also bananas! 😆 I do plan to read as much of Collins as I can. 2y
