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Love and Mr. Lewisham
Young, impoverished, and ambitious science student Mr. Lewisham is locked in a struggle to further himself through academic achievement. But when his former sweetheart, Ethel Henderson, re-enters his life, his strictly regimented existence is thrown into chaos by the resurgence of old passion; while she returns his love, she also hides a dark secret. For she is involved in a plot that goes against his firmest beliefs.
229 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1899
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1000 people want to read
About the author
H.G. Wells
5,316 books11.1k followersHerbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...
http://www.online-literature.com/well...
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...
http://www.online-literature.com/well...
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
October 9, 2018
Maybe 4.5. I thoroughly enjoyed this one - really engaging, dealing with a lot of fascinating and complex themes. It really reminded me of the work of George Gissing. Would highly recommend.
August 21, 2014
Last night I finished reading H.G. Wells' Love and Mr. Lewisham it might now be my favorite book of his. It was one of the most realistic portrayals of love or romance I've read since Ding Ling's "Miss Sophie's Diary". There is a lot of raw emotion in the pages, and irrationality and changes of heart that you don't normally expect from Wells. Realism isn't normaly his style, but in this case it works really well.
The story is of a young man 18 and then 21 who is going to school for science in London in the late 19th century. And so it's full of old London, the characters take a lot of walks and it's interesting to see the city the way it was. There is also an ongoing debate over spiritualism, the seance scene is quite wonderful. And this leads to a great discourse on honesty in life and how the bishops are much worse than the spiritualists. The book is less the social commentary of Tono Bungay and more romance, though not romance in a hearts and flowers way, but rather the romance is the main plot of the story and is destructive and tragic but ultimately the most important thing. There were words that the characters spoke at the end that were really heartbreaking, and while they were meant to be condemning they reminded me a lot of me. Definitely a book I'd recommend to anyone interested in reading about human relationships, and London and science and spiritualism at the end of the Victorian age.
The story is of a young man 18 and then 21 who is going to school for science in London in the late 19th century. And so it's full of old London, the characters take a lot of walks and it's interesting to see the city the way it was. There is also an ongoing debate over spiritualism, the seance scene is quite wonderful. And this leads to a great discourse on honesty in life and how the bishops are much worse than the spiritualists. The book is less the social commentary of Tono Bungay and more romance, though not romance in a hearts and flowers way, but rather the romance is the main plot of the story and is destructive and tragic but ultimately the most important thing. There were words that the characters spoke at the end that were really heartbreaking, and while they were meant to be condemning they reminded me a lot of me. Definitely a book I'd recommend to anyone interested in reading about human relationships, and London and science and spiritualism at the end of the Victorian age.
February 19, 2021
I would have rated this about 3, maybe 3.5* but give it 4 for giving me food for thought because of its social context: I’ve never really given much thought of how tricky it was at one time to be in love or have a romantic relationship. Early in the book there’s a scene where Lewisham, a teacher, is (the only way I can describe it is) being bullied by the wives of the headmaster and other teachers because he was seen talking to a woman. The way it’s written, it’s like Lewisham has committed a crime here. In half mocking tones, the narrator addresses the absurdity of how Lewisham is being shunned by most of the other teaching staff for fear of getting romantically involved that would distract him from his career. My first thought was, wouldn’t this be his choice? My second was a realisation that things must have worked really, really differently back then.
This novel is set in late 1800s England, I know very little about Victorian England, I hear it’s strict – but reading this left me with a sense that strict means being in the presence of the opposite sex is a scandal. If this is how it worked back then then it made me realise how lucky we are now. I found the novel dated in tone but still appreciated the ironic picture it was drawing as Lewisham has to choose between his career ambitions and following his heart. Sometimes this felt like I was reading a fable.
Recently, I’m beginning to see that there’s more to H G Wells than the few of his science fiction novels that usually get a mention. A quick Google search told me that he’s written loads, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, where I’ve only read 4 and I’m left wanting to know more about his other works.
This novel is set in late 1800s England, I know very little about Victorian England, I hear it’s strict – but reading this left me with a sense that strict means being in the presence of the opposite sex is a scandal. If this is how it worked back then then it made me realise how lucky we are now. I found the novel dated in tone but still appreciated the ironic picture it was drawing as Lewisham has to choose between his career ambitions and following his heart. Sometimes this felt like I was reading a fable.
Recently, I’m beginning to see that there’s more to H G Wells than the few of his science fiction novels that usually get a mention. A quick Google search told me that he’s written loads, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, where I’ve only read 4 and I’m left wanting to know more about his other works.
July 2, 2011
This is an odd little book. Not least because you don't expect a somewhat clumsy romance novel from the pen of H.G. Wells. The eponymous protagonist is pompous, pretentious and try-as-one-might, hard to like. The two women, badly etched caricatures of the physically appealing and pure-hearted but weak-minded and weak-willed damsel in distress on the one hand, and the intellectually ambitious plain jane on the other. While the novel provides an interesting insight into the life and times of the impoverished scholarly class in england at the time and some remarkably well-observed vignettes, the plot is hardly page-turning stuff.
The silver lining is Wells's wry and delightful sense of humour. While reading the first two chapters I suspected that the novel might well be a satirical work, and perhaps it would have worked better that way.
The silver lining is Wells's wry and delightful sense of humour. While reading the first two chapters I suspected that the novel might well be a satirical work, and perhaps it would have worked better that way.
September 14, 2011
Sci-fi lovers be warned this is not the Wells you're used to.
Mr. Lewisham is in love but at every turn life and Edwardian society seems to thwart their attempts to spend time together. Until one day Lewisham impulsivly follows the advice of a friend.
Secretly they marry. They marry without ever having been formally introduced to one another. Scandilous! The Novel followes the Lewishams through their first year of marriage and struggles that go with.
Wells tells the story in his classic narritive style with his tradmark wit and ability to create memerable characters. This also a very realistic story in that Love does not solve all problems. Though Make up Sex happens frequently it is not graphic and was apparently not censored by the times in which it was written.
The story also has an interesting message for our society that seems obsessed with higher education. If you keep waiting for "The right time" to fall in love you might miss it altogether.
Mr. Lewisham is in love but at every turn life and Edwardian society seems to thwart their attempts to spend time together. Until one day Lewisham impulsivly follows the advice of a friend.
Secretly they marry. They marry without ever having been formally introduced to one another. Scandilous! The Novel followes the Lewishams through their first year of marriage and struggles that go with.
Wells tells the story in his classic narritive style with his tradmark wit and ability to create memerable characters. This also a very realistic story in that Love does not solve all problems. Though Make up Sex happens frequently it is not graphic and was apparently not censored by the times in which it was written.
The story also has an interesting message for our society that seems obsessed with higher education. If you keep waiting for "The right time" to fall in love you might miss it altogether.
October 16, 2020
I came across this book by H.G.Wells after having read his later work Ann Veronica earlier this year a few months back. Unlike that later work this early Wells novel is not exactly perfect and not fully accomplished and realised. The principal flaws lie with the characters which are either not fully introduced or realized, and excepting Lewisham and Chaffery there are relatively few other characters in the novel that I can fully associate myself with. Despite these blemishes, which I think are minor and quite passable, this one is extremely readable and often bursts with generous humour amidst the nuances and foibles of a married life (especially in the latter half of the novel) as Lewisham attempts to fit together his convictions into the straitjacketed medium of his student and conjugal life. Wells became a staunch supporter of socialism later on and this is reflected in this book in the character of Chaffery with his rather ill conceived beliefs and ideals. The breath of these convictions is what permeates this short but entertaining novel.
August 27, 2015
It compelled me to rethink my own expactations of life, my ambitions and dreams.
Mr. Lewisham, an ambitious and zealous student, adhering closely to his "Schema" his time schedule, has to - at some point in his life- realize that life cannot be planned in advance, that the future is shaped by several irrelevant decisions which we make every day without our recognizing it.
The story is not merely a love story, but a story about finding your way in life and putting up with unexpected twists and turns.
On the last page of the book he perceives:"It's the end of adolescence, the end of empty dreams..." Afterwards, he throws the schedule, torn to pieces, into the dustbin, which has been newly bought by his wife Ethel. A lovely last emblem for his cognition that it has all been a boyish "play".
Mr. Lewisham, an ambitious and zealous student, adhering closely to his "Schema" his time schedule, has to - at some point in his life- realize that life cannot be planned in advance, that the future is shaped by several irrelevant decisions which we make every day without our recognizing it.
The story is not merely a love story, but a story about finding your way in life and putting up with unexpected twists and turns.
On the last page of the book he perceives:"It's the end of adolescence, the end of empty dreams..." Afterwards, he throws the schedule, torn to pieces, into the dustbin, which has been newly bought by his wife Ethel. A lovely last emblem for his cognition that it has all been a boyish "play".
August 9, 2017
A very excellent book to read, very light and easy, looking at young love, hopes and dreams for the future mixed with the reality of what actually happens. For all the potential that his book "The Wheels of Chance: A Bicycling Idyll" had but never achieved for its potential, this book fully made up for.
February 9, 2012
I liked this little known Wells very much. Such a sense of being poor in 1890s London.
September 3, 2009
This is an H.G. Wells many people don't know - the man who took the incredible scientific and emotional reasoning, empathetic character skills, and gift for exciting pacing that he honed to perfection on stories about possible future civilizations and scientific mishaps, and applied it to the most banal of subjects (commonly reserved for dime novels or penny novels or whatever they cost back then)...love among common people. And with that, we see the simple wants of the human hungry heart presented in an often charming, frustrating, and breathtaking way.
His whole point was to celebrate the uniqueness of common life. Yes, common life is...ordinary - a trait not often looked at as worthy of fiction - but Wells believed that "ordinary experience is always unique to those involved". There is importance in that, and I wish it was explored more often.
***
"To judge by the room, Mr. Lewisham thought little of Love but much of Greatness."
When we meet Lewisham, eighteen, he is in the throes of his morning routine; wake at five, one half-hour for study of a foreign language (currently Latin), literature is to be read while breakfasting (currently Shakespeare) , then it's off to school where he is a student teacher, and home again for further studies. He has his goals written and placed on a big board in his room among his inspirational quotes, such as 'Knowledge is Power' and 'What man has done man can do.'
Lewisham doesn't have an extra moment in his life, the way he has it mapped out. Then while reading in the park before class:
"The day was breezy, and there was a perpetual rustling, a going and coming of the budding trees.
The network of the beeches was full of golden sunlight, and all the lower branches were shot with horizontal dashes of newborn green.
'Tu, nisi ventis
Debes ludibrium, cave,'
was the appropriate matter of Mr Lewisham's thoughts, and he was mechanically trying to keep the book open in three places at once, at the text, the notes and literal translation, while he turned up the vocabulary for ludibrium, when his attentions, wandering dangerously near the top of the page, fell over the edge and escaped with incredible swiftness down the avenue....
A girl wearing a straw hat adorned with a white blossom, was advancing towards him...Unreasonable emotions descended upon Mr. Lewisham - emotions that are unaccountable on the mere hypothesis of a casual meeting."
Wells makes young infatuation fresh and relevant and fun to experience for the first time with these characters. We can relate to it; words are put to emotions and impulses we've all felt but rarely taken the time to put words to, and the effect is quite funny, due to Wells' background of scientific reasoning and the charm of his proper wording. This passage describes an awkward conversation:
"There waiting for him by a seat where once they had met before, he found Miss Heydinger pacing. They walked up and down side by side, speaking for a little while about indifferent topics, and then they came upon a pause..."
The story is frustrating, appropriately, as it's subject "love" is frustrating. The guy just wants to date this girl, but Victorian sensibilities enable every asshat in a position even of very meager power to judge them. And that has a power over them, and molds the course of their lives, as does their working class poverty that keeps them enslaved to employers and attempts to fit in to society's bullshit standards. She in the care of her bullshit "medium" step-dad/flim-flam man, he to his studies, his only hope for betterment and financial well-being.
What should be so simple - boy meets girl, boy likes, girl, boy pursues girl - is not. He has to school, and she has to work, and circumstances tied to bullshit civility keep them from just being able to enjoy the simple activities of courting.
Wells follows their inner thoughts with very natural illogical progression; the elation that leads to the confusion and the uncertainty, the interactions that lead to frustration and memory inventory and questioning, the moments of connection that elevate to ridiculous heights, and the resulting days after where realities return lovers to reality and further, to previously inexperienced lows. Nothing is missed, it is all here.
The ending does disarm me. Read no further if you want to preserve the surprise: it seems as though Lewisham chooses love and the hope of offspring as a perfectly reasonable substitute to career and ambition. I think Wells was going for the "common man's" experience, as this was obviously far removed from his (but apparently this novel did have much autobiographical saturation). I'm just not sure I like the message. Especially with young love. So many people give up a lot for young love, and then lose. Young love, or infatuation, or whatever, can be a great learning experience, and enrich one's life. I don't like it being portrayed as the end-all though. Nor do I like the planting of the seed of expectation of it in young people, or the pointing out what you may have missed to older folks. I just thinks it's a bad business.
There's something very sad about all they do for young love: the simple yearnings of the perpetually lonely and misunderstood human heart. Or is it the mind that houses loneliness? Hmmm...
April 6, 2008
If you think of H. G. Wells merely as a writer of science fiction then you’ve been missing out. His non-science fiction novels are quite wonderful. They’re optimistic but realistic, very romantic and extremely funny. Wells was very concerned with the problem of finding a balance in life between duty and pleasure, between marriage and career, between social responsibility and individual needs. Love and Mr Lewisham, published in 1900, addresses all these questions, but mainly it’s concerned with love and marriage. Wells was an early feminist and in Miss Heydinger we have a portrait of the New Woman at the dawn of the 20th century, a woman who is studying science at the same college as Mr Lewisham and intends to pursue an academic career of her own.
October 14, 2012
quite nice! all of the sweet quirk of the sci-fi wells i'd already come to know and love being used to narrate the love story of a geeky science student...but still left some things to be desired...namely, the conclusion. i thought the story quite lovely while i was in the thick of it, but it resolved with as much gentle finesse as tom cruise slamming his car into that wall in vanilla sky. i mean, literally, a rather cute, lengthy love story slamming to a close in about 20 pages..a little weird to be honest with a sliver of suspense. i mean, was ethel pregnant at the end? seemed like it but...? well, anyway not bad..except for the lewisham being a total jerk all the time part. that was a bummer sometimes..
January 10, 2020
One of H.G. Wells non-SF works. A story of young, ill-advised romance that derails Mr. Lewisham's ambitious plans for his future and the degenerative spiral into misery that follows. No fairy tale, this one. Ups and downs, but almost all downs, so this book is not fun and just feels unusual. The characters all quite real but with uniformly weak personalities. There is a fascinating interlude in the middle in which Lewisham's father-in-law, an incorrigible con-man preying on the spiritualism community, discourses and builds a surprisingly convincing case for lying and cheating as the only proper and sensible conduct for intelligent people in this world. The underlying social commentary varies in subtlety but pervades at some level throughout, as is typical of Wells's works.
July 28, 2008
I love Wells. He has such a lovely, witty satirical style to his stories. This one is the story of a young student who must choose between his career/ambitions and a young girl he loves despite her involvement with her family's business in the sham psychic trade. Probably if you haven't read any Wells at all you should start with the classic scientific romances (Time Machine, Invisible Man, War of the Worlds) but this was a nice read.
December 29, 2014
A fine, fine example of all that is best in Wells' novels. If when you think of Wells you think of Martians, Time Machines, and Invisible Men, please learn that Wells "Love and Mr Lewisham" was admired by Conrad, and that most of Wells' oeuvre is made up of novels of social investigation, that Science Fiction, while a thread running though his career, is a thin strand in the sturdy cable of novels and non-fiction for which he should surely be remembered and reread.
November 2, 2015
Not as good as The History of Mr Polly (another of Wells’ later social novels), but still quite good. Wells’ prose is a real pleasure here. The character of Mr Chaffery, a fraud medium who makes his money catering to the faddish spiritualism of the upper classes, is especially memorable, almost Dickensian. Chaffery’s rambling monologues are worth two or three read-throughs.
May 31, 2011
This is an uncluttered short and simple love story writen by a great author. Wells paints the characters so well the reader actually cares about their fate.
May 30, 2020
Rather a strange little book. I do wonder where Mr Wells was in his life when writing.
Highlights as much as anything humanity does not change much, not as much as the use of language.
Highlights as much as anything humanity does not change much, not as much as the use of language.
May 10, 2023
Okay, I've reached a point in Wells's bibliography where I'm not as confident in its perfection. But I'll still give this one five stars because the ratings are mostly meaningless, anyway...!
Love and Mr. Lewisham is another quasi-realist novel, not unlike Wheels of Chance. In fact, asides in the narration make it seem as though this was also written for an audience of young women, which is somewhat strange because the lead character is a dude again. Young Lewisham is a teacher in training, who idealizes scientific truth and Socialism, refusing to accept the validity of anything that opposes his beliefs. As a boy of eighteen, he establishes a "Schema" by which he intends to organize his life, writing Socialist pamphlets while raising to higher ranks in the teaching profession in superior schools. His ambitions are foiled when he falls in love with Ethel, cousin to one of his students. The two begin a brief period of courtship in secret, as Lewisham's school doesn't allow unmarried men to show sexual desire, for such things are inappropriate in the mock-Christian society of an England that still pretends to follow the Church outside of closed doors. Anyway, at some point the youths are caught, and Lewisham is stripped of his position. Ethel returns to London, and Lewisham makes plans to follow after, but the secrecy of their correspondence leaves Lewisham without a concrete address where he might find her, and after a few years he drops his search to resume strict adherence to the spirit of his old Schema. He eventually enters a friendship with a Miss Heydinger, a fellow student at his laboratories, noted to be far inferior to Ethel in looks, but near-comparable to Lewisham in intellect. Over time, Lewisham is worn down by Heydinger's presence, and starts to open himself to the idea of courtship with her, only for chance to bring a new reunion with Ethel...! The novel then breaks into a weird aside on the morality of psychic seances and the ruse thereof, making it so Lewisham faces a conundrum in regard to rekindled flame with Ethel; Ethel's stepfather is a renowned supporter of the psychic arts, and she apprentices as a typist for a local bigwig in the seance game. The joy of seeing Ethel again is thwarted by Lewisham's concern that Ethel may be a cheater for her participation in these bogus rituals. But... ultimately that doesn't matter, because the two get hitched soon enough, and begin facing realer problems with their relative poverty. There's something about Ethel's stepfather, Chaffery, openly revealing himself to Lewisham as being fully aware of the sham of his psychic nonsense, annoying Lewisham with this apparent immorality, while befuddling him with his erudite manner of speech. There's something about Ethel becoming aware of correspondence between Lewisham and Heydinger, feeling ashamed at her relative ignorance compared to this uglier woman who can speak with ease about Socialism and things. Married life is on the rocks for a good bit, but the day is saved by the union between sperm and egg...!
I guess, mostly, I enjoyed this novel for its humor, especially in the first chunk, with eighteen-year-old Lewisham as a pretentious ass (reminding me of my own younger self), but it picked up a bit more as time passed, Lewisham got back with Ethel, and he started feeling like there's too flimsy a link between them. I've always been a little fascinated by the poor balance between the consciousness/self-awareness that raises Men to the level of Gods versus the bestial Lust that cements our status as animals. Lewisham wants a partner with whom he may discourse, but the only available woman is nowhere near the beauty of Ethel, who has captured Lewisham's heart despite seemingly incompatible Mind. Lewisham "matures" when he nuts inside Ethel and the spooge starts growing into a person-shape, but... I mean, the novel was published in like 1900; over a century later, I think people may agree the conception of a child isn't as tight a bond as once thought. But it was very frowned-upon to divorce in Lewisham's day, I guess. Polite English society, and all that. I think, because the novel seems to have been written for women, the idea is maybe that the audience shouldn't be ashamed at their inability to follow their husbands' thought-processes, as childbearing can overcome the gulf in intellect, but at the same time it kind of feels like a "bad end" where Lewisham's youthful dreams are killed permanently because he's more firmly locked into his marriage. Interesting shit. I do doubt it's meant to be as bleak as that, but still....
Love and Mr. Lewisham is another quasi-realist novel, not unlike Wheels of Chance. In fact, asides in the narration make it seem as though this was also written for an audience of young women, which is somewhat strange because the lead character is a dude again. Young Lewisham is a teacher in training, who idealizes scientific truth and Socialism, refusing to accept the validity of anything that opposes his beliefs. As a boy of eighteen, he establishes a "Schema" by which he intends to organize his life, writing Socialist pamphlets while raising to higher ranks in the teaching profession in superior schools. His ambitions are foiled when he falls in love with Ethel, cousin to one of his students. The two begin a brief period of courtship in secret, as Lewisham's school doesn't allow unmarried men to show sexual desire, for such things are inappropriate in the mock-Christian society of an England that still pretends to follow the Church outside of closed doors. Anyway, at some point the youths are caught, and Lewisham is stripped of his position. Ethel returns to London, and Lewisham makes plans to follow after, but the secrecy of their correspondence leaves Lewisham without a concrete address where he might find her, and after a few years he drops his search to resume strict adherence to the spirit of his old Schema. He eventually enters a friendship with a Miss Heydinger, a fellow student at his laboratories, noted to be far inferior to Ethel in looks, but near-comparable to Lewisham in intellect. Over time, Lewisham is worn down by Heydinger's presence, and starts to open himself to the idea of courtship with her, only for chance to bring a new reunion with Ethel...! The novel then breaks into a weird aside on the morality of psychic seances and the ruse thereof, making it so Lewisham faces a conundrum in regard to rekindled flame with Ethel; Ethel's stepfather is a renowned supporter of the psychic arts, and she apprentices as a typist for a local bigwig in the seance game. The joy of seeing Ethel again is thwarted by Lewisham's concern that Ethel may be a cheater for her participation in these bogus rituals. But... ultimately that doesn't matter, because the two get hitched soon enough, and begin facing realer problems with their relative poverty. There's something about Ethel's stepfather, Chaffery, openly revealing himself to Lewisham as being fully aware of the sham of his psychic nonsense, annoying Lewisham with this apparent immorality, while befuddling him with his erudite manner of speech. There's something about Ethel becoming aware of correspondence between Lewisham and Heydinger, feeling ashamed at her relative ignorance compared to this uglier woman who can speak with ease about Socialism and things. Married life is on the rocks for a good bit, but the day is saved by the union between sperm and egg...!
I guess, mostly, I enjoyed this novel for its humor, especially in the first chunk, with eighteen-year-old Lewisham as a pretentious ass (reminding me of my own younger self), but it picked up a bit more as time passed, Lewisham got back with Ethel, and he started feeling like there's too flimsy a link between them. I've always been a little fascinated by the poor balance between the consciousness/self-awareness that raises Men to the level of Gods versus the bestial Lust that cements our status as animals. Lewisham wants a partner with whom he may discourse, but the only available woman is nowhere near the beauty of Ethel, who has captured Lewisham's heart despite seemingly incompatible Mind. Lewisham "matures" when he nuts inside Ethel and the spooge starts growing into a person-shape, but... I mean, the novel was published in like 1900; over a century later, I think people may agree the conception of a child isn't as tight a bond as once thought. But it was very frowned-upon to divorce in Lewisham's day, I guess. Polite English society, and all that. I think, because the novel seems to have been written for women, the idea is maybe that the audience shouldn't be ashamed at their inability to follow their husbands' thought-processes, as childbearing can overcome the gulf in intellect, but at the same time it kind of feels like a "bad end" where Lewisham's youthful dreams are killed permanently because he's more firmly locked into his marriage. Interesting shit. I do doubt it's meant to be as bleak as that, but still....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2023
Semi-autobiographischer Liebes- und Gesellschaftsroman als unverhoffter Höhepunkt.
Ich muss gestehen, ich hatte auf diesen literarischen Ausflug in die Realität einen gewissen Hass.
Schließlich hatte H.G.Wells seine parallel entstandene Dystopie Wenn der Schläfer erwacht eher mit linker Hand geschrieben und dabei viel Potenzial verplempert, das den Schläfer zum Gipfel seiner früheren Schaffensphase hätte krönen können.
Bei Zeitmaschine, Insel des Dr. Moreau oder unsichtbarer Mann war die Idee brillanter als die Ausführung, die Liebes- und Alltagsnöte eines Junglehrers mit sozialistischen Anwandlungen klingt längst nicht so verheißungsvoll. Auch sonst fällt das Thema nicht gerade in mein bevorzugtes Beuteschema. Tatsächlich merkt man dem Roman jedoch auf Anhieb an, wie viel mehr an Energie und gewachsenem Können Wells in den vermeintlich unauffälligen Stoff gesteckt hat, der in eine Dreieckskonstellation und allerlei selbst verschuldete Missverständnisse mündet.
Hauptattraktion ist der Zeitkolorit, die Doppelmoral im ausgehenden Viktorianismus. Gipfel die spiritistische Sitzung, in der Lewisham den Schwindel auffliegen lässt und in der Protokollantin des Mediums eine Jugendliebe wieder erkennt, die sich seinen Nachforschungen vollkommen entzogen hat. Seine Gefühle werden jetzt erwidert, der gerade erst entlarvte spiritistische Hochstapler zum Stiefschwiegervater. Ein unkonventioneller Denker, der die soziale Frage auf seine Weise löst, indem er gutgläubige Narren aus gutem Hause, mit allerlei technischen Spielereien um ein paar Scheinchen erleichtert.
Eine klare Konfliktlinie zu rigorosen wissenschaftlichen Anspruch Lewishams, der seine akademischen Blütenträume aber dem Liebesglück, einer frühen Heirat und dem damit verbundenen Erwerbstress opfert. Im Umgang des jungen Gelehrten mit seiner ungebildeten Frau, die als Tippse aber gut zum Haushaltseinkommen beiträgt, schreibt Wells ein paar interessante Kapitel zum Thema Frauenemanzipation und Männerdünkel um die Jahrhundertwende, Ethel ist immerhin keine Dora a la David Copperfield, aber auch keine sozialistische Schwärmerin, ein Umstand, der Lewisham in die Gegenwelt seiner Mentorin zurück treibt. Die Agnes in Lewishams Universum, eine Wissenschaftlerin mit sozialistischem Anspruch, die nichts vom ruinösen Schritt ihres Hoffnungsträgers weiß.
Als der kleine Tyrann, im Anschluss einem häuslichen Krach, bei seiner Ethel mal Blumen sprechen lassen will, dabei die Übermittlung dem Laden überlässt, eskaliert die Situation. Denn die mit ihrer Tipparbeit allein gelassene Frau hat ihrem Prinzipienreiter einfach keinen Rosenstrauß zugetraut, die Blumenoffensive vielmehr einem schwärmerischen Jungpoeten zugeschrieben, dessen Werke sie verlagsfertig macht. Die persönliche Krise voll verletzter Jungmännchen-Eitelkeit ist der zweite große Höhepunkt, ehe das Leben und die Hoffnungen darauf, dass es die nächste Generation besser hat oder uneingelöste Erwartungen einlöst, für ein wenig mehr Bodenhaftung sorgt.
Eine klare Empfehlung für alle, die Wells mal von einer anderen Seite kennen lernen wollen, aber auch die Enttäuschungen verstehen, mit denen der Welterfolgsautor weiter leben musste. Gerade nachdem der Krieg, der doch alle Kriege beenden sollte, nur für noch mehr Unfrieden gut war. Obwohl auf allen Seiten eine Generation von Hoffnungsträgern für nichts und wieder nichts verheizt wurde. Im ersten utopischen Roman nach dem Weltkrieg (Men like Gods) ging er dann mit den Egoismen atavistischer Politiker gründlich ins Gericht, auch mit der medialen Maschinerie.
Ich muss gestehen, ich hatte auf diesen literarischen Ausflug in die Realität einen gewissen Hass.
Schließlich hatte H.G.Wells seine parallel entstandene Dystopie Wenn der Schläfer erwacht eher mit linker Hand geschrieben und dabei viel Potenzial verplempert, das den Schläfer zum Gipfel seiner früheren Schaffensphase hätte krönen können.
Bei Zeitmaschine, Insel des Dr. Moreau oder unsichtbarer Mann war die Idee brillanter als die Ausführung, die Liebes- und Alltagsnöte eines Junglehrers mit sozialistischen Anwandlungen klingt längst nicht so verheißungsvoll. Auch sonst fällt das Thema nicht gerade in mein bevorzugtes Beuteschema. Tatsächlich merkt man dem Roman jedoch auf Anhieb an, wie viel mehr an Energie und gewachsenem Können Wells in den vermeintlich unauffälligen Stoff gesteckt hat, der in eine Dreieckskonstellation und allerlei selbst verschuldete Missverständnisse mündet.
Hauptattraktion ist der Zeitkolorit, die Doppelmoral im ausgehenden Viktorianismus. Gipfel die spiritistische Sitzung, in der Lewisham den Schwindel auffliegen lässt und in der Protokollantin des Mediums eine Jugendliebe wieder erkennt, die sich seinen Nachforschungen vollkommen entzogen hat. Seine Gefühle werden jetzt erwidert, der gerade erst entlarvte spiritistische Hochstapler zum Stiefschwiegervater. Ein unkonventioneller Denker, der die soziale Frage auf seine Weise löst, indem er gutgläubige Narren aus gutem Hause, mit allerlei technischen Spielereien um ein paar Scheinchen erleichtert.
Eine klare Konfliktlinie zu rigorosen wissenschaftlichen Anspruch Lewishams, der seine akademischen Blütenträume aber dem Liebesglück, einer frühen Heirat und dem damit verbundenen Erwerbstress opfert. Im Umgang des jungen Gelehrten mit seiner ungebildeten Frau, die als Tippse aber gut zum Haushaltseinkommen beiträgt, schreibt Wells ein paar interessante Kapitel zum Thema Frauenemanzipation und Männerdünkel um die Jahrhundertwende, Ethel ist immerhin keine Dora a la David Copperfield, aber auch keine sozialistische Schwärmerin, ein Umstand, der Lewisham in die Gegenwelt seiner Mentorin zurück treibt. Die Agnes in Lewishams Universum, eine Wissenschaftlerin mit sozialistischem Anspruch, die nichts vom ruinösen Schritt ihres Hoffnungsträgers weiß.
Als der kleine Tyrann, im Anschluss einem häuslichen Krach, bei seiner Ethel mal Blumen sprechen lassen will, dabei die Übermittlung dem Laden überlässt, eskaliert die Situation. Denn die mit ihrer Tipparbeit allein gelassene Frau hat ihrem Prinzipienreiter einfach keinen Rosenstrauß zugetraut, die Blumenoffensive vielmehr einem schwärmerischen Jungpoeten zugeschrieben, dessen Werke sie verlagsfertig macht. Die persönliche Krise voll verletzter Jungmännchen-Eitelkeit ist der zweite große Höhepunkt, ehe das Leben und die Hoffnungen darauf, dass es die nächste Generation besser hat oder uneingelöste Erwartungen einlöst, für ein wenig mehr Bodenhaftung sorgt.
Eine klare Empfehlung für alle, die Wells mal von einer anderen Seite kennen lernen wollen, aber auch die Enttäuschungen verstehen, mit denen der Welterfolgsautor weiter leben musste. Gerade nachdem der Krieg, der doch alle Kriege beenden sollte, nur für noch mehr Unfrieden gut war. Obwohl auf allen Seiten eine Generation von Hoffnungsträgern für nichts und wieder nichts verheizt wurde. Im ersten utopischen Roman nach dem Weltkrieg (Men like Gods) ging er dann mit den Egoismen atavistischer Politiker gründlich ins Gericht, auch mit der medialen Maschinerie.
June 4, 2024
“So weeks grew months, years; gleam by gleam...both perceived they had dreamed a dream.”
February 18, 2018
I do enjoy reading H.G. Wells, especially his novels which break away from science fiction, the genre he is more known for. I feel that this book offered an interesting examination and representation of the realities of love and marriage. However romantic and idealistic the characters want to be, real life always gets in the way. Wells portrays their struggles well, with the reader able to understand and compare their own experiences to those of Mr and Mrs Lewisham.
However, the characters themselves grated on me, and that reduced my enjoyment of the book. Lewisham is so wrapped up in himself, and, as a result treats other people, particularly the two women badly. These women seem very two-dimensional, with very little personality or life outside of their relationships with Lewisham. Their lives and emotions appear to revolve solely around him, despite Ethel's complicated family history and Miss Heydinger's academic achievements and ambitions, both of which I could have read more about.
Overall, whilst the plot looks to make important points regarding truth and poverty, the characters, and aspects of the plot limit this due to the direct impact these issues have. With characters and a relationship that does not feel built up or established in the same way Lewisham's academic career and concerns over spiritualism are, there are, on the whole, times that the storyline of this text is weak.
However, the characters themselves grated on me, and that reduced my enjoyment of the book. Lewisham is so wrapped up in himself, and, as a result treats other people, particularly the two women badly. These women seem very two-dimensional, with very little personality or life outside of their relationships with Lewisham. Their lives and emotions appear to revolve solely around him, despite Ethel's complicated family history and Miss Heydinger's academic achievements and ambitions, both of which I could have read more about.
Overall, whilst the plot looks to make important points regarding truth and poverty, the characters, and aspects of the plot limit this due to the direct impact these issues have. With characters and a relationship that does not feel built up or established in the same way Lewisham's academic career and concerns over spiritualism are, there are, on the whole, times that the storyline of this text is weak.
March 14, 2014
Not as good as some of his bette known books, but well written if a little pedestrian.
October 6, 2025
Page numbers are from the Oxford University Press edition of 1983.
Finding an H. G. Wells novel which doesn’t seem readily available is always special. So, I was thrilled to find an Oxford paperback edition of Love and Mr. Lewisham in a Canadian used bookstore. I was even more intrigued to read the lively and enlightening introduction by Benny Green, a British cultural critic (jazz, film, literary) and biographer (Fred Astaire, P. G. Wodehouse). Where I had always assumed that this novel was semi-autobiographical, Green’s introduction draws distinctions between this eponymous protagonist and three similar protagonists (Kipps, Polly, and Hoopdriver) which suggest elements of Wells’ early life when he was trying to get out of the drapery trade. What Green’s introduction performs masterfully is a study in contrasts between rationalism and idealism, emotion and discipline, and duty and freedom, among others.
So, as I began reading this story of a driven (perhaps, somewhat pretentious) low-level school tutor, I saw the protagonist’s struggle with new eyes. I watched Lewisham put his desire for an academic career and writing useful social articles on hold for a romantic infatuation, only to put that on hold when the object of affection disappoints him. Then, he goes through similar struggles as his career advances and contracts.
Although my ideals and calling are more religiously orthodox than Wells’ enthusiasm for socialism and social reform (even free love), I still found myself identifying with Lewisham’s ambition when he longed to be the Martin Luther of a socialist reformation and Wells pricked the protagonist’s inflated opinion of himself with: “But eminent reformers have been now for more than seven years going about the walls of the Social Jericho, blowing their own trumpets and shouting—with such small result beyond incidental displays of ill-temper within, that it is hard to recover the fine hopefulness of those departed days.” (p. 66)
Later, I was horrified to see Wells criticizing the English educational system in much the same way as I inveterately complain about how the US educational system has disintegrated since the George W. Bush administration with its demand for teachers to “teach to the test.” My complaint is that it doesn’t encourage students to “think.” Rather, they simply regurgitate. It hadn’t registered to me that there was the same tendency in the English system: “No type of English student quite realizes the noble ideal of plain living and high thinking nowadays. Our admirable examination system admits of extremely little thinking at any level, high or low.” (p. 117)
There is a fascinating debate between Mr. Lewisham and a scoundrel of a spiritualist in which the spiritualist argues that society is dependent upon fraud and lies. It rather reminds me of that unethical “ethical” argument from the villain Zorg in The 5th Element film. Here’s the H. G. Wells take: “Honesty is essentially an anarchistic and disintegrating force in society, that communities are held together and the progress of civilization made possible only by vigorous and sometimes even violent Lying; that the Social Contract is nothing more or less than a vast conspiracy of human beings to lie to and humbug themselves and one another for the general Good.” (p. 161) When Lewisham protests that there is an absolute Right or Wrong that humans should know, the professional deceiver responds: “You know Right from Wrong! My boy, so did Adam and Eve…so soon as they’d had dealings with the father of lies!” (p. 168) Though the whole debate is rather specious, it does point out some of the philosophical currents of the era in which the book takes place. And it isn’t that far from some of the forms of Relativism which are popular today. It becomes very ironic when Lewisham is forced to fabricate portions of his resume after taking such a binary approach against the scoundrel.
Love and Mr. Lewisham deals with the stoking and the diminution of passion, the suspicion and resentment that can be harbored when the relationship is not rekindled. There are betrayals, but not necessarily the ones the reader is expecting. Yet, as life is complicated and not what one would normally expect. Toward the end of the novel, there is a delightful double-cross that is quite the demonstration of poetic justice, but I won’t spoil it. I also loved Lewisham’s secular epiphany, “I shall do nothing unless I simplify my life. Only people who are well-off can be—complex.” (p. 246) Indeed, the ending is bittersweet, but has marvelous verisimilitude—enough that I could identify with aspects of Lewisham’s experience and smile with contentment.
Finding an H. G. Wells novel which doesn’t seem readily available is always special. So, I was thrilled to find an Oxford paperback edition of Love and Mr. Lewisham in a Canadian used bookstore. I was even more intrigued to read the lively and enlightening introduction by Benny Green, a British cultural critic (jazz, film, literary) and biographer (Fred Astaire, P. G. Wodehouse). Where I had always assumed that this novel was semi-autobiographical, Green’s introduction draws distinctions between this eponymous protagonist and three similar protagonists (Kipps, Polly, and Hoopdriver) which suggest elements of Wells’ early life when he was trying to get out of the drapery trade. What Green’s introduction performs masterfully is a study in contrasts between rationalism and idealism, emotion and discipline, and duty and freedom, among others.
So, as I began reading this story of a driven (perhaps, somewhat pretentious) low-level school tutor, I saw the protagonist’s struggle with new eyes. I watched Lewisham put his desire for an academic career and writing useful social articles on hold for a romantic infatuation, only to put that on hold when the object of affection disappoints him. Then, he goes through similar struggles as his career advances and contracts.
Although my ideals and calling are more religiously orthodox than Wells’ enthusiasm for socialism and social reform (even free love), I still found myself identifying with Lewisham’s ambition when he longed to be the Martin Luther of a socialist reformation and Wells pricked the protagonist’s inflated opinion of himself with: “But eminent reformers have been now for more than seven years going about the walls of the Social Jericho, blowing their own trumpets and shouting—with such small result beyond incidental displays of ill-temper within, that it is hard to recover the fine hopefulness of those departed days.” (p. 66)
Later, I was horrified to see Wells criticizing the English educational system in much the same way as I inveterately complain about how the US educational system has disintegrated since the George W. Bush administration with its demand for teachers to “teach to the test.” My complaint is that it doesn’t encourage students to “think.” Rather, they simply regurgitate. It hadn’t registered to me that there was the same tendency in the English system: “No type of English student quite realizes the noble ideal of plain living and high thinking nowadays. Our admirable examination system admits of extremely little thinking at any level, high or low.” (p. 117)
There is a fascinating debate between Mr. Lewisham and a scoundrel of a spiritualist in which the spiritualist argues that society is dependent upon fraud and lies. It rather reminds me of that unethical “ethical” argument from the villain Zorg in The 5th Element film. Here’s the H. G. Wells take: “Honesty is essentially an anarchistic and disintegrating force in society, that communities are held together and the progress of civilization made possible only by vigorous and sometimes even violent Lying; that the Social Contract is nothing more or less than a vast conspiracy of human beings to lie to and humbug themselves and one another for the general Good.” (p. 161) When Lewisham protests that there is an absolute Right or Wrong that humans should know, the professional deceiver responds: “You know Right from Wrong! My boy, so did Adam and Eve…so soon as they’d had dealings with the father of lies!” (p. 168) Though the whole debate is rather specious, it does point out some of the philosophical currents of the era in which the book takes place. And it isn’t that far from some of the forms of Relativism which are popular today. It becomes very ironic when Lewisham is forced to fabricate portions of his resume after taking such a binary approach against the scoundrel.
Love and Mr. Lewisham deals with the stoking and the diminution of passion, the suspicion and resentment that can be harbored when the relationship is not rekindled. There are betrayals, but not necessarily the ones the reader is expecting. Yet, as life is complicated and not what one would normally expect. Toward the end of the novel, there is a delightful double-cross that is quite the demonstration of poetic justice, but I won’t spoil it. I also loved Lewisham’s secular epiphany, “I shall do nothing unless I simplify my life. Only people who are well-off can be—complex.” (p. 246) Indeed, the ending is bittersweet, but has marvelous verisimilitude—enough that I could identify with aspects of Lewisham’s experience and smile with contentment.
November 13, 2021
“The place of a Woman,” insisted Parkson, “is the Home. And if there is no home—! I hold that, if need be, a man should toil seven years—as Jacob did for for Rachel—ruling his passions, to make the home fitting and sweet for her...” “Get the hutch for the pet animal,” said Dunkerly, “No. I mean to marry a woman. Female sex always has been in the struggle for existence—no great damage so far—always will be. Tremendous idea—that struggle for existence. Only sensible theory you’ve got hold of, Lewisham. Woman who isn’t fighting square side by side with a man—woman who’s just kept and fed and petted is...” He hesitated. “I was going to say ‘a harem of one.’”
“Since all ways of life are tainted with fraud, since to live and speak the truth is beyond human strength and courage-as one finds it-is it not better for a man that he engage in some straightforward comparatively harmless cheating, than if he risk his mental integrity in some ambiguous position and fall at last into self-deception and self-righteousness? That is the essential danger. That is the thing I always guard against. Heed that! It is the master sin. Self-righteousness.”
With the beginning of the new century, Wells started wanting to branch out. He had made a fortune with his Scientific Romances, but neither he nor the public saw them as serious literature. Wells was friends with many more serious writers including Henry James and he became restless to do the sort of novel his friends were writing. This was not really his first foray, The Wheels of Chance and a number of short stories also being more conventional, but he did try to take his novel further than he ever had before. He succeeded very well and went on to write other such works, like Kipps and Christina Alberta’s Father that received great critical reception. I think he would be sad to see that those books which were so successful in his day are not what we remember him for.
This was a really good novel, following Mr. Lewisham through various romances and various political leanings connected with those romances. Many think this novel may be somewhat autobiographical, with Wells admitting it was inspired by the event of a friends’ young daughter coming to live nearby. I don’t know if Wells actually got involved with her, but it is known that he was a player at that time and had a number of affairs.
I don’t recommend this novel if you have only read Wells’ science fiction. I don’t think this will interest you. This is not science fiction or fantasy at all. It is a realistic story of the transition from youthful dreams and enthusiasm to the acceptance of the realities of Lewisham’s world. I recommend this to people who like Wells in general and who like other victorian novels about the life of that time. A fast and easy read and a good novel worth reading.
-Gregory Kerkman
“Since all ways of life are tainted with fraud, since to live and speak the truth is beyond human strength and courage-as one finds it-is it not better for a man that he engage in some straightforward comparatively harmless cheating, than if he risk his mental integrity in some ambiguous position and fall at last into self-deception and self-righteousness? That is the essential danger. That is the thing I always guard against. Heed that! It is the master sin. Self-righteousness.”
With the beginning of the new century, Wells started wanting to branch out. He had made a fortune with his Scientific Romances, but neither he nor the public saw them as serious literature. Wells was friends with many more serious writers including Henry James and he became restless to do the sort of novel his friends were writing. This was not really his first foray, The Wheels of Chance and a number of short stories also being more conventional, but he did try to take his novel further than he ever had before. He succeeded very well and went on to write other such works, like Kipps and Christina Alberta’s Father that received great critical reception. I think he would be sad to see that those books which were so successful in his day are not what we remember him for.
This was a really good novel, following Mr. Lewisham through various romances and various political leanings connected with those romances. Many think this novel may be somewhat autobiographical, with Wells admitting it was inspired by the event of a friends’ young daughter coming to live nearby. I don’t know if Wells actually got involved with her, but it is known that he was a player at that time and had a number of affairs.
I don’t recommend this novel if you have only read Wells’ science fiction. I don’t think this will interest you. This is not science fiction or fantasy at all. It is a realistic story of the transition from youthful dreams and enthusiasm to the acceptance of the realities of Lewisham’s world. I recommend this to people who like Wells in general and who like other victorian novels about the life of that time. A fast and easy read and a good novel worth reading.
-Gregory Kerkman
January 28, 2023
This novel could simply have been called The Trials and Tribulations of Young Love and Marriage. Reading from Complete Works of H G Wells, Delphi Classics, 2015, the introduction states that Wells was "most pleased" with this work as it was generally regarded by critics to be higher in stature than his science fiction works.
Mr George Edgar Lewisham is the main character in the story. Lewisham, eighteen, has a plan and that plan is laid out in detail which he calls "Schema". Schema is his road to success. Along comes a young woman, also eighteen, Ethel Henderson and these plans are dashed. Lewisham as much as he tries, does not adequately plan for his financial success in his married life and soon heads to disaster. Along the way he has some discussions with Ms Henderson's step father Mr Chaffery who has a career swindling others. Mr Chaffery has some ludicrous ideas on why people need to be swindled by him; these discussions were some of the most ridiculously misdirected statements I've ever read.
I couldn't get into the flow of the writing style of this story. It was difficult for me to understand what was going on and this obviously impacted my enjoyment. In particular, Mr Chaffery's speeches were particularly muddled. And although I may have smirked once or twice while reading, those few mildly humorous portions of the novel were too few and far between.
In the end Wells says through Lewisham that all goals and accomplishments in life are pointless and that the main thing is to be a father. I tend to disagree with Wells' moral of the story. If this was all man chose to do then we would never have attained any technology. Each man only has a limited time on this planet. The only reason man of today lives any better than the cave man is that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. I suppose it could be debated whether man is truly better off today than he was thousands of years ago; I leave that for others to wrestle with.
There is much talk of love making in this novel. I suppose my idea of love making is different than that of the Victorian Era. There is no talk of children in the story. Certainly any young man and/or woman would want to consider what having children would mean to their "Schema".
Mr Lewisham should have waited to marry and continued his education. Eventually, he could have married Ms Heydinger; they were infinitely more compatible than Lewisham and Henderson.
Mr George Edgar Lewisham is the main character in the story. Lewisham, eighteen, has a plan and that plan is laid out in detail which he calls "Schema". Schema is his road to success. Along comes a young woman, also eighteen, Ethel Henderson and these plans are dashed. Lewisham as much as he tries, does not adequately plan for his financial success in his married life and soon heads to disaster. Along the way he has some discussions with Ms Henderson's step father Mr Chaffery who has a career swindling others. Mr Chaffery has some ludicrous ideas on why people need to be swindled by him; these discussions were some of the most ridiculously misdirected statements I've ever read.
I couldn't get into the flow of the writing style of this story. It was difficult for me to understand what was going on and this obviously impacted my enjoyment. In particular, Mr Chaffery's speeches were particularly muddled. And although I may have smirked once or twice while reading, those few mildly humorous portions of the novel were too few and far between.
In the end Wells says through Lewisham that all goals and accomplishments in life are pointless and that the main thing is to be a father. I tend to disagree with Wells' moral of the story. If this was all man chose to do then we would never have attained any technology. Each man only has a limited time on this planet. The only reason man of today lives any better than the cave man is that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. I suppose it could be debated whether man is truly better off today than he was thousands of years ago; I leave that for others to wrestle with.
There is much talk of love making in this novel. I suppose my idea of love making is different than that of the Victorian Era. There is no talk of children in the story. Certainly any young man and/or woman would want to consider what having children would mean to their "Schema".
Mr Lewisham should have waited to marry and continued his education. Eventually, he could have married Ms Heydinger; they were infinitely more compatible than Lewisham and Henderson.
Read
March 3, 2024H.G. Wells was a man who married two women, lived with three, and had affairs with many. In that light, he's either the most or absolute least capable person to write about marriage.
In Love and Mr. Lewisham he puts together a startlingly real reflection on relationships, and marriage - real, at least, from a book only months away from the 19th century. Not quite feminist yet, Wells remains committed to a progressive and very modern-feeling approach to his storytelling. Whether he targets wealth inequality, spiritualists, or simply cruel people, his criticism is not confined to asides and treatises, instead forming the very fabric of the narrative.
More satisfying in some ways than his earlier "Bicycling Idyll", I nonetheless agree with introductee Professor Gillian Beer that it is, in some ways, lacking. While I was impressed that Miss Heydinger was given autonomy and focus, she's still ultimately sidelined in favour of an idealised marriage, with her intellectual prowess considered less important than Lewisham's personal ambitions or his assessments of the people around him. And the ending falls flat - Lewisham's choice at the close of the story doesn't follow the rules of a modern romance, and it's difficult not to find everybody's position bleak.
Wells is flawed here, then, and the novel is far from a must-read. But his ability to dive into this subject matter just months after writing about Martians or time travellers is very impressive.
In Love and Mr. Lewisham he puts together a startlingly real reflection on relationships, and marriage - real, at least, from a book only months away from the 19th century. Not quite feminist yet, Wells remains committed to a progressive and very modern-feeling approach to his storytelling. Whether he targets wealth inequality, spiritualists, or simply cruel people, his criticism is not confined to asides and treatises, instead forming the very fabric of the narrative.
More satisfying in some ways than his earlier "Bicycling Idyll", I nonetheless agree with introductee Professor Gillian Beer that it is, in some ways, lacking. While I was impressed that Miss Heydinger was given autonomy and focus, she's still ultimately sidelined in favour of an idealised marriage, with her intellectual prowess considered less important than Lewisham's personal ambitions or his assessments of the people around him. And the ending falls flat - Lewisham's choice at the close of the story doesn't follow the rules of a modern romance, and it's difficult not to find everybody's position bleak.
Wells is flawed here, then, and the novel is far from a must-read. But his ability to dive into this subject matter just months after writing about Martians or time travellers is very impressive.
January 4, 2023
In reading some of the other comments below, I have to imagine that if one didn't realize that this was indeed a satirical commentary on the average marriage/relationship, then it is understandable why it would be disappointing as a novel.
But that is absolutely what this book is: a biting observation and retort to the commonplace idea of settling in a marriage. And to be fair, the satire does creep up on one. The book starts off on a happy and lighthearted note that slowly dissolves into tension and despair for all. And while that does make for a heavy read, Wells' wit and sarcasm keep the reader afloat during the dark discussion of love and the question of is it enough?
Having only read War of the Worlds and been less than taken by it, I was delightfully surprised by Wells' ability to really delve in and pick apart the human psyche. His talent at capturing emotions, whether rational or irrational, jumps off the page and lets the reader understand and commiserate with the characters, even if we fundamentally disagree with them. Wells' craft throughout is to be envied; he is so perfectly able to capture the dynamics of an unhealthy relationship, the lies we tell ourselves, the things we permit that we shouldn't. He too captures the grossness of society uplifting the idea of settling in love, the sacrifice of the self, and the praise of the mundane. These are difficult ideas to address, but he does it well, and in a way that still rings true today. Because if this novel demonstrates anything, it's that the more things change, the more things stay the same.
The only reason that it receives a four star for me instead of a five was that addition of Mr. Chafferty and the storyline of the medium. To me it bogged the book down and was the least interesting bit of the whole thing.
But that is absolutely what this book is: a biting observation and retort to the commonplace idea of settling in a marriage. And to be fair, the satire does creep up on one. The book starts off on a happy and lighthearted note that slowly dissolves into tension and despair for all. And while that does make for a heavy read, Wells' wit and sarcasm keep the reader afloat during the dark discussion of love and the question of is it enough?
Having only read War of the Worlds and been less than taken by it, I was delightfully surprised by Wells' ability to really delve in and pick apart the human psyche. His talent at capturing emotions, whether rational or irrational, jumps off the page and lets the reader understand and commiserate with the characters, even if we fundamentally disagree with them. Wells' craft throughout is to be envied; he is so perfectly able to capture the dynamics of an unhealthy relationship, the lies we tell ourselves, the things we permit that we shouldn't. He too captures the grossness of society uplifting the idea of settling in love, the sacrifice of the self, and the praise of the mundane. These are difficult ideas to address, but he does it well, and in a way that still rings true today. Because if this novel demonstrates anything, it's that the more things change, the more things stay the same.
The only reason that it receives a four star for me instead of a five was that addition of Mr. Chafferty and the storyline of the medium. To me it bogged the book down and was the least interesting bit of the whole thing.
November 1, 2025
What to say about Love and Mr Lewisham. It's definitely a story about maturing over time, expectations for life not living up to the reality that awaits you. There is no happily ever after, you need to work and compromise to achieve the highest real success in life. Ethel appears to represent life's surprises, both good and bad, the sweet romance of springtime and the bitter cold of hardship and stress. Alice appears to represent his lofty aspirations, a tie to his insufferable youthful self with his life planned out down to the minute.
For these themes, I would give it fairly high marks. I appreciate that the love story doesn't end in marriage, and that it portrays quite realistically the pitfalls of stress and poor communication. I don't mind that he chose living life in the present (Ethel) over living life in hopes of a lofty future (Alice).
No, the reasons I give it 2 stars over 4 or 5 is because he threatens to kill Ethel over a claim of ownership for engaging in pseudoscience. That is not acceptable, and is a very far cry from the sweet perfection of Jonathan and Mina I had read just before this. That he threatens to kill her, claiming he has a right to do so due to their courtship, in the very same conversation that he proposes to her...I'm sorry, Mr. Lewisham, but I cannot forgive you that.
For these themes, I would give it fairly high marks. I appreciate that the love story doesn't end in marriage, and that it portrays quite realistically the pitfalls of stress and poor communication. I don't mind that he chose living life in the present (Ethel) over living life in hopes of a lofty future (Alice).
No, the reasons I give it 2 stars over 4 or 5 is because he threatens to kill Ethel over a claim of ownership for engaging in pseudoscience. That is not acceptable, and is a very far cry from the sweet perfection of Jonathan and Mina I had read just before this. That he threatens to kill her, claiming he has a right to do so due to their courtship, in the very same conversation that he proposes to her...I'm sorry, Mr. Lewisham, but I cannot forgive you that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2021
A marvellous tale of love,a scholarly ambition and ultimately a struggle to just get by.
If you have read anything on Wells you will see from this novel that he has delved into his own past for inspiration.
You can almost smell the labs of The Normal School of Science( in which Wells was enrolled and was taught under Huxley).Also inspired by Wells earning extra money by selling articles to periodicals, many of which were gathered in his book Certain Personal Matters.
And geographically Wells descriptions of London and the student life of the times is brought vividly to life. Written in 1899/1900 Wells put all of his being into this novel,to the extent of setting aside and rush finishing When The Sleeper Awakes, to enable him to focus more on Lewisham.
The book was made into a TV series in the early 70,s but has never been rereleased (which is a shame).
Certainly Lewisham should stand next to Mr.Polly,Kipps,Tono Bungay and Ann Veronica,Mr.Britling as one Wells best novels.
The love mores of the time might come across as stiff and stodgy by today,s standards, but this IS how couples behaved at the time,and were mortified by the slightest whiff of scandal.
Not Wells first delve into the novel format, The Wheels of Chance (1895)was that.
If you have read anything on Wells you will see from this novel that he has delved into his own past for inspiration.
You can almost smell the labs of The Normal School of Science( in which Wells was enrolled and was taught under Huxley).Also inspired by Wells earning extra money by selling articles to periodicals, many of which were gathered in his book Certain Personal Matters.
And geographically Wells descriptions of London and the student life of the times is brought vividly to life. Written in 1899/1900 Wells put all of his being into this novel,to the extent of setting aside and rush finishing When The Sleeper Awakes, to enable him to focus more on Lewisham.
The book was made into a TV series in the early 70,s but has never been rereleased (which is a shame).
Certainly Lewisham should stand next to Mr.Polly,Kipps,Tono Bungay and Ann Veronica,Mr.Britling as one Wells best novels.
The love mores of the time might come across as stiff and stodgy by today,s standards, but this IS how couples behaved at the time,and were mortified by the slightest whiff of scandal.
Not Wells first delve into the novel format, The Wheels of Chance (1895)was that.
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