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A Lady of Quality

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A Lady of Quality

Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Lady of Quality Frances Hodgson Burnett A Lady of Quality is a novel published in 1896 by Frances Hodgson Burnett that was the second highest best-selling book in the United States in 1896. It was the first of series of successful historical novels by Burnett.

A Lady of Quality Details

Date : Published February 14th 2018 by Oregan Publishing (first published 1896) ISBN : Author : Frances Hodgson Burnett Format : Kindle Edition 224 pages Genre : Classics, Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Gothic

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SmartBitches says

Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

A 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 , , and . 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 that you need to know about this book is that it starts off with some really depressing shit. At the start of the story, Asshole Dad marries a much younger woman. She will henceforth be known as Martyr Mom, not because I’m victim blaming but because she represents a very specific Victorian type of female character, one who exists to be good, to be miserable, and to die. Martyr Mom gives birth to nine children in nine years. All but two of these babies die in infancy. Giving birth to Baby #10 kills her, but as she lies in her deathbed she tries to suffocate the baby, who is lying next to her, to save the baby from being raised by Asshole Dad. This is some dark shit, but also an interesting subversion of the Martyr Mom Victorian Trope in that instead of praying over the baby for angels in heaven to guide it on the moral path, she just up and tries to kill it. This sets the tone for a book in which people make some hardcore choices.

The book is actually pretty subversive in terms of morals, with almost all of the moral judgment falling on Asshole Dad and on Oxon – there’s no suggestion that the women he knocked up were immoral, only that they were perhaps naïve and that Oxon was a manipulator and a liar. Even Anne, the voice of morality, encourages Clorinda to keep Oxon’s death a secret, and Anne never judges Clorinda for her sexual behavior or for killing Oxon. Clorinda lives with guilt, but the guilt is part of her life, not something that ruins all her happiness.

The attitudes towards agency are fascinating. Anne is celebrated largely for her passivity, yet Clorinda is adored for her ability to take action and for her refusal to be the puppet of the men in her life. Clorinda views her ability to take action as a sign of her masculine self – just as she has ‘masculine’ traits of being tall and strong, she has ‘masculine’ traits of being stubborn and outspoken and rebellious. Every time she cries, or feels very emotional, she berates herself for being ‘womanly’ and ‘weak’. Is the message that women have the capacity to take charge of their lives, and they should do so, like Clorinda? Or is the message that to be truly feminine is to be passive and emotional, like Anne? Or is the message that women are people, and therefore they can have different personalities, and all kinds of personalities have value? I’m not sure.

What I am sure about is that those wacky Victorians had a lot to sort out with regard to gender, and they could have used some lessons about birth control and hand-washing as well.

- Carrie S.

Sarah says

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

PDF File: A Lady of Quality... 3 Read and Download Ebook A Lady of Quality... 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 Clorinda at first, expecting her to be a "Rebecca" or "Scarlet" type character, but she chooses to help those around her and in doing so becomes a lady of quality vs. a lady of selfishness. She is very likable at the end, although I admit almost too perfect.

The villain seemed a cross between George Wickim (P&P) and Gaston (Beauty and the Beast). You definitely hate him.

I almost wished that the story had been about Anne, Clorinda's sister, but when I reached the end I was surprised to discover I liked Clorinda and she and Anne had their own part to play in the story and it would not have been the same story had their personalities been different.

The Shuttle is still my favorite of Burnett's adult novels, but I did enjoy A Lady of Quality and recommend it to those looking for a Gothic romance.

Note: the story is said to be set in the late 1600s, but in my mind's eye I could not see it in that time period, rather it seemed better fitted to the early 1800s.

Becky Doyle says

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.

Sue says

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, description or moralising in books of this era, but this one went on for pages, sometimes, without adding to the plot at all. I kept reading because I was interested in Clorinda's sister Anne, and because some of the plot developments caught my interest - but towards the end I skimmed several pages in order to finish it more quickly.

I don't think I'll be reading this again, and really wouldn't recommend it - but if you're now intrigued, make sure to get the free ebook edition.

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Amy says

Pause for a moment. Note the author. Now to think to yourself, the author who wrote that sappy Little Lord Fauntleroy novel and brought us the darling but perfect Sara Crew in A Little Princess also wrote this book. You're shocked, aren't you? I know. Me too. I kept double-checking in case I missed something. You'd never guess it from her frothy children's novels, but Frances Hodgson Burnett was a badass. (Also, she apparently named some poor son of hers Vivian, but that's something to explore another day.) Where to start to with A Lady of Quality? It isn't what you expect. Despite the increasingly moralistic tone of the characters as the book progresses, this isn't a moralizing story. People do evil, or at least not-so-nice things, and it kinda gets swept under the rug. Only one truly evil person seems to exist and even he shows as more pathetic than despicable. Oh, I suppose this story has its share of extreme melodrama and heaving bosoms and and saintly side characters. The important point is that the main character isn't a saint. She's mean and twisted initially. Burnett redeems her, but not by sacrificing her to wasting disease or anything like that, which is what I kept expecting. She gets a romance for the ages. Though the book builds towards her final, saving romance, it doesn't revolve around it. Different kinds of love push this book along, from a sister's devotion to a Father's self-centeredness. It really is fascinating. I'm intrigued and will definitely need to find more by Burnett!

Kat says

I really enjoyed this book, and wish that Frances Hodgson Burnett were better known for her works for adults, much as I love her more 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 some humbling.

The reading by Linda Andrus was very clear and easy to listen to, and it was pretty clear who was speaking based on the tone of voice alone.

Cera says

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 nerves of steel and a violent temper, but enough compassion for the suffering of others that she manages to be sympathetic to the reader. The degree to which gender is treated as performative is also quite interesting, especially given the period in which the novel was written.

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Angela says

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't think, in this case, the story succeeded in convincing me that this was true. As usual in Burnett's story, their is the requisite slavishly devoted character who has no identity or self-worth apart from adoring and serving the main character. In this case it is the sister Anne who is so groveling and doormattish that I just wanted to shake her!

Castiron says

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.

Cindy says

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.

Susan says

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 particular sycophant. But trouble brews in the form of a lover she no longer wants. At this point the tedium of the old-fashioned descriptions and personalities got to me. I checked out the Cliff Notes.

SPOILER- stop if you don't want to know-

Yes, she accidentally kills the threatening and obnoxious former lover with her weighted whip, buries his body in the cellar, but is forgiven by her perfectly matched male counterpart who has waited for her through a first marriage to a man in his dotage.

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Lauren Chong Sng says 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 usage. the 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 different ways, howsoever silly the heights of every facet of the heroine's life. it was predictable, however, an enjoyable read.

Deborah says

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.

Mrs Erica Morley Hillard says

Not without surprises

I 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.

Tintaglia says

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

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