Othmar

by Ouida

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

396 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

Ouida was the pen name of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée).

During her career, she wrote more than 40 novels, children's books and collections of short stories and essays. She was an animal rights activist and animal rescuer, and at times owned as many as thirty dogs. For many years she lived in London, but about 1874 she went to Italy, where she died.

Ouida's work went through several phases during her career. In her early period, her novels were a hybrid of the sensationalism of the 1860s and the proto-adventure novels dubbed "muscular fiction" that were emerging in part as a romanticization of imperial expansion. Later her work was more along the lines of historical romance, though she never stopped comment on contemporary society. She also wrote several stories for children. One of her most famous novels, Under Two Flags, described the British in Algeria in the most extravagant of terms, while nonetheless also expressing sympathy for the French—with whom Ouida deeply identified—and, to some extent, the Arabs. This book went on to be staged in plays, and subsequently to be turned into at least three movies, transitioning Ouida in the 20th century.

Jack London cites her novel Signa, which describes an unschooled Italian peasant child who achieves fame as an opera composer, and which he read at age eight, as one of the eight reasons for his literary success.

Reviews

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

Round 1 @ Project Gutenberg.

This is the sequel to the three-volumes of "Princess Napraxine".

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this sequel to Princess Napraxine, Othmar and Nadine have been married for ten years. Nadine is never quite sure if she actually loves Othmar or not. Othmar loves her but has grown increasingly disenchanted because she is so cold and keeps him at arm's length. Nadine happens to see a poor girl Damaris (again impoverished nobility) and take a momentary interest in her because she's beautiful; when she does so, she awakens a longing for more than the provincial life Damaris has in store for her. This leads to Damaris being evicted from her home by her grandfather when she refuses to marry the man he's chosen for her. Othmar finds her starving to death in Paris and rescues her. He never behaves inappropriately to her, simply helps her get over her illness and sets her with somewhere to live. He deceives her that her grandfather had a change of heart and left her a legacy rather than telling her he's paying for her maintenance. Damaris has potential to be a great actress, so Othmar also engages an elderly actor who was once the toast of the world to teach her. He eventually becomes the butt of gossip because everyone assumes Damaris is his mistress. Nadine finds out and also believes she's his mistress even though Othmar tells her the truth. She's astonished to find out that she's actually jealous and angry at what she supposes is his infidelity. She's always believed he'd stop loving her one day and eventually cheat, and she also believed she wouldn't care. Boy, does she care, and she and Othmar quarrel for the first time, creating a huge rift between. Damaris finds out what Othmar is accused of and commits suicide by caring for someone who is dying of an infectious illness. In literally the last three pages of the novel, Nadine finds out about Damaris's suicide via a deathbed note; this makes Nadine believe Othmar and deeply repent. She goes to Othmar, actually apologizes (!), and the last words of the novel are her guessing she must have loved Othmar after all because she had doubted him.

The novel ends in such a deliciously ambiguous place. Othmar doesn't even know about Damaris's death yet. How will he react? Will he be angry with Nadine? She's contrite now, but will she revert to her old ways eventually? Will either of them ever be able to be happy? We just don't know, and I love that.