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Beyond the City
From Beyond the City : "How deeply are our destinies influenced by the most trifling causes! Had the unknown builder who erected and owned these new villas contented himself by simply building each within its own grounds, it is probable that these three small groups of people would have remained hardly conscious of each other's existence. But there was a common link to bind them together. And especially to the Admiral and the Doctor were this closer intimacy and companionship of value. Each had a void in his life, as every man must have who with unexhausted strength steps out of the great race, but each by his society might help to fill up that of his neighbor."
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1892
28 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.8k books24.4k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
May 19, 2024
Funny or strange, the Romanian editor (Aldo Press) tricked me, as the cover of the book is about Sherlock Holmes and he's not part of the story.
Anyway, that's an interesting one, at least because it shows Doyle's style in a novel not involving any detective. It looks more like Charles Dickens...
Anyway, that's an interesting one, at least because it shows Doyle's style in a novel not involving any detective. It looks more like Charles Dickens...
October 7, 2018
Focusing on the lives of three families in Victorian London, Doyle gives s fascinating insight into what life was like in the 19th century.
January 22, 2025
5+ stars (6/10 hearts). This was recommended by Saraina Whitney and I decided to drop everything and read it today. Oh, am I glad I did!!
Set in a suburb of London, it features a sweet little bit of the comedy and tragedy we call life. The writing style is epic (I’ve always said Doyle was a fantastic writer) and I loved seeing Doyle’s writing in the NON mystery genre! And his characters are as odd and charming as in his Sherlock books. The funny little old maids, quasi pitiful with their memories of a land once belonging to them; the impulsive, impressionable Doctor; the noble, hearty old Admiral; and the wild, feminist Mrs. B. Sweet Clara, merry Ida, honourable Henry, and study Charles complete the cast, along with darling Mrs. Admiral.
I actually laughed aloud several times… especially when Clara & Ida carry out their plan to convince the susceptible doctor NOT to marry the widow. Misses Monica and Bertha were also quite the pair. Yet with all the humour there’s also a thought-provoking theme on feminism. While Mrs. B. is clearly an exaggeration and meant to poke sly fun at women who fly off the handle, she does say and is respected for saying several deep, good things to ponder over. I really appreciated seeing that contemporary bit of information.
Overall, this is a mixture of adorable romance, friendship, and family love, a dip into tragedy, and a good dose of hilarity, all ending perfectly. I never knew what to expect and loved every minute of it. It’s a short, typically victorian, and absolutely charming read!
A Favourite Quote: “Do you think that a woman's love is like this sunshade which I carry in my hand, a thing only fitted for the sunshine, and of no use when the winds blow and the clouds gather?”
“I would not drag you down, Clara.”
“Should I not be dragged down indeed if I left your side at such a time? It is only now that I can be of use to you, help you, sustain you. You have always been so strong, so above me. You are strong still, but then two will be stronger.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: Six or eight such cottages scattered over a rolling country-side were all the houses to be found there in the days when the century was young. From afar, when the breeze came from the north, the dull, low roar of the great city might be heard, like the breaking of the tide of life, while along the horizon might be seen the dim curtain of smoke, the grim spray which that tide threw up. Gradually, however, as the years passed, the City had thrown out a long brick-feeler here and there, curving, extending, and coalescing, until at last the little cottages had been gripped round by these red tentacles, and had been absorbed to make room for the modern villa.
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “The blackguard!” cried the Doctor, “but the police must be hot upon his track.”
“I fancy not,” Mrs. Westmacott answered calmly. “As my brother is a particularly tall, thin man, and as the police are looking for a short, fat one, I do not think that it is very probable that they will catch him.”
Set in a suburb of London, it features a sweet little bit of the comedy and tragedy we call life. The writing style is epic (I’ve always said Doyle was a fantastic writer) and I loved seeing Doyle’s writing in the NON mystery genre! And his characters are as odd and charming as in his Sherlock books. The funny little old maids, quasi pitiful with their memories of a land once belonging to them; the impulsive, impressionable Doctor; the noble, hearty old Admiral; and the wild, feminist Mrs. B. Sweet Clara, merry Ida, honourable Henry, and study Charles complete the cast, along with darling Mrs. Admiral.
I actually laughed aloud several times… especially when Clara & Ida carry out their plan to convince the susceptible doctor NOT to marry the widow. Misses Monica and Bertha were also quite the pair. Yet with all the humour there’s also a thought-provoking theme on feminism. While Mrs. B. is clearly an exaggeration and meant to poke sly fun at women who fly off the handle, she does say and is respected for saying several deep, good things to ponder over. I really appreciated seeing that contemporary bit of information.
Overall, this is a mixture of adorable romance, friendship, and family love, a dip into tragedy, and a good dose of hilarity, all ending perfectly. I never knew what to expect and loved every minute of it. It’s a short, typically victorian, and absolutely charming read!
A Favourite Quote: “Do you think that a woman's love is like this sunshade which I carry in my hand, a thing only fitted for the sunshine, and of no use when the winds blow and the clouds gather?”
“I would not drag you down, Clara.”
“Should I not be dragged down indeed if I left your side at such a time? It is only now that I can be of use to you, help you, sustain you. You have always been so strong, so above me. You are strong still, but then two will be stronger.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: Six or eight such cottages scattered over a rolling country-side were all the houses to be found there in the days when the century was young. From afar, when the breeze came from the north, the dull, low roar of the great city might be heard, like the breaking of the tide of life, while along the horizon might be seen the dim curtain of smoke, the grim spray which that tide threw up. Gradually, however, as the years passed, the City had thrown out a long brick-feeler here and there, curving, extending, and coalescing, until at last the little cottages had been gripped round by these red tentacles, and had been absorbed to make room for the modern villa.
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “The blackguard!” cried the Doctor, “but the police must be hot upon his track.”
“I fancy not,” Mrs. Westmacott answered calmly. “As my brother is a particularly tall, thin man, and as the police are looking for a short, fat one, I do not think that it is very probable that they will catch him.”
March 1, 2022
Feb 28, 1030pm ~~ Review asap.
Mar 1, 245pm ~~ This 1893 piece by Conan Doyle is set at a time when Londoners were moving out of the city and into newly built suburb tracts. Two elderly maiden ladies have had to sell their last bit of open land, directly across from their house. Now it has been developed with three homes that will share a common tennis court. Naturally the maiden ladies peep out the window to see what type of neighbors they will be dealing with, but we mostly focus on those neighbors during the story.
And who are these neighbors? A retired Royal Navy Admiral with his wife and their son, who has a place on the 'Change in the city. A retired doctor with his two daughters who have handled his household since their mother died. And the latest arrivals? A thoroughly modern woman with her nephew. Charles has no career and does not really know what to do with his life, but she has Causes, the main one being Women's Rights.
"I say that woman is a colossal monument to the selfishness of man. What is all this boasted chivalry—these fine words and vague phrases? Where is it when we wish to put it to the test? Man in the abstract will do anything to help a woman. Of course. How does it work when his pocket is touched? Where is his chivalry then? Will the doctors help her to qualify? will the lawyers help her to be called to the bar? will the clergy tolerate her in the Church? Oh, it is close your ranks then and refer poor woman to her mission! Her mission! To be thankful for coppers and not to interfere with the men while they grabble for gold, like swine round a trough, that is man's reading of the mission of women. You may sit there and sneer, Charles, while you look upon your victim, but you know that it is truth, every word of it.”
This all came out in the first of 17 chapters, and I honestly could not decide throughout my reading just what Doyle's own stance might have been. The book did not turn into as much of a social commentary as I thought from this beginning, but it also had a bite to it within what turned out to be a semi-farce type of tale.
Anyway, because of that shared tennis court, the three households become acquainted and the two sisters begin relationships with the Admiral's son and Charles the nephew. I had a little trouble keeping straight who was supposed to be with whom, but that was because while reading this book disasters in the real world distracted me and I simply could not keep my couples sorted out. Except that the two girls thought at one point that their father the retired doctor might be planning to ask the Thoroughly Modern Woman to marry him, and they knew that would be a nightmare for everyone so they cooked up a plan to show him how life would be with her as his mate.
And again I wondered just what Doyle intended here. Sarcasm? Irony? Broad comedy? A cutting social discourse that sometimes feels for and sometimes feels against the ideas spouted by the modern woman? I don't know and it doesn't really matter, does it. There will always be people who insist on women fulfilling their mission, just as there will always be women who choose their own
missions, and never the twain shall meet.
But more power to the women of the world who do not accept anyone else telling them what their mission is. And more power to citizens of any country who have the courage to stand up to idiot 'macho' bullies who are trying to recreate a past that was never as good as history books claim it was. We MUST prevail against such outdated ideas or we will never be able to create the future we all deserve. When will we ever learn?!
Pray for peace ~~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88kJd...
Mar 1, 245pm ~~ This 1893 piece by Conan Doyle is set at a time when Londoners were moving out of the city and into newly built suburb tracts. Two elderly maiden ladies have had to sell their last bit of open land, directly across from their house. Now it has been developed with three homes that will share a common tennis court. Naturally the maiden ladies peep out the window to see what type of neighbors they will be dealing with, but we mostly focus on those neighbors during the story.
And who are these neighbors? A retired Royal Navy Admiral with his wife and their son, who has a place on the 'Change in the city. A retired doctor with his two daughters who have handled his household since their mother died. And the latest arrivals? A thoroughly modern woman with her nephew. Charles has no career and does not really know what to do with his life, but she has Causes, the main one being Women's Rights.
"I say that woman is a colossal monument to the selfishness of man. What is all this boasted chivalry—these fine words and vague phrases? Where is it when we wish to put it to the test? Man in the abstract will do anything to help a woman. Of course. How does it work when his pocket is touched? Where is his chivalry then? Will the doctors help her to qualify? will the lawyers help her to be called to the bar? will the clergy tolerate her in the Church? Oh, it is close your ranks then and refer poor woman to her mission! Her mission! To be thankful for coppers and not to interfere with the men while they grabble for gold, like swine round a trough, that is man's reading of the mission of women. You may sit there and sneer, Charles, while you look upon your victim, but you know that it is truth, every word of it.”
This all came out in the first of 17 chapters, and I honestly could not decide throughout my reading just what Doyle's own stance might have been. The book did not turn into as much of a social commentary as I thought from this beginning, but it also had a bite to it within what turned out to be a semi-farce type of tale.
Anyway, because of that shared tennis court, the three households become acquainted and the two sisters begin relationships with the Admiral's son and Charles the nephew. I had a little trouble keeping straight who was supposed to be with whom, but that was because while reading this book disasters in the real world distracted me and I simply could not keep my couples sorted out. Except that the two girls thought at one point that their father the retired doctor might be planning to ask the Thoroughly Modern Woman to marry him, and they knew that would be a nightmare for everyone so they cooked up a plan to show him how life would be with her as his mate.
And again I wondered just what Doyle intended here. Sarcasm? Irony? Broad comedy? A cutting social discourse that sometimes feels for and sometimes feels against the ideas spouted by the modern woman? I don't know and it doesn't really matter, does it. There will always be people who insist on women fulfilling their mission, just as there will always be women who choose their own
missions, and never the twain shall meet.
But more power to the women of the world who do not accept anyone else telling them what their mission is. And more power to citizens of any country who have the courage to stand up to idiot 'macho' bullies who are trying to recreate a past that was never as good as history books claim it was. We MUST prevail against such outdated ideas or we will never be able to create the future we all deserve. When will we ever learn?!
Pray for peace ~~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88kJd...
January 13, 2018
Kind of a soap opera set around 1900 in England. I'm sure there was more to the subtext than I got, but I got enough to make it interesting, even enjoyable for all Doyle's somewhat stilted style.
There was a theme of moving to the suburbs where life is better than the horrible city. A rich man's lands are broken up so 3 more houses spring up in a small development watched over by the original owner's spinster daughters & we're treated to an intimate look into all their lives. Love interests develop, financial troubles, stout parental support, & more. Quite exciting & even moving at times.
One of the residents is quite a woman & she's all for equality. She has both the money, intelligence, & strength of character to make it stick, too. It's more fun when equality runs amok in one household.
All in all, a good tale well told. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. I just wanted to get a bit more of Doyle under my belt besides the Sherlock Holmes novels & "The White Company", although I barely remember that.
There was a theme of moving to the suburbs where life is better than the horrible city. A rich man's lands are broken up so 3 more houses spring up in a small development watched over by the original owner's spinster daughters & we're treated to an intimate look into all their lives. Love interests develop, financial troubles, stout parental support, & more. Quite exciting & even moving at times.
One of the residents is quite a woman & she's all for equality. She has both the money, intelligence, & strength of character to make it stick, too. It's more fun when equality runs amok in one household.
All in all, a good tale well told. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. I just wanted to get a bit more of Doyle under my belt besides the Sherlock Holmes novels & "The White Company", although I barely remember that.
April 20, 2020
I know you shouldn’t start out with a spoiler, but that was the only way that I could think of starting this one.
This was a fun little story. It’s just a quick glimpse of the trials and joys of a small community, but it’s so satisfying just following these characters through them. Then there was that one character. She managed to inject the whole thing with just enough eccentric humor to keep it very lively. I doubt you’ll guess what she does on the first visit by the matriarchs of the little community, but I bet you’ll laugh.
So if you are in the mood for a light amusing little romance, I would highly recommend this one.
This was a fun little story. It’s just a quick glimpse of the trials and joys of a small community, but it’s so satisfying just following these characters through them. Then there was that one character. She managed to inject the whole thing with just enough eccentric humor to keep it very lively. I doubt you’ll guess what she does on the first visit by the matriarchs of the little community, but I bet you’ll laugh.
So if you are in the mood for a light amusing little romance, I would highly recommend this one.
March 6, 2014
Just the one from here:
Our Midnight Visitor (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. On the western side of the Isle of Arran, seldom visited, and almost unknown to tourists, is the little island named Uffa. (http://www.evo.org/sherlock/asia/uffa...)
Our Midnight Visitor (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. On the western side of the Isle of Arran, seldom visited, and almost unknown to tourists, is the little island named Uffa. (http://www.evo.org/sherlock/asia/uffa...)
August 5, 2023
In need of a short gentle read, this little mystery hit the spot.
What was fascinating was to see the female characters, some who were progressively fighting for the rights of women and others who were content to fit in to society in more traditional roles. Which made me thankful for how far we’ve come.
What was fascinating was to see the female characters, some who were progressively fighting for the rights of women and others who were content to fit in to society in more traditional roles. Which made me thankful for how far we’ve come.
August 21, 2021
Wonderful listening
Another will written romantic novella by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with interesting will developed characters The story line is set in London and the suburb of Norwood. Where families deal with the trials of life. I would recommend this novella to readers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening 2021🏰
Alexa reads to me due to eye damage and issues from shingles. Be safe
Another will written romantic novella by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with interesting will developed characters The story line is set in London and the suburb of Norwood. Where families deal with the trials of life. I would recommend this novella to readers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening 2021🏰
Alexa reads to me due to eye damage and issues from shingles. Be safe
March 17, 2013
Excellent and quite modern slice of life from around the turn of the 20th century. The characters are so rich and they drive the book. I got what I feel is a better glimpse of Conan Doyle than through Sherlock or other books that I also loved like the White Company, a rollicking (what a great reviewer's word) account of a Knight's life in the 16th century.
January 3, 2016
Weird little book. Kinda like watching a British comedy/drama of some sort. Wasn't at all what I'm used to reading from Doyle. I enjoyed it, but it's also going to be completely forgettable.
May 29, 2021
This was a short, pleasant listen. I do love Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and have read, I think, all there is to read in that area. I came across this when I was somewhat randomly sorting through the library's audio selection and thought I would give it a go.
It is a odd little more-or-less domestic novella, which tracks the intersection of three families. The most interesting thing about it is Mrs Westmacott, with her well reasoned, highly persuasive feminist ideas. The book, while still maintaining her likeablity, spends about half its time demonstrating how unpleasant life would be (at least for elderly gentlemen who look to their daughters to keep their lives in apple pie order) if women followed in Mrs Westmacott's footsteps. The last bit of the book takes us on a completely different path, complete with some fisticuffs and nighttime shenanigans.
It is a odd little more-or-less domestic novella, which tracks the intersection of three families. The most interesting thing about it is Mrs Westmacott, with her well reasoned, highly persuasive feminist ideas. The book, while still maintaining her likeablity, spends about half its time demonstrating how unpleasant life would be (at least for elderly gentlemen who look to their daughters to keep their lives in apple pie order) if women followed in Mrs Westmacott's footsteps. The last bit of the book takes us on a completely different path, complete with some fisticuffs and nighttime shenanigans.
April 14, 2024
An 1893 novella set at a time when Londoners were moving out of the city to where life is better than the horrible city into newly built suburb tracts. It focuses on the lives of three families (a doctor and his two daughters, an emancipated woman and her nephew and a retired admiral, his wife and son) who move into three close homes sharing a common tennis court. It is the shared tennis court that draws the families together.
The story provides a close look into all their lives as relationships develop, along with love interests, financial troubles, stout parental support and a subplot theme regarding women's rights and role in society.
The story provides a close look into all their lives as relationships develop, along with love interests, financial troubles, stout parental support and a subplot theme regarding women's rights and role in society.
April 28, 2023
No better evidence that I will read whatever books I find for free than that I read this one. It was sort of nice to read it from a very old edition (1897?), but it’s certainly a story out of time. It’s hard to say what the point of it is - women’s liberation? Not really, though there were passing (genuine?) fancies with it here. Romance? No; most of the romance was left between chapters. The closest Doyle came to saying the point was at the end - basically that the suburbs allowed for both industry and morality. Sigh. Anyway, what more should I expect?
January 21, 2024
3.5 stars. It was interesting to read something un-Sherlocky by the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. This short novel, published in 1891, was so different: simply following the intersecting lives of middle-class Brits who moved to new suburban houses for a country lifestyle within commuting distance to London. The characters were interesting, though the anti-women’s suffrage message was (obviously) dated. Still, it was fun to read this glimpse of life.
December 12, 2024
Quite amazing for a book written by the creator of Sherlock Holmes and published around 1930 to be so centered on women’s rights. Admittedly not as gripping as the Holmes stories I understand why this wasn’t as admired because of the controversy of the day regarding this topic. Still, it’s definitely worth reading.
October 30, 2021
I quite enjoyed listening and reading of this book. Good book for practicing of English.
Cute short novel with quite good plot.
Cute short novel with quite good plot.
July 16, 2022
An interesting story that includes the financial aspects of life during a time period where everything was quite precarious, with poverty and hardship lurking for everyone but the very wealthy.
April 16, 2025
A brief snapshot of the dramas and day to day life in a small countryside community
December 18, 2024
Others did it better (whatever it was).
January 27, 2014
Kindled for free. This is basically a romance. Nothing happens at all, which is fine, but not really what I expect from an Arthur Conan Doyle novel. The central theme of the book is a clash between a Suffragette main character and the conservative families that move in around her. Of course, given the time period that was never really going to work out, and to be fair the characters all part as friends, but I did have some higher hopes! I really felt like Arthur Conan Doyle might be able to be a little bit feminist and progressive. Sadly it doesn't work out quite that way. Three quotes:
{Turn of 20th c. feminism}
"Oh, thank you, I am too old a traveler to feel anything but at home wherever I go. I've just come back from a few months in the Marquesas Islands, where I had a very pleasant visit. That was where I got Eliza. In many respects the Marquesas Islands now lead the world."
"Dear me!" ejaculated Miss Williams. "In what respect?"
"In the relation of the sexes. They have worked out the great problem upon their own lines, and their isolated geographical position has helped them to come to a conclusion of their own. The woman there is, as she should be, in every way the absolute equal of the male. Come in, Charles, and sit down. Is Eliza all right?"
… {by the end of the book} …
She was surprised herself to find that she liked the Doctor better the more masculine and aggressive he became. It was unreasonable and against all principle, and yet so it was and no argument could mend the matter.
{Romance}
Ida sat listening to the stumbling words and awkward phrases which were whispered from the back of her, but there was something in Charles Westmacott's clumsiness of speech which was more moving than the words of the most eloquent of pleaders. He paused, he stammered, he caught his breath between the words, and he blurted out in little blunt phrases all the hopes of his heart. If love had not come to her yet, there was at least pity and sympathy, which are nearly akin to it.
{Turn of 20th c. feminism}
"Oh, thank you, I am too old a traveler to feel anything but at home wherever I go. I've just come back from a few months in the Marquesas Islands, where I had a very pleasant visit. That was where I got Eliza. In many respects the Marquesas Islands now lead the world."
"Dear me!" ejaculated Miss Williams. "In what respect?"
"In the relation of the sexes. They have worked out the great problem upon their own lines, and their isolated geographical position has helped them to come to a conclusion of their own. The woman there is, as she should be, in every way the absolute equal of the male. Come in, Charles, and sit down. Is Eliza all right?"
… {by the end of the book} …
She was surprised herself to find that she liked the Doctor better the more masculine and aggressive he became. It was unreasonable and against all principle, and yet so it was and no argument could mend the matter.
{Romance}
Ida sat listening to the stumbling words and awkward phrases which were whispered from the back of her, but there was something in Charles Westmacott's clumsiness of speech which was more moving than the words of the most eloquent of pleaders. He paused, he stammered, he caught his breath between the words, and he blurted out in little blunt phrases all the hopes of his heart. If love had not come to her yet, there was at least pity and sympathy, which are nearly akin to it.
December 26, 2011
A sweet little Victorian curio.
You can't help but love a Victorian story in which, on page 15, a determined advocate of women's rights declares to the old spinsters who pay her a courtesy visit : "I am sorry that I have no tea to offer you. I look upon the subservience of women as largely due to her abandoning nutritious drinks and invigorating exercises to the male", and then proceeds to swing a pair of 15 pound barbells around her head.
This short book is full of funny little vignettes like the one described above. Another favorite of mine is the scene where the two dutiful Victorian daughters stage a tableau of dissolute behavior by inviting their beaux for an unchaperoned dinner party of champagne and oysters. Imagine their father's shock when he discovers them sitting on the sofa next to their fiances, smoking cigarettes in the dimly lit parlor!
Apart from that, the plot is thin, and many of the characters are stock Victorian stereotypes : the good-for-nothing brother, the elderly parents who will sacrifice every comfort rather than see their son's honor lost, the industrious businessman....
All in all : a delightful little entertainment that allows a contemporary, male (but overall sympathetic) look at the early women's movement.
You can't help but love a Victorian story in which, on page 15, a determined advocate of women's rights declares to the old spinsters who pay her a courtesy visit : "I am sorry that I have no tea to offer you. I look upon the subservience of women as largely due to her abandoning nutritious drinks and invigorating exercises to the male", and then proceeds to swing a pair of 15 pound barbells around her head.
This short book is full of funny little vignettes like the one described above. Another favorite of mine is the scene where the two dutiful Victorian daughters stage a tableau of dissolute behavior by inviting their beaux for an unchaperoned dinner party of champagne and oysters. Imagine their father's shock when he discovers them sitting on the sofa next to their fiances, smoking cigarettes in the dimly lit parlor!
Apart from that, the plot is thin, and many of the characters are stock Victorian stereotypes : the good-for-nothing brother, the elderly parents who will sacrifice every comfort rather than see their son's honor lost, the industrious businessman....
All in all : a delightful little entertainment that allows a contemporary, male (but overall sympathetic) look at the early women's movement.
January 13, 2017
Gentle suburban satire from the Victorian era by the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Two elderly curtain-twitching sisters look on aghast as their quiet, cosy nook on the outskirts of London becomes subject to scandal when an Amazonian virago, Mrs. Westmascott, storms into the genteel seclusion of the Wilderness like a cyclone.
A retired doctor and his obedient daughters also get drawn into her vortex, as does a salty old Admiral. Young love flourishes on the tennis court while financial ruin awaits on the Stock Exchange.
Beyond the City is a perfectly enjoyable if undercooked read, over before it had really begun. Mrs. Westmascott was by far the best thing about it, short-skirted, drinking and smoking away like a harbinger of the 1960's.
I very much feared that Conan Doyle, who in photographs looks like the very personification of Victorian chauvinism, would stoop to patronising her militant feminist views, maybe even use the story to teach her a lesson, but to his credit he did nothing of the sort.
Written today this kind of suburban expose would most likely have to include swinging, incest, and a transgender subplot or be considered tame.
Times have changed.
Two elderly curtain-twitching sisters look on aghast as their quiet, cosy nook on the outskirts of London becomes subject to scandal when an Amazonian virago, Mrs. Westmascott, storms into the genteel seclusion of the Wilderness like a cyclone.
A retired doctor and his obedient daughters also get drawn into her vortex, as does a salty old Admiral. Young love flourishes on the tennis court while financial ruin awaits on the Stock Exchange.
Beyond the City is a perfectly enjoyable if undercooked read, over before it had really begun. Mrs. Westmascott was by far the best thing about it, short-skirted, drinking and smoking away like a harbinger of the 1960's.
I very much feared that Conan Doyle, who in photographs looks like the very personification of Victorian chauvinism, would stoop to patronising her militant feminist views, maybe even use the story to teach her a lesson, but to his credit he did nothing of the sort.
Written today this kind of suburban expose would most likely have to include swinging, incest, and a transgender subplot or be considered tame.
Times have changed.
April 16, 2017
Viktorya döneminde geçen ve muhafazakar bir mahalleye yeni taşınan liberal bir ailenin anlatıldığı bu kitap arka fonda kadın haklarına ve o dönemdeki insanların kadınlarla ilgili düşüncelerine odaklanırken aynı zamanda yaşanan romantik bir aşkı anlatmakta. Şehrin Ötesinde, Arthur Conan Doyle'dan hiç beklenmeyecek klasiğe yakın bir türde, tarzının dışında yazılmış, kalıcılığı olmayan bir kitap. Kasabanın yeni ailesi dönemin muhafazakar ailelerinden farklı bir yaşam sürmekte ve kadın karakter o zamanlar belli kalıplara sığdırılmış kadın rolünün dışına çıkarak tabuları yıkmaktadır. Yazıldığı dönem için etkileyici olabilecek ama şu an için fazlasıyla basit ve yüzeysel kaçan bir hikayenin anlatıldığı Şehrin Ötesinde çerez niyetine okunabilecek, ancak fazla bir beklenti içinde bulunulmaması gereken kitaplardan.
May 23, 2011
One thing I love about my Kindle and rise of the e-books is that so many classics are free. Otherwise, I never would have bought this book. Actually, I never even heard of it. The freeness made it very appealing.
It is about a suburb of London where three families converge. The three have a variety of problems that only seem to happen in Victorian England--bad brother who scams family members for money and then does a physical attack for revenge, the 'new' game of tennis, the launch of women's rights, and other issues that is so "England".
It was a cute and short story but not one I would ever want to pay for! If you're reading the classics, stick with other English authors and if you want Doyle, then stick with his Holmes stories. Cute, but that's about it.
It is about a suburb of London where three families converge. The three have a variety of problems that only seem to happen in Victorian England--bad brother who scams family members for money and then does a physical attack for revenge, the 'new' game of tennis, the launch of women's rights, and other issues that is so "England".
It was a cute and short story but not one I would ever want to pay for! If you're reading the classics, stick with other English authors and if you want Doyle, then stick with his Holmes stories. Cute, but that's about it.
November 12, 2009
This is a side of Arthur Conan Doyle that I didn't know existed. After the indifference to women of Sherlock Holmes and the sentimental chivalry of Dr. Watson, one would not expect a story based on a liberated woman of the turn of the century. While Doyle does not completely embrace the more radical notions of his cigarette-smoking, stout-drinking, divided-skirt-wearing, tricycle-riding protagonist, he shows her great sympathy. In the end, the reader gets both happy marriages for the more traditional women and a great opportunity to spread her ideas for the other.
October 6, 2009
This novella of Doyle could have done better in the format of a play. The cast of characters is short and their development a little thin and the plot thinner. Infact you have plodded through about a third of the book by the time the characters have been introduced.
I believe Dolyle wrote this book as a vehicle for his ideas for the emancipation of the woman and it is in this role that the book gains significance. There is some humor in the book in juxtaposing a modern assertive woman in split skirts and knicker boxers against some victorian characters!
I believe Dolyle wrote this book as a vehicle for his ideas for the emancipation of the woman and it is in this role that the book gains significance. There is some humor in the book in juxtaposing a modern assertive woman in split skirts and knicker boxers against some victorian characters!
August 1, 2014
Not one of ACD's better efforts - as other reviewers have already pointed out. It's a curiosity to be read, if you like his other work.
In fact, I only writing this review in the hope that there's some expert out there who can explain what kind of machine it is that two of the characters ride during their courtship in chapter 7. We are told that it's a tandem, and it's a tricycle. However, it seems clear that it's steered by the occupant of the rear seat. Can anybody explain? Or, better still, point me toward as period illustration?
In fact, I only writing this review in the hope that there's some expert out there who can explain what kind of machine it is that two of the characters ride during their courtship in chapter 7. We are told that it's a tandem, and it's a tricycle. However, it seems clear that it's steered by the occupant of the rear seat. Can anybody explain? Or, better still, point me toward as period illustration?
March 9, 2016
I am currently reading this book for #vtReadingChallenge as a mystery or detective novel. I borrowed this book from the public library! (At this point, I am not sure this is a mystery or detective novel.) It took a while for me to like this book. It isn't a mystery or detective book. This book is more than 100 years old.
May 16, 2012
As a rule, I tend to like everything I've ever read of Arthur Conan Doyle's writings. I'm a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, but a lot of what Doyle wrote was superior to the Sherlock stories. Beyond the City was okay - I did like it, but it wasn't one of his better pieces.
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