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Hard Cash
THE subsiding sea was now a liquid its great pellucid braes and hillocks shone with the sparkle and the hues of all the jewels in an emperor's crown. Imagine--after three days of inky sea, and pitchy sky, and Death's deep jaws snapping and barely missing--ten thousand great slopes of emerald, aquamarine, amethyst and topaz, liquid, alive, and dancing jocundly beneath a gorgeous sun.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1863
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About the author
Charles Reade
847 books39 followersCharles Reade was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth. He fell out of fashion by the turn of the century - "it is unusual to meet anyone who has voluntarily read him," wrote George Orwell in an essay on Reade - but during the 19th century Reade was one of England's most popular novelists. He was not highly regarded by critics.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 2, 2022
When like the early rose,
Aileen aroon,
Beauty in childhood glows,
Aileen aroon,
When like a diadem,
Buds blush around the stem,
Which is the fairest gem?
Aileen aroon.
Is it the laughing eye?
Aileen aroon.
Is it the timid sigh?
Aileen aroon.
Is it the tender tone?
Soft as the string'd harp's mean?
No; it is Truth alone,
Aileen aroon.
I know a valley fair,
Aileen aroon.
I know a cottage there,
Aileen aroon
Far in that valley's shade,
I know a gentle maid,
Flower of the hazel glade,
Aileen aroon.
Who in the song so sweet?
Aileen aroon,
Who in the dance so fleet?
Aileen aroon.
Dear are her charms to me,
Dearer her laughter free,
Dearest her constancy.
Aileen aroon.
Youth must with time decay,
Aileen aroon,
Beauty must fade away,
Aileen aroon.
Castles are sacked in war,
Chieftains are scattered far,
Truth is a fixed star,
Aileen aroon
(an old Irish song)
I am happy this time I was not duped by the sub-title “A matter of fact Romance” of the fatal Hard Cash. In my opinion this book is a fine jewel and I am convinced that its author was possessed of a singular mind. Why not accordingly, the novels of a man of such a quality, ought themselves be very strange, which is quite fine if you are in search for this effect. I enjoyed the genius of the writer and despite some difficulties within some parts of the novel (though not real difficulties, but more eccentricities...) I fell deeply for this novel with a heart very much jumping to my throat and a good mind to understand that the described events are not just part of a so-presumed reality of almost two hundred years ago, as they can be very well even of the present moment, in the sense of abuse and lack of law and justice and eventually good sense. That is to say that I have been particularly struck with that the author decided to write down some abuse of which I understand he had studied and researched a lot before this novel appeared to light [ “…I am no contemptible judge; for I have accumulated during the last few years a large collection of letters from persons deranged in various degrees, and studied them minutely, more minutely than most Psychologicals study anything but Pounds, Shillings, and Verbiage.” ] – and that is for example, the harshness with which lunatics are treated in the madhouses and the wickedness of certain classes. In a way it turned to be a sensational novel. I was instantly reminded about the hard and unfeigned scenes from Blindness of Jose Saramago, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, and so slight difference being that the latter is just one century younger as for publication date…
How I feel about this novel? For me it is a simple (distrust the appearances which eventually provoke fresh complications of the tale), honest, earnest story, with bitter truth stamped on every line. There is a sober, strong appeal from a sore heart that wants to tell this tale. I was greatly touched by those parts of the novel that deal with the lunatics in the private asylums. Some of those scenes were perfect imitation of the Inquisition practices.
≪ The tenacity of a private lunatic asylum is unique. A little push behind your back and you slide into one; but to get out again is to scale a precipice with crumbling sides. …To be happy in this house all a man wants is to be insane…≫
In my attempt to understand the larger background, I had read from various sources that in the mid 19th century Reade achieved his greatest success in documentary novels advocating social reform, and that he is recognized as the Victorian novelist who best utilized the insanity motif as a device in British sensational fiction. ≪ His realistic depiction of the abuses within the system controlling the insane asylums, gained him fame and prestige. The political aim of exposing such abuses was important. More significant critically was that beneath that reform agenda, the novel revealed the personal engagement of Reade the artist with those, like the insane, marginalized by Victorian society, and it developed through the metaphor of insanity, a revealing critique of Victorian materialism. ≫
Fortunately, there are lovely scenes in the novel, grouped under the Love branch. This adds big to that exquisite moment, when unhoped for, passing close through some tender scenes with the lovers’ pair, there is the fragrant air of the story that brushes your cheek and seems to whisper, Follow me and grasp the thrills of joy! Silly me :D someday it will turn out that I am neither more nor less than a fool to say that :))
The novel, as it happens, is fruitful of incidents, and the author tries to deal with them at once. Even the fatal hard Cash had to meet with manifold perils by sea and land (or better to say, land-sharks and sea-sharks), and when finally thought to be safe, in the sense of getting in good custody (*deposit in a bank), that’s when it falls out of the hand of the real proprietor. Nonetheless ‘Love’ and ‘Cash’, the converging branches of this story flow together in one stream.
I will not enter into more details or even the characters’ listing, whilst the plot summary is easily accessible on wikipedia. Enough to say that each and every one of the characters had a bee in his/ her own bonnet :D Some of them were struggling with monomaniac’s foible. Others were put into the flow to break the spirit of the main heroes. Another group was there to ensure that the novel had enough comical impact, and indeed it beamed with satisfaction on this side, too. Eventually, as the author concludes the history of a man is the history of his mind and certainly insanity is as various as eccentricity.
In the final part of the novel what is important is that the young hero is going to court trial, not merely for damages (*having been imprisoned in an asylum by a foul conspiracy, and chained sane amongst the mad, from where he finally escapes due to a fire…), but to recover lost rights dearer far than money, of which he has been unjustly robbed: ≪ …his right to walk in daylight on the soil of his native land without being seized and tied up for life like a dog; his footing in society; a chance to earn his bread; and a place among mankind: ay, among mankind; for a lunatic is an animal in the law’s eye and society’s, and an alleged lunatic is a lunatic till a jury clears him. ≫ We could try and imagine that, but few of us can conceive it by the light of our narrow experience. Yet one or two there may be – the world is wide, and the adventures and emotions of humans are many :))
Aileen aroon,
Beauty in childhood glows,
Aileen aroon,
When like a diadem,
Buds blush around the stem,
Which is the fairest gem?
Aileen aroon.
Is it the laughing eye?
Aileen aroon.
Is it the timid sigh?
Aileen aroon.
Is it the tender tone?
Soft as the string'd harp's mean?
No; it is Truth alone,
Aileen aroon.
I know a valley fair,
Aileen aroon.
I know a cottage there,
Aileen aroon
Far in that valley's shade,
I know a gentle maid,
Flower of the hazel glade,
Aileen aroon.
Who in the song so sweet?
Aileen aroon,
Who in the dance so fleet?
Aileen aroon.
Dear are her charms to me,
Dearer her laughter free,
Dearest her constancy.
Aileen aroon.
Youth must with time decay,
Aileen aroon,
Beauty must fade away,
Aileen aroon.
Castles are sacked in war,
Chieftains are scattered far,
Truth is a fixed star,
Aileen aroon
(an old Irish song)
I am happy this time I was not duped by the sub-title “A matter of fact Romance” of the fatal Hard Cash. In my opinion this book is a fine jewel and I am convinced that its author was possessed of a singular mind. Why not accordingly, the novels of a man of such a quality, ought themselves be very strange, which is quite fine if you are in search for this effect. I enjoyed the genius of the writer and despite some difficulties within some parts of the novel (though not real difficulties, but more eccentricities...) I fell deeply for this novel with a heart very much jumping to my throat and a good mind to understand that the described events are not just part of a so-presumed reality of almost two hundred years ago, as they can be very well even of the present moment, in the sense of abuse and lack of law and justice and eventually good sense. That is to say that I have been particularly struck with that the author decided to write down some abuse of which I understand he had studied and researched a lot before this novel appeared to light [ “…I am no contemptible judge; for I have accumulated during the last few years a large collection of letters from persons deranged in various degrees, and studied them minutely, more minutely than most Psychologicals study anything but Pounds, Shillings, and Verbiage.” ] – and that is for example, the harshness with which lunatics are treated in the madhouses and the wickedness of certain classes. In a way it turned to be a sensational novel. I was instantly reminded about the hard and unfeigned scenes from Blindness of Jose Saramago, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, and so slight difference being that the latter is just one century younger as for publication date…
How I feel about this novel? For me it is a simple (distrust the appearances which eventually provoke fresh complications of the tale), honest, earnest story, with bitter truth stamped on every line. There is a sober, strong appeal from a sore heart that wants to tell this tale. I was greatly touched by those parts of the novel that deal with the lunatics in the private asylums. Some of those scenes were perfect imitation of the Inquisition practices.
≪ The tenacity of a private lunatic asylum is unique. A little push behind your back and you slide into one; but to get out again is to scale a precipice with crumbling sides. …To be happy in this house all a man wants is to be insane…≫
In my attempt to understand the larger background, I had read from various sources that in the mid 19th century Reade achieved his greatest success in documentary novels advocating social reform, and that he is recognized as the Victorian novelist who best utilized the insanity motif as a device in British sensational fiction. ≪ His realistic depiction of the abuses within the system controlling the insane asylums, gained him fame and prestige. The political aim of exposing such abuses was important. More significant critically was that beneath that reform agenda, the novel revealed the personal engagement of Reade the artist with those, like the insane, marginalized by Victorian society, and it developed through the metaphor of insanity, a revealing critique of Victorian materialism. ≫
Fortunately, there are lovely scenes in the novel, grouped under the Love branch. This adds big to that exquisite moment, when unhoped for, passing close through some tender scenes with the lovers’ pair, there is the fragrant air of the story that brushes your cheek and seems to whisper, Follow me and grasp the thrills of joy! Silly me :D someday it will turn out that I am neither more nor less than a fool to say that :))
The novel, as it happens, is fruitful of incidents, and the author tries to deal with them at once. Even the fatal hard Cash had to meet with manifold perils by sea and land (or better to say, land-sharks and sea-sharks), and when finally thought to be safe, in the sense of getting in good custody (*deposit in a bank), that’s when it falls out of the hand of the real proprietor. Nonetheless ‘Love’ and ‘Cash’, the converging branches of this story flow together in one stream.
I will not enter into more details or even the characters’ listing, whilst the plot summary is easily accessible on wikipedia. Enough to say that each and every one of the characters had a bee in his/ her own bonnet :D Some of them were struggling with monomaniac’s foible. Others were put into the flow to break the spirit of the main heroes. Another group was there to ensure that the novel had enough comical impact, and indeed it beamed with satisfaction on this side, too. Eventually, as the author concludes the history of a man is the history of his mind and certainly insanity is as various as eccentricity.
In the final part of the novel what is important is that the young hero is going to court trial, not merely for damages (*having been imprisoned in an asylum by a foul conspiracy, and chained sane amongst the mad, from where he finally escapes due to a fire…), but to recover lost rights dearer far than money, of which he has been unjustly robbed: ≪ …his right to walk in daylight on the soil of his native land without being seized and tied up for life like a dog; his footing in society; a chance to earn his bread; and a place among mankind: ay, among mankind; for a lunatic is an animal in the law’s eye and society’s, and an alleged lunatic is a lunatic till a jury clears him. ≫ We could try and imagine that, but few of us can conceive it by the light of our narrow experience. Yet one or two there may be – the world is wide, and the adventures and emotions of humans are many :))
December 25, 2018
28 OCT 2018 - Hard Cash, A Matter-of-Fact Romance is an 1863 novel by Charles Reade. The novel is about the poor treatment of patients in private insane asylums, and was part of Reade's drive to reform and improve those institutions.
Read it here - http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3067
(SPOILER SYNOPSIS - A late nineteenth-century synopsis of the novel: This book, originally published in 1863, as Very Hard Cash is an alleged “exposure” of the abuses of private insane asylums in England and of the statutes under which they were sheltered. The “Hard Cash” is the sum of £14,000, the earnings of years, of which Richard Hardie, a bankrupt banker, defrauds David Dodd, a sea-captain. Dodd has a cataleptic shock and goes insane on realizing his loss. Hardie's son Alfred loves Julia, Dodd's daughter. He detects his father's villainy, accuses him of it, and to insure his silence is consigned by his father to a private insane asylum. There he meets Dodd; a fire breaks out, and both escape. Dodd enlists and serves as a common seaman, appearing to be capable but half-witted, until a second cataleptic shock restores his reason, when he returns home. Alfred reaches his friends, and vindicates his sanity in a court of law. The receipt for the £14,000 is found, and the money recovered from the elder Hardie. The book properly divides itself into two parts. One embraces the maritime adventures of Dodd with pirates, storms, shipwreck, and highwaymen, while bringing his money home; and his subsequent service as a half-witted foremast-hand until his restoration to reason. The other covers Alfred's thrilling experiences as a sane man among the insane. The author's analysis of all kinds of insanity is very thorough: with Alfred are contrasted Captain Dodd and many asylum patients, introduced incidentally; also Maxley, a worthy man driven insane by the bank failure, and who kills Alfred's sister in a maniacal rage; Dr. Wycherley, the asylum manager, who has epileptic fits himself; Thomas Hardie, Alfred's uncle, who is weak-minded; and others. Dr. Sampson, the sturdy Scotch (sic) physician, who despises all regular practitioners, and comes to Alfred’s rescue at the crisis of the book, is one of Reade’s strongest and most original characters. The love scenes are tender and touching. Hard Cash is in some sense a sequel to Love me Little, Love me Long which relates the early history and marriage of Captain and Mrs. Dodd. This book caused much lively public correspondence between the author and various asylum managers, who felt themselves aggrieved, but failed, according to Reade, to shake the facts and arguments put forward in this book.)
11 NOV 2018 - starting Chap. 13 today. I am breathless from Captain Dodd's adventure at sea. So many interesting characters. I am really enjoying my reading.
11 NOV 2018 - Mr Hardie, the elder, is a right SOB!
18 NOV 2018 - I am breathless! Everything is happening so quickly, I am out of breath just reading the events. The Hard Cash has become a character in itw own right. I am up to Chap. 25.
20 NOV 2018 - And do you suppose Mr Hardie could be any more evil? Well ... Yes, he can! This guy deserves nothing good and everything bad!
25 NOV 2018 - beginnng Chap. 32 today.
3 DEC 2018- work managed to situate itself between my reading time so I fell behind a bit. I am breathless from the events of Chap.32 and am now beginning Chap. 33.
9 DEC 2018 - . My heart breaks for Alfred - every door closes in this young man's face yet he holds onto such hope.
25 DEC 2018 - Reade had so much to say about the poor treatment of those admitted to asylums. In a time when one could be placed in an asylum with little to no proof/reason and held there for the remainder of their life, it is a shame Reade's voice was not better listened to.
Read it here - http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3067
(SPOILER SYNOPSIS - A late nineteenth-century synopsis of the novel: This book, originally published in 1863, as Very Hard Cash is an alleged “exposure” of the abuses of private insane asylums in England and of the statutes under which they were sheltered. The “Hard Cash” is the sum of £14,000, the earnings of years, of which Richard Hardie, a bankrupt banker, defrauds David Dodd, a sea-captain. Dodd has a cataleptic shock and goes insane on realizing his loss. Hardie's son Alfred loves Julia, Dodd's daughter. He detects his father's villainy, accuses him of it, and to insure his silence is consigned by his father to a private insane asylum. There he meets Dodd; a fire breaks out, and both escape. Dodd enlists and serves as a common seaman, appearing to be capable but half-witted, until a second cataleptic shock restores his reason, when he returns home. Alfred reaches his friends, and vindicates his sanity in a court of law. The receipt for the £14,000 is found, and the money recovered from the elder Hardie. The book properly divides itself into two parts. One embraces the maritime adventures of Dodd with pirates, storms, shipwreck, and highwaymen, while bringing his money home; and his subsequent service as a half-witted foremast-hand until his restoration to reason. The other covers Alfred's thrilling experiences as a sane man among the insane. The author's analysis of all kinds of insanity is very thorough: with Alfred are contrasted Captain Dodd and many asylum patients, introduced incidentally; also Maxley, a worthy man driven insane by the bank failure, and who kills Alfred's sister in a maniacal rage; Dr. Wycherley, the asylum manager, who has epileptic fits himself; Thomas Hardie, Alfred's uncle, who is weak-minded; and others. Dr. Sampson, the sturdy Scotch (sic) physician, who despises all regular practitioners, and comes to Alfred’s rescue at the crisis of the book, is one of Reade’s strongest and most original characters. The love scenes are tender and touching. Hard Cash is in some sense a sequel to Love me Little, Love me Long which relates the early history and marriage of Captain and Mrs. Dodd. This book caused much lively public correspondence between the author and various asylum managers, who felt themselves aggrieved, but failed, according to Reade, to shake the facts and arguments put forward in this book.)
11 NOV 2018 - starting Chap. 13 today. I am breathless from Captain Dodd's adventure at sea. So many interesting characters. I am really enjoying my reading.
11 NOV 2018 - Mr Hardie, the elder, is a right SOB!
18 NOV 2018 - I am breathless! Everything is happening so quickly, I am out of breath just reading the events. The Hard Cash has become a character in itw own right. I am up to Chap. 25.
20 NOV 2018 - And do you suppose Mr Hardie could be any more evil? Well ... Yes, he can! This guy deserves nothing good and everything bad!
25 NOV 2018 - beginnng Chap. 32 today.
3 DEC 2018- work managed to situate itself between my reading time so I fell behind a bit. I am breathless from the events of Chap.32 and am now beginning Chap. 33.
9 DEC 2018 - . My heart breaks for Alfred - every door closes in this young man's face yet he holds onto such hope.
25 DEC 2018 - Reade had so much to say about the poor treatment of those admitted to asylums. In a time when one could be placed in an asylum with little to no proof/reason and held there for the remainder of their life, it is a shame Reade's voice was not better listened to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2018
How much evil is a greedy man willing to do in order to protect his ill-gotten hard cash? Quite a bit, as you'll see in this 1868 novel.
It starts out slow for the first few chapters. (Skip the prologue, as it refers to a prequel book you don't have to read to understand this one.) But as the plot progresses there is plenty of action, plot twists, and cliff-hangers throughout. It can get a bit melodramatic and over-the-top in places, but it really is an addictive read. I just could not put it down! It can be found for free at Project Gutenberg, in a variety of ereader formats here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3067
It starts out slow for the first few chapters. (Skip the prologue, as it refers to a prequel book you don't have to read to understand this one.) But as the plot progresses there is plenty of action, plot twists, and cliff-hangers throughout. It can get a bit melodramatic and over-the-top in places, but it really is an addictive read. I just could not put it down! It can be found for free at Project Gutenberg, in a variety of ereader formats here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3067
March 2, 2016
As Reade himself describes it at one point, this is a story that revolves centrally around the themes of 'Love' and 'Cash'. The first is chiefly the courtship of the angelic Julia Dodd by the intellectual Alfred Hardie. Their happy ending becomes, unsurprisingly, interrupted by the other strand: the 14,000l that Julia's father, David, is intending to bring back from abroad for her benefit. This "Hard Cash" is unscrupulously seized by Alfred's father, Richard, as a means of preventing his imminent bankruptcy; when this is discovered by Alfred, his father's only recourse is to imprison him on false charges of insanity -- taking him on his wedding day to Julia. The young man sets out to prove his sanity from within the asylum system and to recover the money for his beloved.
The novel, as might be guessed, is full of incidents: pirate attacks, gun battles, fires, bankruptcy, imprisonment, as befits a sensation novel, and Reade handles each with considerable gusto. But this is not the reason that "Hard Cash" stands above certain others in the genre; Reade injects within his plot an uncompromising attack (the most forthright I have seen) on the medical profession's treatment of insanity, and the criminal justice system that sustains. Whether or not the reader agrees with his conclusions (and many medical men fiercely disputed the book in this regard), Reade's novel is one of the most culturally-engaged works in the genre and of value to anyone wishing to obtain an insight into the asylum system. (The treatment of these topics in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and M. E. Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret pales in comparison.) For this reason alone, disregarding the engaging action scenes and characterisation, "Hard Cash" deserves to be more widely read.
To finish, however, a slight reservation: the book is a very difficult one to get a grip of at first, as Reade's style is forbidding and the opening subject (an Oxford-Cambridge boat race) is tangential to the main plot. An edition that glosses the numerous foreign phrases and technical subject matter would, however, go a great length to reducing some of its complexities.
The novel, as might be guessed, is full of incidents: pirate attacks, gun battles, fires, bankruptcy, imprisonment, as befits a sensation novel, and Reade handles each with considerable gusto. But this is not the reason that "Hard Cash" stands above certain others in the genre; Reade injects within his plot an uncompromising attack (the most forthright I have seen) on the medical profession's treatment of insanity, and the criminal justice system that sustains. Whether or not the reader agrees with his conclusions (and many medical men fiercely disputed the book in this regard), Reade's novel is one of the most culturally-engaged works in the genre and of value to anyone wishing to obtain an insight into the asylum system. (The treatment of these topics in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and M. E. Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret pales in comparison.) For this reason alone, disregarding the engaging action scenes and characterisation, "Hard Cash" deserves to be more widely read.
To finish, however, a slight reservation: the book is a very difficult one to get a grip of at first, as Reade's style is forbidding and the opening subject (an Oxford-Cambridge boat race) is tangential to the main plot. An edition that glosses the numerous foreign phrases and technical subject matter would, however, go a great length to reducing some of its complexities.
September 2, 2013
It's sad that so many people think this isn't worth talking about. Sure, it's long, but who doesn't want a nice long book? Is there a deadline? It doesn't take itself seriously, as so many modern books do - doesn't pretend that listening to someone whine about the world is the most important thing on earth. It is a love story, told tongue in cheek, between a university student and a young somewhat frivolous girl. The hard cash of the title is the money the father is bringing back from abroad. After surviving shipwrecks and pirates, the money is stolen by the university student's father who then puts his son in an asylum to keep him quiet... Warning: Like so many of the authors he does make racist comments; there is a passage on the ship which makes me think he'd never seen anyone who wasn't white. Still he championed the insane probably without ever seeing one; one would think he could use his intellect to conquer prejudice as well.
Do not buy this edition. Print on demand editions are almost always overpriced and badly put together. I got mine for about eight dollars - not an original, but close....You just have to look patiently
Do not buy this edition. Print on demand editions are almost always overpriced and badly put together. I got mine for about eight dollars - not an original, but close....You just have to look patiently
October 22, 2025
A bit of a potboiler, and quite long in the tooth, but sufficiently entertaining.
NO idea how this got on my list - perhaps because of the exposè of asylums for the mentally ill? This portion is cited in several contemporary descriptions.
However, it takes many chapters to get into that portion. Every character has a backstory, including the money itself, the "hard cash" of the title.
To echo Stephon from SNL: this book has everything - a romance, a seafaring adventure, financial hardship, violence, a touch of racism, mental illness, and a trial.
NO idea how this got on my list - perhaps because of the exposè of asylums for the mentally ill? This portion is cited in several contemporary descriptions.
However, it takes many chapters to get into that portion. Every character has a backstory, including the money itself, the "hard cash" of the title.
To echo Stephon from SNL: this book has everything - a romance, a seafaring adventure, financial hardship, violence, a touch of racism, mental illness, and a trial.
December 24, 2024
very long but utterly fantastic, the book starts off slow but ended satisfyingly with a lot of emotional pay-off. there are a lot of great characters but my favorites are Mrs. Dodd, Alfred, and Dr Sampson. like a lot of fiction of this age the story can be overly sentimental and a bit contrived at times but it is moving and touches on several important social themes such as greed, love, and family
May 9, 2013
Uneven but a lot of fun overall, this book was apparently a huge sensation when it came out and resulted in asylum reform.
The story's brilliant but high-strung Oxonian protagonist, Alfred, is confined in an asylum by his evil father who is afraid his son will reveal his crime to the police. Did I mention this happens on Alfred's wedding day to his one true love, Julia? (Alfred/Julia Forever!!!!) Even though Alfred is perfectly sane, he cannot prove it in any way and nobody is interested. Eventually, after a couple of years of torment, he manages to escape and take his father to court to prove his sanity, with the help of Julia of course. Victorian melodrama, histionics and fun abound.
The story's brilliant but high-strung Oxonian protagonist, Alfred, is confined in an asylum by his evil father who is afraid his son will reveal his crime to the police. Did I mention this happens on Alfred's wedding day to his one true love, Julia? (Alfred/Julia Forever!!!!) Even though Alfred is perfectly sane, he cannot prove it in any way and nobody is interested. Eventually, after a couple of years of torment, he manages to escape and take his father to court to prove his sanity, with the help of Julia of course. Victorian melodrama, histionics and fun abound.
August 18, 2012
Now, this was a tricky book to get hold of, and it seems to have totally filtered it's way out of contemporary society. There are redeeming elements to this book - the descriptions of the asylum and treatments used there are incredibly insightful. Also - you can get fairly attached to the characters. However, this book lacks pace and seems to waffle on a little bit. However - definitely a must read for people interested in old-school crime fiction and Victorian treatment of the insane.
May 8, 2012
Stupid Victorians in asylums. Awesome!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews