Sheridan Le Fanu
1864
Around 500 pages
I FINALLY finished Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (the longest book on The List) so I am able to return to you all in the 1860s. Now comes the question: when we do finally get to Proust on The List (#685 I believe) do I confess that I have read it before or pretend that I finished it in a week and shock the world? Time will tell!
I am sure any reader could tell you that after you are reading a book or a series for a long time, it is a bit hard to get your land legs back. I had a tough time adjusting from Proust's prose to this. Yes, I will be exploiting the fact that I read Proust for the rest of my life. Deal with it. Anyway, I am hoping this is the reason that I didn't enjoy this book at all since the premise is absolutely genius.
Maud Ruthyn must stay with her sinister uncle after her father dies. For a reason that is never fully clear, her father put a stipulation in his will: if Maud dies before she turns 21, her estate will go to her uncle. This is one of those million dollar ideas, like Crystal Pepsi or comedy sequels.
The cheesiness of a gothic novel can be definitely be fun at times, but it can be somewhat exhausting in a 500+ page book. I did enjoy how dark the novel got; I wasn't expecting real horror. Worth a read? Perhaps. Worth a place on The List. Debatable.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
First example of a locked room mystery genre.
Trailer for the BBC drama, Dark Angel, which is based on the novel. From YouTube:
UP NEXT: Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
