Welcome to Litsy!

We just got home from a five-week road trip in our trailer—our first long trip! Of course, bookstores had to be visited along the way! This is my multi-state haul. It includes books from Vroman‘s in Pasadena, CA, The Last Bookstore in Burbank, CA, Powell‘s in Portland, OR (of course!!), the Smith Family Bookstore in Eugene, OR, and one from Bend but I forgot the name of the store. 😬 I think I showed remarkable restraint for that many stores! 😂

Drop whatever Victorian novel you‘re reading & go get a copy of this one. I‘m one of the many boffins in love with Lydia Gwilt & I don‘t care who knows it. Also, I know which Allan Armadale I prefer— I‘d kill the other for whistling, other offenses aside.

It‘s also nice to see some representation in a nineteenth century novel— there are many more affluent people of color in the landscape of Europe than a whitewashed history would have us believe.

I‘m not embarrassed to say I‘m more enchanted with Lydia Gwilt than the dunderhead Miss Milroy. Give me Ozias Midwinter over every Allan Armadale, too.

Reading this in the park with the whole family was a perfect #hyggehour experience ❤️ I can‘t wait to go back & do it again next week!

Ruth Hilton is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman, Henry Bellingham-captivated by her simplicity and beauty.
Ruth is about a fallen woman. Seduced and abandoned…

I‘ve noticed with this series that by the time the author gets around to describing the love interest he doesn‘t match my mental image of him. Felix Hartford, who has appeared in the previous 2 books, is made out to be a fop which had me imagining him as a skinny Bertie Wooster type figure. Instead he turns out to be tall and imposing (though he doesn‘t tend to come across like that in character) with broad shoulders and a ‘square-chiselled jaw‘.

Such melodrama! With hints of #Clarissa, except the heroine is less good. The villain is a caricature and the hero is not particularly appealing. But it did keep me reading and there were moments of humor, so I‘ll give it a weak pick. #readyourKobo @CBee

I saw others refer to Amy Levy as a Jewish Jane Austen. I think this is a fair comparison of the content - sitting rooms, dances, afternoon tea, manners & propriety, etc. However, the characters in the novel aren‘t as fleshed out as in an Austen novel. The writing was sparse and simple.

The P&P quote doesn‘t have anything to do with Rueben Sachs. But I didn‘t willfully misunderstand the book. 🙃

It‘s here! My #kobo came today, and I started East Lynn for my #readyourKobo I can‘t believe how light it is! @CBee
Getting definite #Clarissa vibes from this one, and I‘m only 3% in.

Thank you, Victorian era! I‘m still waiting for a single positive thing you have added to our lives, even beyond sexuality.
#JaneWard #NotGay #normal #heterosexual #homosexual #NormalSexual #VictorianEra #Victorian #reproduction