A Life for a Life

by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Dinah Maria Craik, née Dinah Maria Mulock, also often credited as Miss Mulock (1826-1887) was an English novelist and poet. She was determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily until placed in the front rank of the women novelists of her day. She is best known for the novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1857). She followed this with A Life for a Life (1859), which she considered to be the best of her novels; others were The Ogilvies (1849), Olive (1850), The Head of the Family (1851), Agatha's Husband (1853), Hannah (1871), The Little Lame Prince (1875) and Young Mrs. Jardine (1879). She published some poetry, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, and A Woman's Thoughts About Women (1858).

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Victorian

468 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1859

About the author

Dinah Maria Craik (born Dinah Maria Mulock, also often credited as Miss Mulock or Mrs. Craik) was an English novelist and poet. She was born at Stoke-on-Trent and brought up in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

After the death of her mother in 1845, Dinah Maria Mulock settled in London about 1846. She was determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily until placed in the front rank of the women novelists of her day. She is best known for the novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). She followed this with A Life for a Life (1859), which she considered to be the best of her novels, and several other works. She also published some poetry, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, and A Woman's Thoughts about Women (1858).

She married George Lillie Craik a partner with Alexander Macmillan in the publishing house of Macmillan & Company, and nephew of George Lillie Craik, in 1864. They adopted a foundling baby girl, Dorothy, in 1869.

At Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, while in a period of preparation for Dorothy's wedding, she died of heart failure on 12 October 1887, aged 61. Her last words were reported to have been: "Oh, if I could live four weeks longer! but no matter, no matter!" Her final book, An Unknown Country, was published by Macmillan in 1887, the year of her death.

Reviews

[Tejaswi Subramanian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book solely because of this quote -

“Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”

[~ Cheryl ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, even if the last third or so was a bit drawn out. It was not quite as good as Olive, but I was again surprised by how well I like Dinah Mulock Craik’s way of telling a story: her easy and engaging writing style, her down-to-earth characters. This book is told in alternating “Her Story” and “His Story” chapters, which for me, made it even more engaging than straight narrative.

“Did you think as they do – your sisters, I mean – that the Mosaic law is still our law – an eye for an eye – a tooth for a tooth – a life for a life – and so on?”

This is the question at the heart of A Life For A Life. Max (His Story) and Dora (Her Story) who are at first strangers, have a chance encounter at an event, and then their narratives begin to include each other (which was fun). As they continue to get acquainted, they both grapple for different reasons, with the concept of divine and human pardon for wrongdoing. Max’s and Dora’s backgrounds and personalities were intriguing, and it was interesting to watch their ongoing interaction and thoughts.

Craik has a bit of a reputation for moralizing in her stories. For example, when we meet Dora, the very first thing she says is, “Yes, I hate soldiers.” Many soldiers have come back from the Crimean War, and are camped near her home on the moors. In her chapters, she complains about them. She has opportunity to explain her aversion, and insists her viewpoint is justifiable. But less than a third of the way into the book, Dora’s perspective has been broadened, and her conscience pricked, and she says:

“…to set one’s self in fierce aversion against any class as a class, is both foolish and wicked. We should ‘hate’ nobody. The Christian warfare is never against sinners, but against sin.”

Funny, you could apply that to ANY people group we might today be tempted to categorically hate. This sort of preachiness may not be for all readers, but I enjoy these reminders of what is right and true. And I also like to encounter bits of quoted Scripture in these old Victorian books. To see how they are relevant to the plot, and how they inform the moral.

Ha! …a moral! Imagine if writers today were still motivated to weave morals into their fiction, on page and screen alike? With characters that have a strong sense of honor and duty? Even the TV sit-coms of the 80s tried to present a problem and solution in 22 minutes which could be discussed by a family at home. Anyway, Christian moralizing in fiction seems to be Craik’s bent, more so than other Victorian authors I’ve read, (even Elizabeth Gaskell). It may rub some the wrong way, but I appreciate it.

A thoroughly Victorian story about guilt, forgiveness, and godly love.
Recommended for readers who enjoy Victorian novels and/or stories with Christian themes.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of love, forgiveness and atonement. Granted, it was a little long and the lover called his love interest "child" a little too often, but I enjoyed it.

[Penny -Thecatladybooknook · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down

I picked this book up on a whim because of Katie at Books and Things' "review"....which was basically a gush because she didn't want to tell much at all about it to not spoil. I'll try to give a few more details, but other than a few places where it dragged a little, this was SO GOOD!!! If you like a super slow-burn age-gap romance told in epistolary form, you need to read this book!!

But it was more than a romance even though that was a major part of the story. There are three sisters living with a clergyman father. In alternating journal entries of His Story and Her Story, we watch as the younger and older sisters court their gentlemen through the eyes of Dora/Theodora. Right at the beginning Dora and sisters have gone to a dance at the house of a friend of the family and Dora meets Max Urquhart, who is the Army surgeon and is friends of one of the sister's gentleman friend. Dora has her mind made up that she hates soldiers because they take the lives of others in battle. The story goes on from here with both sides of family happenings getting told sometimes from two POVs, sometimes from one. I thought it was a great way to tell the story of the girls, father and even some side characters we get to see into their lives.

All of the characters felt like real people and there was so much growth in many of them. Plus we have several romances we follow.

Highly recommend. I got my copy from Victoria's Archives on Amazon but it is available on Project Gutenberg.

[Monica Mitri · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A life for a life" ... published in the 19th century, almost out of print in 2011, and one of the strongest books to teach real morals, ethics, love and duty.
So glad to find it available on Kindle and paperback. I believe if more people read it, we would have a better world today.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable mid 19th century fiction. Epistolary style. Excellent writing, compelling story, thoughtful theology. Contemporary to Dickens but much more intimate and thoughtful in her portrayal and comprehension of family and individual relationships than Dickens was.

[Diane Shearer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible story about fate and love and the power of forgiveness and two people who set their hearts on each other and their faith in God. It’s powerful, heart wrenching, and unforgettable. As a Believer, I’m fascinated by the weird kind of Old Testament twist they put on their Christianity at that time, which couldn’t hold up against the New Testament doctrine of Grace (thank God!). There is an amazing juxtaposition between the “eye for an eye” preaching of the Vicar (the Man of God!!) and the Grace practiced by Dr. Urquhart as he seeks to expiate his crime. When the Vicar is faced with an unmarried woman with a child to raise he says the only thing to do is to force them to leave town so the townspeople will not have to see her disgrace. The Dr. finds her work to support her old widowed mother and baby, arranges for them to be fed, housed, and cared for, and encourages the father to marry her and take responsibility. It’s a beautiful thing to see from 2022, but I can’t imagine what kind of impact it had on her readers and her community at the time. It must have been extremely controversial. Dinah Maria Craik invented the idea, “What Would Jesus Do?” It’s on every page of this novel. The journal style of storytelling is a little off putting at first but it becomes not only comfortable but intimate before long. It is a little clunky by the end when so much occurs over a long period of time, but it’s worth it. It’s actually quite brilliant. I can’t recommend the ebook on Kindle. It’s so full of typos and weirdly blank pages it’s almost unreadable. I’d like to find a hard copy. This book deserves room on my shelves.