A Lady Of Quality

Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksA Lady of Quality is a romance by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in 1896 If the name rings a bell, it s because Burnett also wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden Today Burnett is remembered for her children s books, but she also wrote a lot of romantic novels for adults, one of which is A Lady of Quality.It features melodrama so much melodrama People just don t make melodrama like they used to.The first thing t [...]

A little known Gothic romance by the author of The Secret Garden Many reviews criticize the unlikelihood of this story there definitely times where the story or characters seem to good to be true, still I enjoyed this story I read part of it via a free eBook on Kindle and listened to most of it via free audio book through Librivox Once you reach Clorinda s teenage years the story picks up and draws you in I could hardly put it down until I d reached the end It was a compelling read.I didn t like [...]

I have very mixed feelings about this book I found none of the principle characters likeable and some I thoroughly despised which in two cases is the author s intent However, the main character is a selfish, shallow woman who we are supposed to believe matures into a lady of quality despite her improbable and uncooth upbringing The ultimate central point of the story is redemption the question raised is whether the worst acts can be atoned for by subsequent charity, kindness, and goodness I don [...]

Kindle edition, in the public domain.Burnett has been a favourite author since the days when I first read A Little Princess and The Secret Garden This particular title hadn t come to my notice before, possibly because it is not exactly a children s book It deals with some pretty adult subjects including promiscuity and murder, though in a slightly roundabout fashion most of the time.I picked it off the website as I do with so many books these days simply because it was a written by FH Burnett an [...]

There s a reason why some great writers produce books that are almost unknown This one a novel for adults is a far remove from the author s delightful children s classics Secret Garden or Little Lord Fauntleroy It features an eminently dislikeable heroine, Clorinda, whose mother died giving birth to her Her father is appalling, her childhood a caricature of depravity, and her sudden about turn into being a society lady very difficult to swallow I don t mind a slight excess of emotion, descriptio [...]

I really enjoyed this book, and wish that Frances Hodgson Burnett were better known for her works for adults, much as I love her famous works for children I also wish that modern romance novelists would take a cue or two from Clorinda guys, this is how you do the fiery beauty who will bow to no unworthy man type Although the happily ever after part goes on a bit long for my taste, the scene between Anne and Clorinda at the end is excellent I appreciated that even at the end, Clorinda needed som [...]

A larger than life heroine, drama, romance, villainy, dark secrets if all you ve read of Burnett is The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, this book will make your head spin This is one of my favorites of her books it s not the best constructed, and yes, it s over the top in places, but that s what makes it so much fun to read.

Picture a girl raised by a harsh father who dotes on her because she is beautiful and willful He dresses her up in boy s clothes and her crass language and company of her father s friends don t help Then she decides she will one day poof become a lady and on a dime with her towering intellect and all that rot goes on to do so She now is a goddess, spurning lovers well, maybe most of them and having all fall at her willful and haughty feet due to her intelligence, wit and beauty One sister is a p [...]

3.5Un gran divertimento dai toni gotici, finch le virt femminili vittoriane non ci mettono lo zampino.

This is a charming pastiche of the proto novels found in early 18th century periodicals, written with only a few inevitable Victorian touches The heroine, born in the late 17th century, is raised by her utterly disreputable father and his drunk hunting cronies she wears boys clothes, rides like a man, and generally gets up to all sorts of mischief before determining that in order to have a comfortable future she needs to act like a woman catch a rich husband It s a marvelous romp the heroine has [...]

i am loving this book it s fun to read bc sentence structure is uncommon to me i have been reading aloud in order to appreciate the differences in the way i normally speak reading e versions is great for looking up words no longer in common usagee story is pretty fantastic, as in, sort of ridiculous, but that s the neat thing about fiction a story can be anything you want it to be everything about the heroine is the best of the best of the best the author was good at repeating things in many dif [...]

I can see why this is not at the top of the list for popularity for this author There is something that just doesn t ring true about the development of the main character she turns out completely different from how she was raised She inadvertently kills a man and then covers it up, going on with her life and trying to do good without ever facing up to the tragedy, enjoying peace and contentment and tranquility Rather a puzzling book.

I never realized that the author of The Secret Garden and the Little Princess wrote romantic adult novels I very much enjoyed this story with it s extremely florid writing Styles have definitely changed, but this was fun to read I was rather shocked by what the heroine gets away with in the end.Not what I had expected.

My opinion of the book improved as it went on It starts terribly, but picks up considerably Despite the unrealistic heroine, I was touched by the ending Overall, it was an interesting look at what the author considered to be an old fashioned novel during her own time.

Not without surprisesI chose this after being long familiar with The Secret Garden This is a very different creature a moral and moralising tale, which at times can be quite hard to take and rather saccharin in its style Having said that, it is not without surprises and does pose some interesting questions is it Clorinda or Anne who fulfils the title role What qualifies as goodness It is dated and doesn t have the classic sturdy narrative of The Secret Garden, but it s not a wasted read.

Gotta tell you, I think readers today will either love this book or hate and I think a lot of people will overlook that Burnett was really something of a feminist because of all the melodrama Oh, the melodrama.Personally, I loved it But I can also recommend that you read the synopsis on the website below because the description offers does not begin to the plot justice I could write a description but I so much enjoyed the way Carrie write this Warning for Carrie S s rather purple languageartbitc [...]

A romantic novel not for children written by the author of The Secret Garden Very melodramatic I can see why it s not famous, but I enjoy Burnett s writing style and seeing how she may have evolved as a writer.Good audio version I listened to librivox a lady of qualit

This would ve worked well as a shorter tale because I m pretty sure about half the book was just sappy descriptions of the physical beauty, strength, and radiance of an entirely unlikeable and unrealistic personality The only reason I stuck through to the end is so I could find out what became of Anne, who, though also painted as a one dimensional figure, redeemed herself by the end And what happened to Barbara Besides one sentence somewhere in the middle, we never hear of her again So disappoin [...]

Inaspettatamente, la Burnett della mia letteratura infantile si rivela autrice di un romanzo dalle tinte forti La storia, che segue i tempi e i modi della narrativa settecentesca, viene da lei collocata in un periodo sufficientemente lontano tra sei e settecento da fare accettare al proprio pubblico il crudo realismo a met tra Henry Fielding e Edgar Allan Poe che a tratti la pervade La scrittura obiettiva, fredda fino a essere spietata, la variet dei personaggi, la suspense, i colpi di scena ne [...]

You may think that Burnett wrote children s books because you ve read The Secret Garden but she wrote mostly adult books This book was written in 1896 but it s set in an older England It s an odd book for a modern reader It is a historical romance that is partially critical of religion and faith but ends up deeply steeped in religious language It features an incredibly strong and strong willed central female character that is unwilling to cower or bow before any man Nonetheless, once she meets h [...]

Really 2 and a half stars I kept me intrigued but it didn t inspire me It s an interesting story who s frequent implausibility made me have to suspend belief a lot in order to follow it It reads rather like a gothic novel without the ghosts I found that after I had finished it I did not spend much time thinking about the characters in the book, but I did find myself musing quite a bit on whatever whatever could have been going through Burnett s mind when she spun such a melodramatic yarn She is [...]

I listened to this story from a librivox recording, and at a point in time when I was feeling of low confidence I must say, the larger than life heroine really inspired me in this condition, because she was very different from what people expected of her, and she did not mind, and in the end had a very nice life All that I do is right for me I make it so by doing it Do you think that I am conquered by the laws that other women crouch and whine before, because they dare not break them, though the [...]

Got this on the strength of having enjoyed The Secret Garden, which I have read than once Unfortunately A Lady of Quality is nowhere near as good It s so full of superlatives I wanted to laugh out loud or scream most of the time The storyline is okay, though impossible to take seriously I won t be rushing to read any F H Burnett books It took me ages to work my way through this one as I read several other books in between reading bits of this Only finished it because I hate not completing a bo [...]

A melodramatic, wholly unbelievable and highly unrealistic view of a willful, stubborn, and high spirited woman s rise to power in early eighteenth century England Raised by a drunken lout of a father, Clorinda rides wild horses and carouses to keep up with even the most degenerate of his fellows When she comes of age, she decides to become a proper lady I loved Clorinda, for who could not I have never read another heroine of so wild of spirit yet such aself controlled manner I especially love t [...]

A novel in the best tradition of Victorian schlock, featuring crossdressing, murder, premarital sex, and lots of treacly moralizing The most memorable scene is the one in which view spoiler the heroine, having murdered her former lover by a blow to the head in order that he won t be able to blackmail her, has guests over for tea and seats them upon the divan under which she has secreted his corpse hide spoiler

I enjoyed this free download to my Kindle I would have liked to have given it than 3 stars but the heroine was just too perfect for my tastes I don t believe that anyone can be so good good as a hoyden until she turned 15 and then good as a lady However, I did read all of it the writing was funny in places, probably because the author wrote it quite some time ago and the writing was probably current.

Interesting What a fascinating character study of an independent minded woman And an interesting love story I liked that she honored her marriage to her first husband with such care I also liked the ending even though I could see it coming It was nice to see Anne be so much stronger than anyone thought Kindle version

I enjoy melodramatic classics but this one is over the top for example Gerald s love letter at around the 75% mark of story Throughout the story how many times did the words Goddess and Worship appear I lost count I m sorry but any woman who kills a little dog is not a lady of quality in my opinion.

This was an entertaining book to listen to as a Librivox recording while planting the garden I enjoyed the story and am reminded of how much loved The Secret Garden a couple of years ago I will explore other Librivox recordings of this wonderful author.

This was probably one of the most unusual books I have read For at least half the book I didn t like the heroine and wasn t even sure she was supposed to be the heroine It had lots of mysteries, but ended happily It was quite religious at the end which was also surprising.