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A review by rcsreads
Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sylvia has two lovers, a sexy seaman called Charley and her cousin Philip who is a total A-hole.
This one takes a while to get going and there is an unreasonable amount of whaling chat in the 1st half, although I did enjoy Sylvia's dad bragging about how he rode a whale in his youth. My man Napoleon is lurking in the backdrop and the press gang cause Sylvia no end of trouble with her men. Once it gets going there's all kinds of unbelievable coincidences and heartbreak and then, having made you hate Philip, Gaskell tries to redeem him. Sylvia may have forgiven him in the end but I never will!
Not Gaskell's best but I did enjoy it, it made me cry, and for being over 400 pages I got through it pretty quick.
This one takes a while to get going and there is an unreasonable amount of whaling chat in the 1st half, although I did enjoy Sylvia's dad bragging about how he rode a whale in his youth. My man Napoleon is lurking in the backdrop and the press gang cause Sylvia no end of trouble with her men. Once it gets going there's all kinds of unbelievable coincidences and heartbreak and then, having made you hate Philip, Gaskell tries to redeem him. Sylvia may have forgiven him in the end but I never will!
Not Gaskell's best but I did enjoy it, it made me cry, and for being over 400 pages I got through it pretty quick.