The End of Her Honeymoon

by Marie Belloc Lowndes

A young newly wedded couple is on the final week of their honeymoon when they arrive in Paris during the Exhibition and every lodging house is at full capacity. At well past midnight they manage to secure separate rooms at an ancient home. Morning comes and the husband is nowhere to be found. Not only has he mysteriously disappeared but the owners deny all knowledge that he even exists, insisting that the bride arrived alone.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Classics, Romance

235 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes, née Belloc (5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), was a prolific English novelist.

Active from 1898 until her death, she had a literary reputation for combining exciting incident with psychological interest. Two of her works were adapted for the screen.

Born in Marylebone, London and raised in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, Mrs Belloc Lowndes was the only daughter of French barrister Louis Belloc and English feminist Bessie Parkes. Her younger brother was Hilaire Belloc, whom she wrote of in her last work, The Young Hilaire Belloc (published posthumously in 1956). Her paternal grandfather was the French painter Jean-Hilaire Belloc, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Joseph Priestley. In 1896, she married Frederick Sawrey A. Lowndes (1868–1940). Her mother died in 1925, 53 years after her father.

She published a biography, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales: An Account of His Career, in 1898. From then on, she published novels, reminiscences, and plays at the rate of one per year until 1946. In the memoir, I, too, Have Lived in Arcadia (1942), she told the story of her mother's life, compiled largely from old family letters and her own memories of her early life in France. A second autobiography Where love and friendship dwelt, appeared posthumously in 1948.

She died 14 November 1947 at the home of her elder daughter, Countess Iddesleigh (wife of the third Earl) in Eversley Cross, Hampshire, and was interred in France, in La Celle-Saint-Cloud near Versailles, where she spent her youth.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Andrew✌️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Title discovered by accident while browsing the Audible catalog looking for some new audiobook. Marie Belloc Lowndes is an author I didn’t know and once finished, I was quite undecided on how to judge this novel.

Let's start from the plot: a married couple on their honeymoon, Nancy and Jack, arrive in Paris during the year of the Universal Exhibition. Arriving late at night at the fully booked hotel of the Poulaines, they find a makeshift accommodation in two rooms on different floors. In the morning, Nancy discovers that her husband has disappeared and the Poulaines even deny that he ever arrived to the hotel, treating Nancy quite badly. Senator Burton, his son and daughter will come to her rescue, involved in this mystery despite themselves.

The plot is undoubtedly intriguing, a good starting point for a story that promises to keep high the suspense. Unfortunately the development lacks any bite. In a thriller, usually in the dialogues between main and secondary characters, facts, secrets and clues are discovered, each of them brings the reader closer to the solution, keeping him on his toes and making him read faster.

In this case the story is pretty flat, despite the large number of characters that Nancy and the Burtons come in contact with. It’s a simple exposition of events, following the characters as they meet the authorities, talking with ambassadors and policemen, without adding any details on the main mystery. Nancy herself is almost a marginal character, with no initiative, she waits for others to act, without taking an active part in the investigation. After a while, the story becomes boring, expectations are disappointed waiting for a twist that never comes. At least until the last chapter, where the mystery is suddenly revealed, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth. It’s a system that could perhaps have worked in a Poe mystery, with the reader lost in the narration and guided through the story to the final solution, which leaves you stunned.

In this case it doesn’t seem to me that it works very well and a second reading is unthinkable, since the mystery is no longer there. Not even a flawless storytelling improved the experience much.

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young newly wed couple are on the third week of their honeymoon when they arrive in Paris. Its the Exhibition and every lodging house is at full capacity. At well past midnight they manage to secure rooms at an ancient home, although not together. The wife is given the owner's daughter's room (who is away) and her husband is given a room in the garret.

"No worries, Darling. Its only for one night."

Morning comes but her artist husband is nowhere to be found.Not only has he mysteriously disappeared but the owners deny all knowledge that he even exists, insisting that the bride arrived alone.

Thus begins a city wide manhunt. The young bride makes friends with an American senator and his two adult children and together they search for answers, going to the police, the embassies, even Paris ' famous morgue...

This is a good story. MBL certainly knows how to write well. This isn't a spooky story like "The Lodger ", there's no part of it where I was in fear for the heroine or biting my nails, but its a good 'who dunnit ' and worth a read. I'd call it a cozy mystery.

Some reviewers take exception to the naive, dishrag heroine. I disagree. I thought that she more accurately portrayed women at that time than the spunky independant creatures modern writers are so fond of. Yes, she lets the men in the story take the lead in investigations. Realistically, she would have. For one reason, she couldn't speak French, for another she is distraught in grief, and thirdly, that's what she had always done. She's a woman in a man's world.

I was hoping it would be more suspenseful so I took one star off, and the ending is wrapped up in a "by the way" fashion which was a bit of an anti climax and I took off another star. But have no fear, the reader is not left hanging. You will know what happened with her husband. In fact, on looking back I have to admit there were clues. I just didn't notice them.

All things considered, its a solid 3 stars and I will absolutely read more by this author. Incidentally, her books are free on kindle and other public domain sites.

CONTENT : Clean.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the three from the book that includes the Lodger & The Uttermost Farthing. This is a take on the urban legend from the 19th century Paris World Exposition which has a missing husband instead of mother & wife instead of daughter is said to have imagined that they even had their loved ones present at a hotel where all employees deny such a person. I loved her version more so then the mother daughter version. It is interesting how the Parsian morgue is a site seeing your in a sense, as how the Black Muesem was described in The Lodger. Loved the romantic angle.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the author of "The Lodger", a couple returns from honeymooning back to his native Paris where they stay in a hotel waiting for his flat to be fixed up. The hotel is packed due to local festivities. The couple has to be put up in separate rooms. The next morning she gets up & goes looking for her husband. The couple who own the hotel say she came in alone. The book is slow & repetitive, signs of writing at the time, but I thought worth one read through.

[Lia Valenti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buon thriller, ma un pò troppo prolisso e descrittivo.
Vale la pena leggerlo per il colpo di scena nella penultima pagina.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the oldest novel I've read this in a while. Marie Belloc Lowndes was inspired by an urban legend about someone disappearing from a hotel during the Paris Exhibition and the owner denying all knowledge of their existence. The book has a promising start, and some excellent scenes, such as the morgue visit. But the middle of the book moves at a slow pace and the end is a disappointment.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but seems very similar to So Long at the Fair - on which the film was based. To be fair to Marie Belloc Lowndes, hers was the earlier book. Good premise, ending a bit rushed and weak.

[Hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edizioni Le Assassine è una recente nuova entrata nel panorama editoriale italiano, che ha scelto di specializzarsi in "Storie gialle al femminile".
Attualmente, due le collane curate: "Oltreconfine", dedicata ad autrici straniere contemporanee, e "Vintage" che raccoglie scrittrici che hanno precorso i tempi, gettando le basi di quella che sarà poi la Golden Age del romanzo poliziesco.
La scelta non ha bisogno di giustificazioni, dato il contributo al genere poliziesco di autrici come Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh (le "Regine"), ma anche Josephine Tey e tante altre, ieri come oggi. Non è un caso inoltre che la crime fiction (soprattutto in certe varianti) sia tuttora molto popolare proprio tra il pubblico femminile.

La collana Vintage si apre con Luna di miele da incubo (The End of Her Honeymoon) del 1914 di Marie Belloc Lowndes, autrice ricordata soprattutto per The Lodger (Il pensionante, edito in Italia da Sellerio), a cui si è ispirato Hitchcock per l'omonimo film muto del 1927.

Dopo tre settimane in Italia, i neo sposi John e Nancy Dampier sono appena giunti a Parigi. È nella capitale francese che l'uomo, di origine inglese, vive e lavora ormai da anni come artista. John non vuole mostrare a Nancy quella che sarà la loro nuova casa prima di aver completato alcune migliorie, per cui decide che la loro prima notte a Parigi sarà in un albergo. In quei giorni, però, avere una sistemazione in città è tutt'altro che facile a causa della grande Esposizione Universale. Fortunatamente i due riescono a trovare qualcosa all'hotel Saint Ange, ma in due camere separate. Il mattino dopo, di John non c'è più traccia e per i proprietari dell'albergo non c'è mai stato nessun signor Dampier...

Letto con la sensibilità di oggi, soffermandosi solo sui "fatti", questo Luna di miele da incubo può sembrare ben poca cosa: la ricerca dilettantistica di un altro ospite dell'albergo che prende a cuore la vicenda di Nancy, qualche interazione con le autorità locali e poco più. In realtà, non ci vuole molto a riconoscere il prototipo di una delle situazioni più tipiche del thriller, riproposta in tutte le salse da tantissimi autori e autrici successivi, persino oggi ancora molto in auge: un evento, due versioni in contrasto l'una con l'altra, un misterioso personaggio che potrebbe non esistere se non nella mente dell'unico/a che sostiene la sua esistenza...
Il fulcro del romanzo (e ciò che è stato tramandato ai posteri) è proprio tutto lì, ed è bene incarnato dai dubbi del senatore Burton: c'è davvero un signor Dampier? Nancy sta mentendo o è in buona fede e magari ha solo rimosso eventi spiacevoli? Se ammettiamo che ci sia un John Dampier, si è allontanato di sua volontà (ma per quale motivo?), oppure è vittima di un crimine?

Un romanzo sicuramente consigliato ai cultori della narrativa poliziesca, alla ricerca delle radici di un genere sempreverde, in cui, a volte, non si inventa nulla di nuovo, per cui la grande abilità dell'autore/autrice sta tutta in come una storia viene raccontata.

[AriAnna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Allora... parliamone.
La trama mi aveva caricato troppo... Ora, dopo averlo letto sono molto triste. La protagonista mi sembra un cadavere ambulante, cioè oltre che stare in camera a piangere e deprimersi non fa nulla. Cioè se mio marito fosse scomparso smuoverei mari e monti pur di trovarlo.
Anche gli altri personaggi li ho trovati piatti senza gusto.
Per quanto riguarda il finale non capisco il senso di mettere 3 epiloghi, fai un capitolo solo magari più lungo e bom. Gli ho dato 3 stelle solo perché si per sé la trama è diversa dai soliti gialli e perché non è un libro lunghissimo.

[Alessandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

A parte la “mega spoilerata” della copertina che non merita commenti (ma che comunque forse influisce sul giudizio finale), si tratta sicuramente di un romanzo datato nello stile, più rosa che giallo. Tuttavia l’Autrice merita una prova d’appello.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an interesting little book.

[Candida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honeymooners

This book is a great mystery it kept my attention to the very end. I didn't want to put it down. A missing person case. Everyone who saw him come into the hotel completely denied he ever came with his young wife. Everyone has a theory and the bride won't give up her search to find him.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy Dampier and her husband John spend the last night of their honeymoon in the Hotel Saint Ange before moving into his home in Paris, where she has never been before. In the morning he leaves to get the place ready, but never returns. The couple who own the hotel deny that Nancy even arrived with a husband.

The signs that something is amiss accumulate early: the flashes of jealous anger from her husband, the creepy behaviour of the hoteliers, something a little awry in the attitude of the authorities. Actually the first indication comes even earlier when John informs Nancy that the Hotel Saint Ange used to be where Edgar Allan Poe stayed while in Paris!

The start of this story was superb in all it's Hitchcockian implications (indeed one of the maestro's earliest masterpieces, The Lodger, was adapted from a novel by Belloc). What a pity the excellent premise was never developed, the plot became stuck in the mud and started to frustrate me.

There were still one or two interesting scenes, especially one grisly and suspenseful episode at the Paris Morgue, but these weren't enough to disguise the entropy of the plotting.

To cap the decline, the reveal at the end in no way did justice to the mystery.

[sherri oberholtzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

A couple on their honeymoon arrive in Paris during The Exhibition. All hotels are full, but they find a hotel and are given separate rooms.
When the bride awakens the next morning her husband has vanished. She is told by the hotel owners she came alone to the hotel. There is no trace of her husband.
The ending is surprising!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY VERDICT:
A gripping reimagining of a classic urban legend around the 1889 Paris Exposition. It turns a honeymoon into haunting psychological suspense.

My full review is here:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/12/18/...

[Damasia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too slow..... no mistery... no story... Im disapointed.

I read about her in the book A moveable feast, were Ezra Pound speaks highly of her. So I gave it a try!