East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood

[Jamie]

This is for the discussion of East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood.

[Jamie]

While this isn't our group read I hope a lot of you will join this side read! East Lynne is compared to the likes of Wilkie Collins' The Moon Stone and Woman in White and Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret! The Woman in White and Lady Audley's Secret are two of my all time favorite books so this has big shoes to fill. If a few people are going to read I will break this up into three folders.

[Jamie]

I just started and am getting to know the characters. Wood is forshadowing great misfortune in the future. Actually, she's outright telling you:

"Could the fate, that was to overtake his child, have been forseen by the earl, he would have struck her down to death, in his love, as she stood before him, rather than suffer her to enter upon it." (Pg.13) I'm guessing Isabel is no Emily. (The Mysteries of Udolpho)

"Strange-strange that she should make the acquaintance of those two men in the same day, almost in the same hour: the two, of all the human race, who were to exercise so powerful an influence over her future life!" (Pg. 15) That is how exactly how I met my core group of friends in college.

[Jamie]

I finished the first part of the book (3parts). I feel like this part is allowing you to get to know the main characters and give a background to Isabel's relationship with her husband. The next part will begin her downfall. I'm thinking this will be more like Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.

[Jamie]

I just finished the second part. Things are really picking up and being tied together. I know what Isabel did was wrong but I couldn't help feeling wretched right along with her while reading about the effects of her horrible choice and how mistaken she was. Needless to say communication is the key to a happy marriage. I'm ready to see how the book ends.

[Tommi]

Jamie wrote: "I know what Isabel did was wrong but I couldn't help feeling wretched right along with her while reading about..."

I read this novel recently and I’m currently writing a paper on this exact feature in sensation fiction! These novels are filled with ambiguous heroines who do evil deeds yet somehow raise our sympathies and even make us question whether the deeds were evil in the first place. Did Lady Audley do wrong in abandoning her first husband? Is she inherently evil? These are all very interesting questions. I liked East Lynne very much (some overly melodramatic sections aside) and perhaps will participate in these discussions further on.

[Jamie]

I finished! If anyone else decides to join the discussion I will talk about the end. Some parts are SAD and some over dramatized. This novel is slightly depressing but luckily there are subplots to break it up. There are SO many scenarios that could have happened to change Isabel's fate but in the end you only have yourself to blame. I definitely believe she was punished more than she deserved. The contrast between Isabel's punishment in the Victorian era and now is amazing. Women in many countries are so fortunate and I am grateful to live in one were even if I make a horrible mistake in my family life I won't lose everything.

[Diane]

I would love to join in but am having trouble getting the book.It should be coming soon.