So! Guess what?! I'm back. After a very long time of not having the Internet on my home computer or any way to reasonably get on to my awesome book blog, I am finally able to resume the laborious task I once began. I will admit that I have greatly strayed from the list I was supposed to be reading off of, and have begun a journey into the unknown of free kindle books. Which really just means that I'm reading the books that I enjoy most. These mostly include books written between 185-1920 by female authors.
My most recent reading have been books by M. E. Braddon. I have found a great love in what she wrote and finished Vixen Vol I-III earlier this afternoon. Something I've never really concerned myself with was the history of the author itself. And yet, I decided to take a gander at the Wikipedia page dedicated to Ms. Braddon. I will be directly quoting what I found interesting:
In 1860, Mary met John Maxwell, a publisher of periodicals. She started living with him in 1861. However, Maxwell was already married with five children, and his wife was living in an asylum in Ireland. Mary acted as stepmother to his children until 1874, when Maxwell's wife died and they were able to get married.
Typically the sensation novel focused on shocking subject matter including adultery, theft, kidnapping, insanity, bigamy, forgery, seduction and murder.[1] It distinguished itself from other contemporary genres, including the Gothic novel, by setting these themes in ordinary, familiar and often domestic settings, thereby undermining the common Victorian-era assumption that sensational events were something foreign and divorced from comfortable middle-class life
Alright. That's all that really interested me. No wonder she excelled at writing sensation novels, her life was one.
Anyway the point of all this really is that I recently read Lady Audley's Secret and was greatly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It really was one of those that I couldn't put down. And so I decided Saturday that I would start reading another one and liked the title of Vixen the best. I very seldom read excerpts that come with each book, and so had absolutely no idea what the book would be about. The overall concept is about love, boundaries, family relationships, and happiness ever after.
Vixen (Violet Tempest) is a lovely, wild, and independent character with all the female feisty qualities that I love in a female lead. She loves with a passion that cannot be thwarted and hates with equal vehemence. she ends up with an evil stepfather and all kinds of miserable things happen in her life. But she stays constant and devoted even when banished to Jersey with a shriveled up old spinster. I'm greatly condensing a three volume novel into a small idea because it is late and I really don't know what else to say.
It was an enjoyable read, but I wasn't taught any life lessons of which I feel the need to impart, nor was I greatly moved by the passions within the novel. I believe that overall it was an excellent light-hearted read for me that allowed me some freedom of mind during the crazy work weekend I just had. I haven't quite decided what I want to read next, but I know I will begin something on my lunch break tomorrow. Perhaps it will end up being something of which I will have more to say.
I'll review the list of books I was supposed to have been reading and see what I've accomplished thus far, and maybe I'll work on that more. I'm so incredibly indecisive.
E.
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