Our Mutual Friend

Finally finished! It's weird for me to take two weeks and spend it just reading one book, especially when my pile of to-reads from the library is stacking up. But, for Dickens, I couldn't help it. It takes a lot to read a Dickens book. It needs extra attention and the longer breaks I take from it, the harder it is to get back into the language and the complex plot. BUT, as I just said, for Dickens it's worth it.

I loved this book. There are so many memorable characters (always Dickens' strong point) and the plot here is incredible. So many stories lines woven together with such skill. There's a lot of both mystery and romance in this book. The love stories are so so good. So sweet, so heart-breaking at times. As for the mystery, well, it wasn't too much of a surprise (because I watched the movie first :D) but was still enjoyable. This is, arguably, one of Dickens' darkier and scarier works, especially as we get inside the mind of one Bradley Headstone, who is a truly terrifying character. I won't give away any more, but this is a bite-your-nails kind of read. I knew how everything would turn out and I still got completely into it and could hardly put it down.

Also, the most recent movie adaptation of this book (1998 from the BBC) is a little-known gem of British drama.

 If you love Austen movies this is one I'd recommend. It also plays out almost exactly as the book does. Almost all of the dialogue is Dickens' and the actors and actresses all do a great job portraying their roles.

And if you're hesitant to read a Dickens' novel (no easy feat) watching a movie adaptation first is a great way to get to know the characters and plot lines so you don't get lost while reading the book. It also helps me to know which scenes are not as important to the plot so I can skim when Dickens gets long-winded about society. Which he does. A lot. Anyway, it's a super movie and I recommend it. (Content advisory: There is one scene with nudity, so when you see Bradley Headstone heading into a river to wash off in episode three, close your eyes if you don't want to see his ugly backside. :D It's a very brief moment and easily fast-forwarded through)

Anywho, I'll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from Our Mutual Friend. Dickens is, after all, enjoyable quotable.


"No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot."

Mr. Boffin: But there's nothing like work. Look at the bees.
Eugene Wrayburn: I beg your pardon, but will you excuse my mentioning that I always protest against being referred to the beest?
Boffin: Do you?
Eugene: Ye-es. They work; but don't you think they overdo it? They work so much more than they need - they make so much more than they can eat - they are so incessantly boring and buzzing at their one idea till Death comes upon them - that don't you think they over do it? And are human labourers to have no holidays, because of the bees? And am I never to have change of air, because the bees don't? Mr. Boffin, I think honey excellent at breakfast; but regarded in the light of my conventional schoolmaster and moralist, I protest against the tyrannical humbug of your friend the bee. With the highest respect for you.

Eugene and Mortimer, on being told to pretend to be lime merchants while they spy in a tavern:
'You hear, Eugene?' said Lightwood, over his shoulder. 'You are deeply interested in lime.'
'Without lime,' returned that unmoved barrister-at-law, 'my existence would be unilluminated by a ray of hope.'

"There was an innocent piece of dinner-furniture that went upon easy castors and was kept over a livery stable-yard in Duke Street, Saint James's, when not in use, to whom the Veneerings were a source of blind confusion. The name of this article was Twenlow and he was in frequent requisition."

“[She wasn't] a logically reasoning woman, but God is good, and hearts may count in heaven as high as heads.”

One Miss Peecher, the schoolmistress:
"She could write a little essay on any subject, exactly a slate long, beginning at the left-hand top of one side and ending at the right-hand bottom of the other, and the essay should be strictly according to rule. If Mr. Bradley Headstone had addressed a written proposal of marriage to her, she would probably have replied in a complete little essay on the theme exactly a slate long, but would certainly have replied yes. For she loved him."

Jenny Wren: "You are wise as wise can be godmother (having been brought up by the fairies), and you can tell me this: Is it better to have had a good thing and lost it, or never to have had it?"

'No one is useless in this world,' retorted the Secretary, ' who lightens the burden of it for any one else.'

"And oh, there are days in this life, worth life and worth death."

Bella: "Dear John, your wishes are as real to me as the wishes in the Fairy story, that were all fulfilled as soon as spoken. Wish me everything that you can wish for the woman you dearly love, and I have as good as got it, John. I have better than got it, John!"

“Love, though said to be afflicted with blindness, is a vigilant watchman.”   

“A heart well worth winning, and well won. A heart that, once won, goes through fire and water for the winner, and never changes, and is never daunted.”   

“Are you thankful for not being young?'
'Yes, sir. If I was young, it would all have to be gone through again, and the end would be a weary way off, don't you see?...”   

Bella: "Give me a moment, because I like to cry for joy. It's so delicious, John dear, to cry for joy."

The Dressmaker

Blurb from the book cover:
Ellen Gowan is the only surviving child of a scholarly village minister and a charming girl disowned by her family when she married for love. Growing up in rural Norfolk, Ellen’s childhood was poor but blessed with affection. Resilience, spirit, and one great talent will carry her far from such humble beginnings. In time, she will become the witty, celebrated, and very beautiful Madame Ellen, dressmaker to the nobility of England, the Great Six Hundred.



Yet Ellen has secrets. At fifteen she falls for Raoul de Valentin, the dangerous descendant of French aristocrats. Raoul marries Ellen for her brilliance as a designer but abandons his wife when she becomes pregnant. Determined that she and her daughter will survive, Ellen begins her long climb to success. Toiling first in a clothing sweat shop, she later opens her own salon in fashionable Berkeley Square though she tells the world – and her daughter - she’s a widow. One single dress, a ballgown created for the enigmatic Countess of Hawksmoor, the leader of London society, transforms Ellen’s fortunes, and as the years pass, business thrives. But then Raoul de Valentin returns and threatens to destroy all that Ellen has achieved.



In The Dressmaker, the romance of Jane Austen, the social commentary of Charles Dickens and the very contemporary voice of Posie Graeme-Evans combine to plunge the reader deep into the opulent, sinister world of teeming Victorian England. And if the beautiful Madame Ellen is not quite what she seems, the strength of her will sees her through to the truth, and love, at last.

A friend of mine lent this book to me and I really enjoyed it. I don't always think to request Historical Fiction from the library, but I should more often, especially because I love Victorian England. The trick is finding a story that has a clean romance, and fortunately, The Dressmaker delivers on that account. I thought Ellen was a fantastically strong heroine and the plot managed to avoid feeling too soap-opera-esque. My only complaint is something I can't mention because it would be spoiler-y. I just have this one romance pet peeve... anyway... Overall, The Dressmaker is a satisfying historical fiction romance.

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew

Goodreads says:
This fascinating, lively guide clarifies the sometimes bizarre maze of rules, regulations, and customs that governed everyday life in Victorian England. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the "plums" in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineneenth-century English life - both "upstairs" and "downstairs."

An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from "ague" to "wainscoting," the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.

I bought this to read on my cruise, but ending up not getting to it. I picked it up after we got home and ended up reading it compulsively. I bought it, so could have put it aside for my other, more urgent, library books, but I couldn't stop reading it, even when I got to the glossary (which is the last third or so of the book). I loved this!!! But then, I love Victorian literature. I learned a ton of new facts and have probably been annoying my husband by spouting off a new one every time one pops into my head. This book is neither dry nor boring. It has lots of short, interesting chapters and covers a huge range of subjects. It's a great companion to all the Victorian books on my shelf. My favorite part about this book is the fact that Daniel Pool uses lots of examples from literature in this book. He's constantly referencing the works of Austen (who is technically pre-Victorian), Dickens, Hardy, Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope, Bronte, etc... to illustrate points and facts. I found this fascinating and am so glad I own it. It's a new favorite reference work and I've put it in a very accessible spot on my bookshelves.

Middlemarch

I always feel like giving myself a nice round of applause and a hearty pat on the back when I complete an 800+ page Victorian era British novel. I enjoy them, but they are a piece of work to read sometimes. Middlemarch is one of the more complex novels I've ever read. There are several plots going on at once, and it took a while to get into it and figure things out. There were also a few ultra long (and boring) descriptions on politics that I found myself slogging through, and I'll admit that I glanced ahead to see when things would get good again a few times and speed read through the worst parts.

But it was all worth it! This book is descriptive and emotional. By the time I got into it I was hooked. I was so personally invested in the characters' lives and stories that I had a hard time dragging myself away for such menial tasks as feeding children. I was so attached to one story in particular that I cried a couple of times (am I allowed to admit that on this blog?) and even *gasp* dogeared a couple of pages that I found particularly heartwrenching so I could go back and read them again later.

Like Dickens, George Eliot (who is a woman, by the way) captures the lives of people from a wide range of backgrounds. No one in the small town of Middlemarch is exempt from being affected by the main characters or affecting them in turn. The plot is woven together seamlessly. I have serious admiration for any author who can write like this.

There is a Middlemarch movie, made in 1994, which is waiting for me at the library. I'll let you know what I think. Even better, though, they are making a brand new Middlemarch which should make an appearance on Masterpiece in a year or two. Andrew Davies is doing the screenplay (1995 Pride & Prejudice, 1996 Emma, 1999 Wives & Daughters, 2005 Bleak House, 2008 Sense and Sensibility, 2008 Little Dorrit), so you can imagine that I'm very excited to see the results of that!