A Long Fatal Love Chase
by Louisa May Alcott
A Long Fatal Love Chase
Louisa May Alcott |
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Read in January, 2001
I chose to read this book at a time when I worked as a rape crisis counselor and we were getting ready to merge with the domestic violence counseling program, so I wanted to learn more about DV. I came across this book on a recommended reading list and saw that it was by Alcott. I had loved "Little Women," so I thought I'd give it a try. What struck me the most is that while many of Alcott's contemporaries and writers in previous eras (and even today) have a tendency to romanticize ...more
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Read in February, 2008
i did not enjoy this book for its parts but i respect it as a whole because Louisa May Alcott was definitely ahead of her time in woman's rights.
this book is about a particular woman who has been kept naive by her circumstances until an older man, friend of the grandfathers, comes and takes advantage of the girls inexperience with the world. However, this girl is strong-willed and fights for her rights through endless chapters telling about the cat-and-mouse chase these two go through.
i...more
this book is about a particular woman who has been kept naive by her circumstances until an older man, friend of the grandfathers, comes and takes advantage of the girls inexperience with the world. However, this girl is strong-willed and fights for her rights through endless chapters telling about the cat-and-mouse chase these two go through.
i...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2006
From the back cover:
A story of dark love and passionate obsession that was considered "too sensational" to be published in he author's lifetime, A Long Fatal Love Chase was written for magazine serialization in 1866, two years before the publication of Little Women. Buried among Louisa May Alcott's papers for more than a century, its publication is a literary landmark - a novel that is bold, timeless, and mesmerizing.
You spend the entire book alternating b...more
A story of dark love and passionate obsession that was considered "too sensational" to be published in he author's lifetime, A Long Fatal Love Chase was written for magazine serialization in 1866, two years before the publication of Little Women. Buried among Louisa May Alcott's papers for more than a century, its publication is a literary landmark - a novel that is bold, timeless, and mesmerizing.
You spend the entire book alternating b...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
anyone who likes an outlandish love story.
There is nothing to learn from this book, per se. It is a piece of fluff, and frivilous in many ways.
Here is a fine paragraph that set me to giggling as I was reading before bed:
"'You don't look as if you could ever die, you are so strong and--' she did not finish her sentence but looked at the vigorous figure before her with genuine womanly admiration for a manly man." (pg 13)
I wish I could write like this without cracking myself up, because it sells. Anyway, this book is...more
Here is a fine paragraph that set me to giggling as I was reading before bed:
"'You don't look as if you could ever die, you are so strong and--' she did not finish her sentence but looked at the vigorous figure before her with genuine womanly admiration for a manly man." (pg 13)
I wish I could write like this without cracking myself up, because it sells. Anyway, this book is...more
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Read in March, 2005
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book! Tempest has done some awful things, but I almost couldn't help rooting for him (even though I knew I shouldn't) for a while. Poor Rosamond was quite a victim, but she showed such strength of character and firmness of convictions that I really admired her. I suspect most women would have readily succumbed to Tempest's commanding nature. I recommend this as a quick read and, though it's not hard to figure out how it will end, the journey is the intri...more
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Read in January, 1998
recommends it for:
Jo March and the Pickwick Society
This book is almost the anti-Little Women - if I hadn't known that this was written by Louisa May, I wouldn't really be able to tell from the story alone. Its pretty progressive considering it was written 2 years before Little Women. But I can imagine Jo March writing this - she was a salty girl. I enjoyed reading it but the language can get a little hokey at times but this wasn't written to become classic literature. This is pure commercial fiction and you know what? That ain't a bad thing.
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Read in February, 2008
I am slightly obsessed with Louisa May Alcott, so I was excited to read this book. It was unpublished for many years because it was one of the "racy" books Alcott wrote before she published Little Women.
Funny because reading it in context of our society, it's pretty tame.
In terms of the plot, it did drag a bit because the antagonist is forever chasing the heroine to drag her back to him. But the character development is, as always for her, really well done.
Funny because reading it in context of our society, it's pretty tame.
In terms of the plot, it did drag a bit because the antagonist is forever chasing the heroine to drag her back to him. But the character development is, as always for her, really well done.
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Read in July, 2004
recommends it for:
fans of gothic romances
I was excited when I heard a previously unknown work of Louisa May Alcott's had been unearthed. However, I guess it had been unknown for so long for a reason. It is dramatically different from the comfort and affection of her other books. The book is dark and alive with emotion. It wasn't a bad book. it was just not what I'd come to expect from Alcott. I wouldn't say rush out to read it--but if you do, it wouldn't be the worst thing to ever happen to you.
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A most ridiculous Tess Trueheart/Snidely McWhiplash plot with the virtuous heroine constantly on the run from a villian who wishes to despoil her. Extremely silly, but a not a bad read. Truly though, the way the heroine runs and runs and runs gets so tiresome. I guess at the time LMA was writing this book it would have been completely impossible for Our Longsuffering Heroine to turn around and bury a knife in The Evil Villian's heart.
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You think Louisa May Alcott, you think sweet and dainty, saccharine books, right?
This one is over-the-top, Victorian melodrama, considered in its day to be "too dark" and "too sensationalist" to be published.
Looking back on it now, it's kind of cheesy, but pretty suspenseful and still a good read that draws you in. A book written about stalking and stalkers back before such things were mentioned in polite society ;)
This one is over-the-top, Victorian melodrama, considered in its day to be "too dark" and "too sensationalist" to be published.
Looking back on it now, it's kind of cheesy, but pretty suspenseful and still a good read that draws you in. A book written about stalking and stalkers back before such things were mentioned in polite society ;)
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This book was fairly entertaining, and I'm not sorry I read it, nor do I feel I wasted my time in doing so. However, I found the "plot twists" quite predictable, and the ending was rather abrupt and unsatisfying.
Maybe I've just read too much suspense/crime/horror, and have become too experienced--and jaded--to appreciate nineteenth-century sensationalism...? Either way, I was a little underwhelmed.
Maybe I've just read too much suspense/crime/horror, and have become too experienced--and jaded--to appreciate nineteenth-century sensationalism...? Either way, I was a little underwhelmed.
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Yikes. Okay, if I didn't love that Ms Louisa May, I don't know if I would have read this... but I do... and there is a certain element of cheesy melodramatic goodness to be found herein.
Not fun enough to be a guilty pleasure. But, if you enjoyed An Old Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, and A Rose in Bloom as a kid, it might be fun to revisit Ms May's style for the length of this book.
(might)
Not fun enough to be a guilty pleasure. But, if you enjoyed An Old Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, and A Rose in Bloom as a kid, it might be fun to revisit Ms May's style for the length of this book.
(might)
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Read in October, 2007
I recommend reading it. It's dated and melodramatic but it's also suspenseful and fast-paced. What's more, it really shows a keen understanding of the psychology of obsession ("selfish love"), and it shows how little power women had in society.
That Alcott wrote it gives me great respect for her concern with the rights of women.
PS I didn't like the ending, though maybe the genre called for it.
That Alcott wrote it gives me great respect for her concern with the rights of women.
PS I didn't like the ending, though maybe the genre called for it.
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Read in March, 2008
I am completly unsure about my feelings towards this book. I loved it, but I hated it all at once. Sometimes I was hoping Tempest would change, other times I was hoping he'd get run over by a buggy. Rosamond drove me completly nuts! She was so naitive it make me mad. How on earth can anyone be like that???
If you like books that have an unfinishedness about them, than you'll like this one.
If you like books that have an unfinishedness about them, than you'll like this one.
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Read in January, 1999
Melodramatic and kind of gothic, so if you like that sort of thing, which I admit I do, go for it. If you go in expecting something like Little Women, which I also did, you will be disappointed. Once I got over my expectations, it was a fun read. And actually, it's interesting in the way that you know these are the stories Jo and her sisters were making up and playing in their attic.
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Read in January, 1995
Completely dated and yet somehow still compelling. A three dimensional heroine trapped in the 2 dimensional formulaic world of a Victorian melodrama. She deserves better than she gets. I laughed out loud and some of the purple prose but at the end of the day cared enough to be so righteously indignant about the ending I've gone on what is becoming a lifelong crusade to amend it.
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A long, lost manuscript by Louisa May Alcott - it preceded Little Women and was rejected by publishers because it was too racy. This book is an interesting study in historical concepts of feminism. While Alcott's heroine was intended to reflect progressuve nineteenth century feminist values, she seems tragically controlled by and dependent on men by today's standards.
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Read in January, 2008
Who would have thought Louisa May Alcott would have written a stalker book? I thought the original was Forever Amber (1944) which I had completely forgotten that I read until reading A Long Fatal Love Chase... yes.... as melodramatic as the title, but I had to give it three stars because it was a fast read, well written, a bit unpredictable and a surprise ending!
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Read in January, 2006
At the time I read this (way before I read The Glory Cloak),I had no idea that Alcott wrote this type of novel; apparently it was deemed too racy to publish during her life. Spunky heroine ends up with an abusive, sadistic older man, and she runs away from him. He's determined not to let her get away. Tragedy in the end, as many of these types of books are.
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Read in January, 1995
recommends it for:
The Little Women fan with a dark side
Louisa May Alcott does suspense? Yes! And very well! I have vivid memories of reading this in one of my college apartments, not being able to put it down when I probably should have been studying. (Notice a trend in my study avoidance habits?) I've had a really hard time finding this book in libraries and book stores--glad to see it's still in publication.
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