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Secresy or, The Ruin on the Rock
Secresy was Eliza Fenwick's only work for adults - a fact that may help to explain why this extraordinary novel has been so thoroughly overlooked. On one level this is a book that presents fascinating challenges to traditional structures of class and gender. Whereas Mr. Valmont, the villain of the piece, rejects merely the surface forms of fashionable society, the story of his niece Sibella and her friend Caroline implicitly rejects the substance as well as the trappings of a system that rested on class privilege and on female dependence. Secresy is also, though, a remarkable novel of human of sexuality (Sibella's pregnancy is the occasion for the secrecy that gives the book its title), and of romantic love, but also the female friendship between Sibella and Caroline that is very much at the heart of the book. The relationships - and the grand themes - are expressed through an epistolary technique through which Fenwick (in the editor's words) shows "a breadth of sympathy which can find comedic pleasure even in what is disapproved."
299 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1795
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 26, 2018
Okay, I admit it, I am not one that likes to look at any kind of book cover that has any hint of impropriety! I steer clear and advert my eyes! Why? Because I am a hopeless romantic and my kind of romance is the old fashioned kind. I also don't like love scenes in movies and look away, I mean the ones that should make one blush! Yes, I am married, middle aged and know about love and life but to me reading about romance is sacred and even though I veer my eyes away from this cover which is nothing like this absolutely wonderful 1797 story. I came across this novel after reading Ann Radcliffe's The Italian and looking up the word "secresy"; my search brought me to this. This to me was absolute reading perfection and perfect for the romantic at heart.
Eliza Fenwick's Secresy: or, Ruin on the Rock was truly engrossing and spectacular novel. While reading it brought me back to one of my favorite books, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa Harlowe which has several parallel to this story. 1) both epistolary (the chapters are letters) I actually love this style of a book. 2) both have overbearing relatives that keep their charges captive. 3) girlfriends confining to each other via letter writing offering support and correcting behavior to piety. 4) Oh, and many others but that might give this story too much away.
Though it has similarities they were different in many ways and Clarissa much longer and published in 1748. Reading this made me excited in my plan to reread Clarissa next New Years and writing a review and taking notes!
What can I say about this story without giving it away? If you like castles, damsels in distress, possible ghosts, rakes and lovers separated, it is here. You see the complexities of love and sometimes the unreasonable aspect of it. The importance of learning about life not being enclosed in a sheltered environment. Parents and guardians must look with an open eye to their ways which might not be beneficial and in enlarging the minds of their charges. Life's charms and how much one should chase them. What was missing that Clarissa has throughout was a religious element. They both left me in awe and both stories IMO are not easily forgotten. I always enjoy a story of the good and ills of society.
The story in short; Caroline Ashburn is a young woman who is quite wiser in her youth than her mother who only looks for society and pleasure. They find there way to Valmont Castle where Mrs. Ashburn's friend of her youth lives with her overbearing husband. There lives Mr. Valmont's niece Sibella who has no society even her interactions with her aunt and uncle. Caroline is not allowed to stay but Sibella's uncle lets the girls correspond.
There is continual adventure and I was surprised by many twist but some I guessed by not fully. My favorite characters were Caroline and Murden. I also liked Lord Filmar but though Sibella was everything to many, I found her inflexible and hard at times. There is tragedy in here!
I loved this story and it is close to Clarissa in my heart, it is deemed an ultimate favorite! I am extremely happy with my find! 💟💖💞💕💜💖💟
Eliza Fenwick's Secresy: or, Ruin on the Rock was truly engrossing and spectacular novel. While reading it brought me back to one of my favorite books, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa Harlowe which has several parallel to this story. 1) both epistolary (the chapters are letters) I actually love this style of a book. 2) both have overbearing relatives that keep their charges captive. 3) girlfriends confining to each other via letter writing offering support and correcting behavior to piety. 4) Oh, and many others but that might give this story too much away.
Though it has similarities they were different in many ways and Clarissa much longer and published in 1748. Reading this made me excited in my plan to reread Clarissa next New Years and writing a review and taking notes!
What can I say about this story without giving it away? If you like castles, damsels in distress, possible ghosts, rakes and lovers separated, it is here. You see the complexities of love and sometimes the unreasonable aspect of it. The importance of learning about life not being enclosed in a sheltered environment. Parents and guardians must look with an open eye to their ways which might not be beneficial and in enlarging the minds of their charges. Life's charms and how much one should chase them. What was missing that Clarissa has throughout was a religious element. They both left me in awe and both stories IMO are not easily forgotten. I always enjoy a story of the good and ills of society.
The story in short; Caroline Ashburn is a young woman who is quite wiser in her youth than her mother who only looks for society and pleasure. They find there way to Valmont Castle where Mrs. Ashburn's friend of her youth lives with her overbearing husband. There lives Mr. Valmont's niece Sibella who has no society even her interactions with her aunt and uncle. Caroline is not allowed to stay but Sibella's uncle lets the girls correspond.
There is continual adventure and I was surprised by many twist but some I guessed by not fully. My favorite characters were Caroline and Murden. I also liked Lord Filmar but though Sibella was everything to many, I found her inflexible and hard at times. There is tragedy in here!
I loved this story and it is close to Clarissa in my heart, it is deemed an ultimate favorite! I am extremely happy with my find! 💟💖💞💕💜💖💟
April 16, 2008
One of the best books I've ever stolen from my coffee shop job. Fair enough; I didn't really steal very many, but this one was just sitting around for months! The author, Eliza Fenwick, was a contemporary of Mary Shelley's; she's almost unknown to those outside the "obscure 18th century women writers" field. And it is an injustice.
Secresy follows the friendship between two women through their correspondence and slowly draws in the correspondence of other characters. Fenwick's restraint and pacing show incredible control over her art. Given that Fenwick was an early feminist and single mother, raising three children and dealing with an alcoholic husband, a fair amount of thought on the roles of women in an industrializing society plays out in the novel, as well.
Caroline and Sibella often discuss the futility of societal concerns and the overarching importance of being honest and true to one's own beliefs and commitments. Of course, the major conflict of the book is a betrayal of these personal commitments--"secresy" refers to Sibella's hidden pregnancy.
It's interesting to compare this work to Austen's; both are from the same time period and both are largely concerned with clever women trying to figure out a way to be happy in a world that only wants stupid women. Where the lovely Jane's women always end up with the man of their dreams and plenty of money, Fenwick goes another path. And her readers are left with a far better understanding of the grave consequences women and men faced in a society that would take nothing but obedience.
Secresy follows the friendship between two women through their correspondence and slowly draws in the correspondence of other characters. Fenwick's restraint and pacing show incredible control over her art. Given that Fenwick was an early feminist and single mother, raising three children and dealing with an alcoholic husband, a fair amount of thought on the roles of women in an industrializing society plays out in the novel, as well.
Caroline and Sibella often discuss the futility of societal concerns and the overarching importance of being honest and true to one's own beliefs and commitments. Of course, the major conflict of the book is a betrayal of these personal commitments--"secresy" refers to Sibella's hidden pregnancy.
It's interesting to compare this work to Austen's; both are from the same time period and both are largely concerned with clever women trying to figure out a way to be happy in a world that only wants stupid women. Where the lovely Jane's women always end up with the man of their dreams and plenty of money, Fenwick goes another path. And her readers are left with a far better understanding of the grave consequences women and men faced in a society that would take nothing but obedience.
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September 16, 2025aaah i find it so difficult to place this book. on the one hand, obsessed. incredible intrigue, such a chaotic, interesting cast of characters, but lead by such a heartfelt female relationship, and by the end of the book so much incredulous stuff has happened and i did feel immersed. in other respects it sometimes felt a bit clunky? bit messy perhaps? perhaps i was expecting a bit more interiority in some characters, or more atomspheric writing for how dramatic the backdrop of the tale was (but then im not really a visual reader so thats also just really on me), i cant quite put my finger on what pinch of magic was missing for me, cus it all might be greatly to do with it being an epistolary novel and i still struggled getting back into that framework (never fully healed from the horror of pamela) i think its also unfair i am sort of unconsciously comparing it to a lot of absolute canon masterpieces of its time and mainly from the following century, as ive simply mostly read the most popular classics. i greatly enjoyed reading a more off the beaten path novel kindly tipped by great friends and will continue to ruminate on how i feel.
March 13, 2018
Didn't really follow the plot ngl so will have to reread but it was fun I guess
Read
January 14, 2026A wild ride of an eighteenth-century novel! I had forgotten some of the minor characters so this felt both new and familiar.
November 1, 2025
Today I have quite an unusual review.
The book I’ve recently read was published back in 1795. I love reading such old literature because of how extremely different it is from modern writing. Of course, the first thing that stands out is the style and language, which hardly anyone uses nowadays. But also the format — the story was written as a series of letters and retellings of events through them. Again, such books simply don’t exist today, but during British Romanticism, this form was very popular.
So, what is the book about?
Caroline Ashburn is a young woman who is far wiser in her youth than her mother, who only seeks society and pleasure. They find their way to Valmont Castle, where Mrs. Ashburn’s childhood friend lives with her overbearing husband. There also lives Mr. Valmont’s niece, Sibella, who has no company and hardly interacts even with her aunt and uncle. Caroline isn’t allowed to stay, but Sibella’s uncle lets the girls correspond. And it is through their letters that the reader learns about the events.
To be honest, a modern reader will probably find it difficult and not very exciting to follow a plot written two hundred years ago. But if you don’t read it as a “book”, and instead treat it as a piece of literary history — a little miracle that survived and came to life again thanks to the internet — it becomes fascinating.
Now, a few words about the author. Not much is known about Elizabeth Fenwick, but her life was quite eventful. Besides respectable novels, she also wrote children’s stories. We can assume that if Elizabeth had the opportunity to write and earn a living from it, her family was likely well-off. The writer was born in Cornwall, Britain, where she married and had two children. The marriage, however, was not successful, as her husband turned out to be an alcoholic. Elizabeth took her daughters and at first moved to Ireland, and later to Barbados, which was a British colony at the time. There she opened a private school and somehow made a living.
The traces of her children and the end of her life have been lost over time.
The book I’ve recently read was published back in 1795. I love reading such old literature because of how extremely different it is from modern writing. Of course, the first thing that stands out is the style and language, which hardly anyone uses nowadays. But also the format — the story was written as a series of letters and retellings of events through them. Again, such books simply don’t exist today, but during British Romanticism, this form was very popular.
So, what is the book about?
Caroline Ashburn is a young woman who is far wiser in her youth than her mother, who only seeks society and pleasure. They find their way to Valmont Castle, where Mrs. Ashburn’s childhood friend lives with her overbearing husband. There also lives Mr. Valmont’s niece, Sibella, who has no company and hardly interacts even with her aunt and uncle. Caroline isn’t allowed to stay, but Sibella’s uncle lets the girls correspond. And it is through their letters that the reader learns about the events.
To be honest, a modern reader will probably find it difficult and not very exciting to follow a plot written two hundred years ago. But if you don’t read it as a “book”, and instead treat it as a piece of literary history — a little miracle that survived and came to life again thanks to the internet — it becomes fascinating.
Now, a few words about the author. Not much is known about Elizabeth Fenwick, but her life was quite eventful. Besides respectable novels, she also wrote children’s stories. We can assume that if Elizabeth had the opportunity to write and earn a living from it, her family was likely well-off. The writer was born in Cornwall, Britain, where she married and had two children. The marriage, however, was not successful, as her husband turned out to be an alcoholic. Elizabeth took her daughters and at first moved to Ireland, and later to Barbados, which was a British colony at the time. There she opened a private school and somehow made a living.
The traces of her children and the end of her life have been lost over time.
September 27, 2018
I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this one! I feel like I've been seeing it mentioned in interesting articles all the time since undergrad. It is definitely an interesting one, worth unpacking. I was pleasantly surprised by Caroline; her love for Sibella is compelling, deep, and enduring, and it immediately made me want to go read Emma Donoghue. I ended up being unexpectedly fond of several of the characters, and very tensely anticipating the ending as it drew to a close -- my predictions were only sometimes close. Overall, I already want to re-read it, and I wonder if this might not be a good introduction into the 18thC Gothic for new readers.
March 21, 2024
I did like this, but for some reason, all of the details of every book I've been reading for my early English lit class immediately leave my brain as soon as I close the book. Call me Miss Betsy Thoughtless I guess
January 7, 2008
This book suprised me in that it was a page turner, edge of your seat book-- and I wasn't expecting that. It's an interesting story, and the epistilary style makes it more interesting with letters from characters wizzing back and forth creating an intricate web of who knows who and what-- ah, secresy. It is, however, extremely over-sentimental, almost like watching a 17th century soap opera, which I'm not sure if that is just Fenwick's writing style or if that was a style popular in this time period, but modern readers will be left rolling their eyes from time to time.
March 16, 2010
a magnificent piece of work. so unexpected and well crafted. a bit heavy on the "philosophy" and i do take issue with going mad or dying just out of unhappiness in love etc., but so interesting and romantic that i did not actually mind. instead, i loved every page of it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews