Lu takes full blame for the fact that this review is months late. Lolly read the book in a reasonable amount of time and was ready - Lu is a slacker.
LU: This book took me a while to get into. There was lots of background info and character descriptions and history. I was honestly confused and not sure I was going to get into it. However, once I got fully immersed in the story, I really liked it. It was intriguing and a clever idea. The biggest secret was something I could not have imagined. After that though, the rest of the book was pretty predictable. It left me wishing that there would be another upset. I still enjoyed reading a novel that was considered scandalous for its time.
LOLLY: Considering female authors were already frowned upon in Victorian society, I admire Ms. Braddon for daring to cross a few more boundaries. After reading the story, I decided to go over the storyline in my head again but from a different perspective -- besides the arson/bigamy/murder/intrigue aspects, it is really interesting to consider the fine line between sanity and insanity as the underlying theme of the story. The main character is especially interesting to consider under this light: is she criminally insane? Or just a little too smart for a woman of her time period?
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