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Run to Earth
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.
516 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1867
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132 people want to read
About the author
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
1,039 books382 followersMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She was an extremely prolific writer, producing some 75 novels with very inventive plots. The most famous one is her first novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition and fortune as well. The novel has been in print ever since, and has been dramatised and filmed several times.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.
She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.
She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 26, 2022
I spent about three years reading sensation novels and I love very much this genre.
The stories could be a little bit unrealistics, but they're surely a great entertainment, with murders, disguisments, deceptions, kidnappings and more.
This one in particular is an excellent example of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's talent and is so compelling that a day has not hours enough to spend reading it!
It's the story of Jenny Milsom, a beautiful girl who runs away from a murderous father and marries a wealthy man, but her happiness doesn't last long, because two villans start plotting against her. Full of twists, it's quite impossible not to love this novel.
The stories could be a little bit unrealistics, but they're surely a great entertainment, with murders, disguisments, deceptions, kidnappings and more.
This one in particular is an excellent example of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's talent and is so compelling that a day has not hours enough to spend reading it!
It's the story of Jenny Milsom, a beautiful girl who runs away from a murderous father and marries a wealthy man, but her happiness doesn't last long, because two villans start plotting against her. Full of twists, it's quite impossible not to love this novel.
February 28, 2017
Starts Big, Ends Small
Two different mysteries, three villains, with one of them really being of the darkest dye, three murders (maybe, I forgot some), one suicide, the kidnapping of a child, three strong Victorian women – one of them uncommonly tragic, another quite a Becky-Sharp-like trickster –, and divine retribution … These are just some things that sensational novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon, an author whose works I have really come to enjoy, packs into her novel Run to Earth, whose very title alone is a haunting promise.
I’m not even trying to give you a synopsis of this plot-ridden novel because there is so much happening in there. Suffice it to say that one of the main characters is a young woman, who is living with a man claiming to be her father but exploiting and intimidating her, and when this villain, Black Milsom, actually kills a young seafaring captain over money, this young woman decides that she has had enough of it and leaves him. Later, she is married by a wealthy nobleman, Sir Oswald Eversleigh, who has just disinherited his ruthless and egoistic favourite nephew, Reginald Eversleigh. Reginald has a friend … well, you might not actually call him a friend, but a mentor of evil, Victor Carrington, who wants to help him to get back into his uncle’s good graces, and – even more importantly – into his uncle’s will, much to the detriment of our young heroine, now Lady Honoria Eversleigh. Carrington hatches a plot against Honoria and then kills Sir Oswald, but still things go awry for Reginald, and there are some other relatives standing between him and fortune, and … but wait, I said I won’t give a synopsis, and I’ll stick to my intention.
Braddon will let you worry with Honoria, and rout for the captain’s brother George Vernam, who is trying to find out the man who killed his brother, but, what is more, she will let you share a lot of time with the villains, especially with Victor Carrington, who is a true psychopath, without feeling and conscience, and who says things like
but who loves his mother dearly. Now, isn’t that something? She will also have our heroine embark on a quest for revenge and retribution and have enlist the help of an eccentric detective who says funny things like
She will also give you the tragic Madame Durski, who ensnares young dupes into gambling, being born a child to a father whose only passion was experiencing the thrills of banking all his money on cards, and who finally finds the promise of true love coming within her reach, whereas another female character, Lady Graham, does everything to secure herself a wealthy husband, only to find all her attempts thwarted.
And yet, Braddon will, to a certain extent, spoil it all by having our heroine Honoria resolve to abstain from her bitter quest and put retribution into the hands of God, who finally does it in a very deus ex machina way, usually off-screen and so swiftly that you cannot help thinking that Braddon somehow wanted her story to finish. Those rash judgments of fate, and the many coincidences are quite disappointing and come at a time when you would have wished for the story to go into a new round of intrigue and machination. It also makes you feel that the novel could have been a bit more carefully planned.
At the same time, however, some of the characters and scenes of the novel will make you not regret having read it.
Two different mysteries, three villains, with one of them really being of the darkest dye, three murders (maybe, I forgot some), one suicide, the kidnapping of a child, three strong Victorian women – one of them uncommonly tragic, another quite a Becky-Sharp-like trickster –, and divine retribution … These are just some things that sensational novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon, an author whose works I have really come to enjoy, packs into her novel Run to Earth, whose very title alone is a haunting promise.
I’m not even trying to give you a synopsis of this plot-ridden novel because there is so much happening in there. Suffice it to say that one of the main characters is a young woman, who is living with a man claiming to be her father but exploiting and intimidating her, and when this villain, Black Milsom, actually kills a young seafaring captain over money, this young woman decides that she has had enough of it and leaves him. Later, she is married by a wealthy nobleman, Sir Oswald Eversleigh, who has just disinherited his ruthless and egoistic favourite nephew, Reginald Eversleigh. Reginald has a friend … well, you might not actually call him a friend, but a mentor of evil, Victor Carrington, who wants to help him to get back into his uncle’s good graces, and – even more importantly – into his uncle’s will, much to the detriment of our young heroine, now Lady Honoria Eversleigh. Carrington hatches a plot against Honoria and then kills Sir Oswald, but still things go awry for Reginald, and there are some other relatives standing between him and fortune, and … but wait, I said I won’t give a synopsis, and I’ll stick to my intention.
Braddon will let you worry with Honoria, and rout for the captain’s brother George Vernam, who is trying to find out the man who killed his brother, but, what is more, she will let you share a lot of time with the villains, especially with Victor Carrington, who is a true psychopath, without feeling and conscience, and who says things like
”I do not delight in crime, Reginald Eversleigh; and it is only a man with your narrow intellect who could give utterance to such an absurdity. Crime is only another name for danger. The criminal stakes his life. I value my life too highly to hazard it lightly. But if I can mould accident to my profit, I should be a fool indeed were I to shrink from doing so. There is one thing I delight in, my dear Reginald, and that is success!”,
but who loves his mother dearly. Now, isn’t that something? She will also have our heroine embark on a quest for revenge and retribution and have enlist the help of an eccentric detective who says funny things like
”I can believe in miracles, […] but I can’t believe in rural police constables.”
She will also give you the tragic Madame Durski, who ensnares young dupes into gambling, being born a child to a father whose only passion was experiencing the thrills of banking all his money on cards, and who finally finds the promise of true love coming within her reach, whereas another female character, Lady Graham, does everything to secure herself a wealthy husband, only to find all her attempts thwarted.
And yet, Braddon will, to a certain extent, spoil it all by having our heroine Honoria resolve to abstain from her bitter quest and put retribution into the hands of God, who finally does it in a very deus ex machina way, usually off-screen and so swiftly that you cannot help thinking that Braddon somehow wanted her story to finish. Those rash judgments of fate, and the many coincidences are quite disappointing and come at a time when you would have wished for the story to go into a new round of intrigue and machination. It also makes you feel that the novel could have been a bit more carefully planned.
At the same time, however, some of the characters and scenes of the novel will make you not regret having read it.
June 7, 2013
I'm a big fan of the Victorian Sensationalist novel and one of the very best things about Kindle is the amount out there that is available absolutely free of charge!! This was a novel I had not heard of previously, from a favourite Victorian author, and as usual, it didn't disappoint. I suppose Braddon's most famous novel was Lady Audley's Secret (which I studied at University, hence the introduction to the author), but I liked "Run to Earth" even more than Lady Audley.
There are three strands to the narrative - Valentine Jernam's murder, Sir Oswald's convoluted family history and George Jernam and his marriage to Rosamund. It's a Victorian sensationalist novel, so with extensive use of coincidence, the three strands are welded together nicely by the end, but in the meantime, it's quite good fun to follow each story along. Each has its own merits and interest for the reader.
There are some great characters in here - Victor Carrington's utter diabolical evilness and Black Milsom with his black looks and ways. I also loved Andrew Larkspur and there are some great comedy moments as he tries to generalise about women and their obsessions with "berlin wool work". It made me laugh a lot.
There's a lot to be learned about Victorian society here, despite the fact that this is clearly a work of fiction. Women are judged by their youth and appearance and one almost feels sorry for Lydia Graham with her relentless coquettishness in order to secure a rich husband (and pay her milliner's bill): "All my life I have been passed by for the sake of women in every attribute my inferiors. If I was unloved in the freshness of my youth and beauty, how can I expect to be loved now, when youth is past and beauty is on the wane? And yet my brother expects me to go through the old stage-play, in the futile hope of winning a rich husband!" and even Lady Eversleigh with all her wealth and almost unlimited resources recognises herself as just a woman and as such "fettered" and unable to act for herself.
Of course, this is a Victorian novel, so we can guarantee that justice will be done from the very first page - that Victor Carrington - no matter how diabolical his scheming - is always doomed to failure. However, it's a very entertaining journey and there isn't a completely happy ending. Even the author notes that "There is no sound of pleasant wedding bells to close my record with their merry, jangling chorus. Is it not the fate of the innocent to suffer in this life for the sins of the wicked?" - Victor Carrington may be destined to fail and Sir Reginald may be doomed to die alone in his lonely beggarly garret, but the "heroes" and "heroines" of the tale cannot pass through their plottings completely unscathed.
This is a great book - over 500 pages of tightly plotted, intricately woven action and adventure and it's FREE - what's not to love?
There are three strands to the narrative - Valentine Jernam's murder, Sir Oswald's convoluted family history and George Jernam and his marriage to Rosamund. It's a Victorian sensationalist novel, so with extensive use of coincidence, the three strands are welded together nicely by the end, but in the meantime, it's quite good fun to follow each story along. Each has its own merits and interest for the reader.
There are some great characters in here - Victor Carrington's utter diabolical evilness and Black Milsom with his black looks and ways. I also loved Andrew Larkspur and there are some great comedy moments as he tries to generalise about women and their obsessions with "berlin wool work". It made me laugh a lot.
There's a lot to be learned about Victorian society here, despite the fact that this is clearly a work of fiction. Women are judged by their youth and appearance and one almost feels sorry for Lydia Graham with her relentless coquettishness in order to secure a rich husband (and pay her milliner's bill): "All my life I have been passed by for the sake of women in every attribute my inferiors. If I was unloved in the freshness of my youth and beauty, how can I expect to be loved now, when youth is past and beauty is on the wane? And yet my brother expects me to go through the old stage-play, in the futile hope of winning a rich husband!" and even Lady Eversleigh with all her wealth and almost unlimited resources recognises herself as just a woman and as such "fettered" and unable to act for herself.
Of course, this is a Victorian novel, so we can guarantee that justice will be done from the very first page - that Victor Carrington - no matter how diabolical his scheming - is always doomed to failure. However, it's a very entertaining journey and there isn't a completely happy ending. Even the author notes that "There is no sound of pleasant wedding bells to close my record with their merry, jangling chorus. Is it not the fate of the innocent to suffer in this life for the sins of the wicked?" - Victor Carrington may be destined to fail and Sir Reginald may be doomed to die alone in his lonely beggarly garret, but the "heroes" and "heroines" of the tale cannot pass through their plottings completely unscathed.
This is a great book - over 500 pages of tightly plotted, intricately woven action and adventure and it's FREE - what's not to love?
April 15, 2021
A good mystery novel by ME Braddon with much less humour than in some other novels ; listened to this on LibriVox and the reader was excellent; 2 stories in one which intertwine and come together at the end
February 8, 2018
You can't go wrong with a Mary Elizabeth Braddon book. I am reading all I can listen to from Librivox.org
September 11, 2018
At first, I abandoned Run to Earth months ago out of frustration and boredom--something I never expected to do to a novel by my beloved Miss Braddon. I'm glad I picked it up again, but only for completion's sake. The sensations in this sensation novel are so convoluted yet predictable and quick to deflate, it's hard to imagine they came from the genre's queen. I really liked the pair of villains: two young, dissolute cads who together share all the most disgusting character traits and vices you could imagine a person to have. If their machinations and the heroine's attempts to thwart and better them had been the clear focus of the novel, Run to Earth could have ranked with her best. Instead, the subplots and characters within them who have no real actions to perform just keep coming. It was a fairly enjoyable read for the richly descriptive world-building Mary Elizabeth is always great at, and I did find myself, in my second go at the book, turning the pages excitedly at times, but I think this is my least favorite of hers so far.
September 6, 2021
A cracking good story of a rocky path from rags to riches. It features plenty of intrigue, abduction, deceit and murder. There are not just one but two merciless villains. The heroine Anna, is raised by a common criminal, marries a rich man, is the victim of intrigue and abduction, loses everything, including her reputation, and is finally redeemed, in a helter skelter of plot and counterplot.
Like this review? Why not check out my book review site: BelEdit Book Reviews?
Like this review? Why not check out my book review site: BelEdit Book Reviews?
December 31, 2020
A riveting sensation novel. Loses steam at the end, wrapping up to quickly and failing to come to a satisfying conclusion but the various characters are wonderfully developed, especially the deliciously evil Victor Carrington and the noble stooge he tempts into ever greater sin. My favorite of Braddon's so far and as good as any Wilkie Collins's work.
May 28, 2022
Satisfying.
July 23, 2022
Not as good as other by the same author.
In my opinion the story is an early, "Regency Romance", having been written in the Victorian period, as a sensation novel, it is actually set about 30 years prior to the time of writing (not publication) during the very late Regency era. I think this is important to the understanding of certain aspects of the story, given that it places it at a completely different stage in the industrial revolution, British Empire and history in general.
I think Run to Earth is quite readable in comparison to some of Braddon's other stories, but there are certain annoyances about for me, for example there is very little foreshadowing and therefore many of the plot developments which happen later in the story are a little bit confusing. It becomes clear what was added to be sensational and what was not.
There's very little mercy in this book for anyone even the innocent characters, so I would not recommend it rather I would suggest reading Lady Audley's Secret or Wyllard's Weird both are significantly better written than this in my opinion.
In my opinion the story is an early, "Regency Romance", having been written in the Victorian period, as a sensation novel, it is actually set about 30 years prior to the time of writing (not publication) during the very late Regency era. I think this is important to the understanding of certain aspects of the story, given that it places it at a completely different stage in the industrial revolution, British Empire and history in general.
I think Run to Earth is quite readable in comparison to some of Braddon's other stories, but there are certain annoyances about for me, for example there is very little foreshadowing and therefore many of the plot developments which happen later in the story are a little bit confusing. It becomes clear what was added to be sensational and what was not.
There's very little mercy in this book for anyone even the innocent characters, so I would not recommend it rather I would suggest reading Lady Audley's Secret or Wyllard's Weird both are significantly better written than this in my opinion.
Read
August 5, 2015This goes in my never-finished pile until I can maybe dredge up more interest, or attention, or focus. I'm not sure at all why it isn't holding my eye- I do know I am irritated with so many people tearing into this happy marriage. It just got my goat. I know it ends well, but there were just too many vultures hovering overhead- that's what bothered me. Too many vultures in my own life translates to a desire to escape that feeling in my escapist reading. I think a change in timing will help.
June 16, 2012
I love Victorian sensation fiction but there was perhaps just a little too much plotting, intrigue and coincidence in this one. There was also a frequent change in viewpoints in the narrative to the detriment of the pacing of the story. An entertaining enough read but not one of my favourites by this author.
January 1, 2013
Entertaining and very readable, but there are too many plot strands.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews