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The Shadow Of Ashlydyat
""The Shadow of Ashlydyat"" is a novel written by Mrs. Henry Wood. The story revolves around a young woman named Isabel, who inherits the Ashlydyat estate upon the death of her father. However, the estate comes with a dark and mysterious past, and Isabel soon finds herself haunted by strange occurrences and unexplainable events. As she delves deeper into the history of Ashlydyat, Isabel uncovers a web of secrets and betrayal that threaten to consume her. With the help of her loyal friend, Ralph, Isabel must confront the shadows of the past and overcome the darkness that threatens to engulf her. This gothic tale of mystery and suspense is a classic of Victorian literature and has captivated readers for generations.He came in and stood in the doorway, smiling down upon her. So shadowy, so thin! his face utterly pale, his dark blue eyes unnaturally large, his wavy hair damp with the exertion of walking. Maria's heart stood still. She rose from her seat, unable to speak, the colour going and coming in her transparent skin; and when she quietly moved forward to welcome him, her heart found its action again, and bounded on in tumultuous beats. The very intensity of her emotion caused her demeanour to be almost unnaturally still.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
716 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1863
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About the author
Mrs. Henry Wood
412 books78 followersEllen Wood (née Price) was an English novelist, better known as "Mrs Henry Wood". She wrote over 30 novels, many of which (especially East Lynne), enjoyed remarkable popularity. Among the best known of her stories are Danesbury House, Oswald Cray, Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles, The Channings, Lord Oakburn's Daughters and The Shadow of Ashlydyat. For many years, she worked as the proprietor and editor of the Argosy.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 18, 2024
The Shadow of Ashlydyat was Ellen Wood's personal favorite of all her novels. I loved how Wood played up the family lore of the curse on the Godolphins and the sinister Shadow of Ashlydyat. The story was well written and there was an interesting cast of characters.
As a lover of Victorian Sensation novels, this one didn't quitevlive up to my favorites, especially those written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Wilkie Collins. Don't get me wrong, it was quite good and I enjoyed reading it and Ellen Wood was undoubtedly a fantastic writer, but her books tend to be like comparing other Golden Age of Crime fiction authors to Agatha Christie. For me, personally, I enjoy her books, but they aren't quite up to par with Mary Elizabeth Braddon's, my favorite author of Victorian Sensation novels.
As a lover of Victorian Sensation novels, this one didn't quitevlive up to my favorites, especially those written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Wilkie Collins. Don't get me wrong, it was quite good and I enjoyed reading it and Ellen Wood was undoubtedly a fantastic writer, but her books tend to be like comparing other Golden Age of Crime fiction authors to Agatha Christie. For me, personally, I enjoy her books, but they aren't quite up to par with Mary Elizabeth Braddon's, my favorite author of Victorian Sensation novels.
December 1, 2016
Women of a Different Stamp
The Shadow of Ashlydyat, which was published in The New Monthly Magazine between October 1861 and November 1863, was ranked amongst her favourite works by the author Ellen Wood, and I find that it has as much to recommend itself to the modern reader as to alienate him.
The story centres on the Godolphin family, who run a bank in a small town. After the death of Sir Thomas Godolphin, his two sons Thomas and George take over the business. Whereas Thomas, the elder, is a serious, pious and honest gentleman through and through, whose private life was blighted through the premature death of his fiancée, George, also known as “ready George”, is a free and easy dapper man about town, whose irresponsible gambling debts lead him into defalcation and the manipulation of the bank’s books. When it finally becomes known that George has misappropriated some bonds, this scandal starts a run on the bank, eventually resulting in the Godolphin’s bankruptcy and the ruin of many small depositors. The public disgrace falling on the Godolphin’s does not affect George very much – in fact, he absconds to London to leave matters to be fixed up by Thomas as best as can be –, but it precipitates the death of his elder brother and also leads to the demise of George’s wife Mary, who dies from “a broken heart”. Mary’s death, however, is only partly effected by the ruin of the bank and the cares that go with with; another reason is her feeling of always standing in the shadow of Charlotte Pain, a woman her husband spends a lot of time with.
In fact, The Shadow of Ashlydyat is an example of an infelicitous title because the novel does not really centre on the mysterious spectre, known as The Shadow of Ashlydyat, which is said to appear whenever there is trouble afoot for the Godolphin family, but it is more concerned with the rivalry between Mary and Charlotte, and this is also where the novel may alienate a modern reader. Wood contrasts Charlotte and Mary in the very first chapter by depicting the former as demure, serious and submissive, not altogether fit to face the vicissitudes of life, whereas the latter appears as self-assertive, even callous and, with her interest in hunting, driving horses and keeping dogs, as unwomanly. It is quite clear where Mrs. Wood’s sympathies lay, but I, for one, rooted for Charlotte Pain, not only because she has such a wonderful name, but also because she seems the more interesting woman to me. George spends a lot of time with her, but near the end of the book he tells his wife that Charlotte Pain is not the kind of woman a man would marry, which labelled him as quite a hide-bound bigot for me. The reader will always enjoy the passages in which mischievous Charlotte makes her appearance in the novel, whereas the long and pathetic death of Mary might eventually bore and annoy him. It’s also strange to see Mary parade her sufferings and her readiness to embrace death like a good Christian in front of her little daughter instead of pulling herself together for once and of sending her husband where he belongs.
All in all, the book is well-written, its characters are credible and not easy to put into categories of good or evil, but the last third of the novel was quite a strenuous morality play to endure.
The Shadow of Ashlydyat, which was published in The New Monthly Magazine between October 1861 and November 1863, was ranked amongst her favourite works by the author Ellen Wood, and I find that it has as much to recommend itself to the modern reader as to alienate him.
The story centres on the Godolphin family, who run a bank in a small town. After the death of Sir Thomas Godolphin, his two sons Thomas and George take over the business. Whereas Thomas, the elder, is a serious, pious and honest gentleman through and through, whose private life was blighted through the premature death of his fiancée, George, also known as “ready George”, is a free and easy dapper man about town, whose irresponsible gambling debts lead him into defalcation and the manipulation of the bank’s books. When it finally becomes known that George has misappropriated some bonds, this scandal starts a run on the bank, eventually resulting in the Godolphin’s bankruptcy and the ruin of many small depositors. The public disgrace falling on the Godolphin’s does not affect George very much – in fact, he absconds to London to leave matters to be fixed up by Thomas as best as can be –, but it precipitates the death of his elder brother and also leads to the demise of George’s wife Mary, who dies from “a broken heart”. Mary’s death, however, is only partly effected by the ruin of the bank and the cares that go with with; another reason is her feeling of always standing in the shadow of Charlotte Pain, a woman her husband spends a lot of time with.
In fact, The Shadow of Ashlydyat is an example of an infelicitous title because the novel does not really centre on the mysterious spectre, known as The Shadow of Ashlydyat, which is said to appear whenever there is trouble afoot for the Godolphin family, but it is more concerned with the rivalry between Mary and Charlotte, and this is also where the novel may alienate a modern reader. Wood contrasts Charlotte and Mary in the very first chapter by depicting the former as demure, serious and submissive, not altogether fit to face the vicissitudes of life, whereas the latter appears as self-assertive, even callous and, with her interest in hunting, driving horses and keeping dogs, as unwomanly. It is quite clear where Mrs. Wood’s sympathies lay, but I, for one, rooted for Charlotte Pain, not only because she has such a wonderful name, but also because she seems the more interesting woman to me. George spends a lot of time with her, but near the end of the book he tells his wife that Charlotte Pain is not the kind of woman a man would marry, which labelled him as quite a hide-bound bigot for me. The reader will always enjoy the passages in which mischievous Charlotte makes her appearance in the novel, whereas the long and pathetic death of Mary might eventually bore and annoy him. It’s also strange to see Mary parade her sufferings and her readiness to embrace death like a good Christian in front of her little daughter instead of pulling herself together for once and of sending her husband where he belongs.
All in all, the book is well-written, its characters are credible and not easy to put into categories of good or evil, but the last third of the novel was quite a strenuous morality play to endure.
May 28, 2025
The last 150 pages were like tying a brick around what was otherwise a fantastic novel and throwing it into a river.
One thing that might be imperative to understanding this book is naming conventions. The oldest child uses the last name in their title and the other children use their first names, e.g., Janet is Miss Godolphin and her sisters are Miss Bessy and Miss Cecilia, who is always called Cecil; which I've never heard used as a kicky girls' nickname before, but it works. Thomas, the oldest brother is Mr. Godolphin and George is Mr. George.
Fucking George. If you liked the Channings and want a similar plot with a whole freaking banking establishment instead of £20, this is the book for you. Also, if you liked the Channings but hated how everything wrapped up neatly, and you want the innocent to die because, seriously, she's been suffering for eighty pages already, let's wrap this up. And it's George's fault. The townspeople are right. Mrs. Henry Wood is correct; she's very controlled in language and emotion, but there are some pages where you can tell she just wants to jump into the book and kick him in the teeth. Australia would have been better for the whole family. Maria probably died from lack of sun.
That said, losing three, then four, infants immediately after birth might be what is wrong with George. He's the only one who brings it up.
Women are a dichotomy, and both kinds of women are wrong. Mrs. Henry Wood likes all her female characters, even Charlotte Pain (such a cool name), but the moral but practical women are the ones who win: Mrs. Hastings; Grace "I Can Carry My Own Baby" Aiken; Mrs. Godolphin ,who nobody cares about at all but who ends up being a good egg; and Janet who believes in the legend and the Shadow. The ominous Shadow that appears anytime anyone in this book goes near the Dark Plain, because the legend says that if a Godolphin dies away from Ashlydyat, misfortune will befall the family. And it sure does!
Overall, and for the first three hundred pages, this is peak Mrs. Henry Wood: a large family, ensemble cast with a full village full of well-characterized people making normal, middle of the road, human choices. Mrs. Bond, for example. She was a delight and Mrs. Henry Woods' phrasings on her state of being relative to the gin shop were delightful. I liked how her daughter was able to grow up sensibly in spite of, go to Australia willingly, and send back money in a way that accounted for her mother's temptations and tried to simultaneously placate and circumvent them, and would have if it weren't for George being a selfish, useless, sociopath. He took the money his wife begged him not to take to skip town to avoid the people he'd just bankrupted. Nothing sticks to him. Lord Averil forgave a £1.6 million robbery, in today's dollars. And accounting fraud wasn't a crime in 1863? It just wasn't? You could falsify an entire bank's worth of accounts? And the state wouldn't press charges?
Charlotte Pain is her own woman. She adopts the Garibaldi shirt before it becomes the signature look of the late Victorian era. (Not my jam either, Mrs. HW.) She likes dogs and horses and she's never punished for it. Her life is boring as hell, and the tedium of an upper class Victorian female life in this book is miserable, (another thing that killed Maria) but Charlotte makes her own fun and doesn't give a fuck if it scares people (although her fun is reckless, irresponsible, and she's mean to dogs and her wimpy cousin-husband). And Charlotte is still a good person. In the worst days, she is the only one visiting Maria and taking Meta. Prior's Ash is too small for her. What's she doing there?
And Maria. In the beginning, George has already chosen Maria, but the town gossips are pitting Charlotte and Maria against each other in a rivalry for George's hand. Maria wins. She's the perfect wife. Sits quietly at home, does modest work, never criticizes or complains, bears the deaths of four babies silently. She brings up economizing once in six years, and it is the only word she ever says against her husband, until her death bed when she quietly mentions that leaving her alone for months to the shame of bankrupting the town, while he goes gallivanting around in London with Charlotte, the woman that everyone is still whispering about; Maria says George might not have done that. George chose the perfect wife, and sitting at home with the perfect wife is boring. Riding around on gorgeous horses with Charlotte Pain was more fun, so he did that. George is a terrible person.
In the end, the end took so long. So freaking long. Every character had an ending, even Lady Sarah Ann, but Maria's ending dragged. Imagine picking up a new issue of your favorite serial magazine every month for half a year and reading about how Maria is still suffering silently on a couch. At least Margery was there to do some scolding.
Not Mrs. Henry Wood's best work, but I can see why she thought it was. And Verall never found his downfall, because white collar crime pays.
One thing that might be imperative to understanding this book is naming conventions. The oldest child uses the last name in their title and the other children use their first names, e.g., Janet is Miss Godolphin and her sisters are Miss Bessy and Miss Cecilia, who is always called Cecil; which I've never heard used as a kicky girls' nickname before, but it works. Thomas, the oldest brother is Mr. Godolphin and George is Mr. George.
Fucking George. If you liked the Channings and want a similar plot with a whole freaking banking establishment instead of £20, this is the book for you. Also, if you liked the Channings but hated how everything wrapped up neatly, and you want the innocent to die because, seriously, she's been suffering for eighty pages already, let's wrap this up. And it's George's fault. The townspeople are right. Mrs. Henry Wood is correct; she's very controlled in language and emotion, but there are some pages where you can tell she just wants to jump into the book and kick him in the teeth. Australia would have been better for the whole family. Maria probably died from lack of sun.
That said, losing three, then four, infants immediately after birth might be what is wrong with George. He's the only one who brings it up.
Women are a dichotomy, and both kinds of women are wrong. Mrs. Henry Wood likes all her female characters, even Charlotte Pain (such a cool name), but the moral but practical women are the ones who win: Mrs. Hastings; Grace "I Can Carry My Own Baby" Aiken; Mrs. Godolphin ,who nobody cares about at all but who ends up being a good egg; and Janet who believes in the legend and the Shadow. The ominous Shadow that appears anytime anyone in this book goes near the Dark Plain, because the legend says that if a Godolphin dies away from Ashlydyat, misfortune will befall the family. And it sure does!
Overall, and for the first three hundred pages, this is peak Mrs. Henry Wood: a large family, ensemble cast with a full village full of well-characterized people making normal, middle of the road, human choices. Mrs. Bond, for example. She was a delight and Mrs. Henry Woods' phrasings on her state of being relative to the gin shop were delightful. I liked how her daughter was able to grow up sensibly in spite of, go to Australia willingly, and send back money in a way that accounted for her mother's temptations and tried to simultaneously placate and circumvent them, and would have if it weren't for George being a selfish, useless, sociopath. He took the money his wife begged him not to take to skip town to avoid the people he'd just bankrupted. Nothing sticks to him. Lord Averil forgave a £1.6 million robbery, in today's dollars. And accounting fraud wasn't a crime in 1863? It just wasn't? You could falsify an entire bank's worth of accounts? And the state wouldn't press charges?
Charlotte Pain is her own woman. She adopts the Garibaldi shirt before it becomes the signature look of the late Victorian era. (Not my jam either, Mrs. HW.) She likes dogs and horses and she's never punished for it. Her life is boring as hell, and the tedium of an upper class Victorian female life in this book is miserable, (another thing that killed Maria) but Charlotte makes her own fun and doesn't give a fuck if it scares people (although her fun is reckless, irresponsible, and she's mean to dogs and her wimpy cousin-husband). And Charlotte is still a good person. In the worst days, she is the only one visiting Maria and taking Meta. Prior's Ash is too small for her. What's she doing there?
And Maria. In the beginning, George has already chosen Maria, but the town gossips are pitting Charlotte and Maria against each other in a rivalry for George's hand. Maria wins. She's the perfect wife. Sits quietly at home, does modest work, never criticizes or complains, bears the deaths of four babies silently. She brings up economizing once in six years, and it is the only word she ever says against her husband, until her death bed when she quietly mentions that leaving her alone for months to the shame of bankrupting the town, while he goes gallivanting around in London with Charlotte, the woman that everyone is still whispering about; Maria says George might not have done that. George chose the perfect wife, and sitting at home with the perfect wife is boring. Riding around on gorgeous horses with Charlotte Pain was more fun, so he did that. George is a terrible person.
In the end, the end took so long. So freaking long. Every character had an ending, even Lady Sarah Ann, but Maria's ending dragged. Imagine picking up a new issue of your favorite serial magazine every month for half a year and reading about how Maria is still suffering silently on a couch. At least Margery was there to do some scolding.
Not Mrs. Henry Wood's best work, but I can see why she thought it was. And Verall never found his downfall, because white collar crime pays.
September 26, 2022
Just finished an entertaining #victoriansensationbookclub selection: The Shadow of Ashlydyat by Mrs. Henry Wood
I have never seen this book or author on Bookstagram before so it was fun to jump into something a bit unknown. Written in 1863, this novel was considered Mrs. Henry Woods best novel. It centers on the lives of two very different women (Mary and Charlotte) and the man in between them. It leaves some relationships a little vague for our modern crowd, “Was there an affair or not?” And it has some very melodramatic scenes that made me cry towards the end. Overall though, the characters are credible and the relationships and scenery enjoyable. It was a pleasure to read and relax with in the evenings.
I read somewhere that Mrs. Henry Wood had long bouts of illness in her life, but was never short on words and desire to write. I pictured her laying on the couch writing and writing the days away. When I sit down to write anything, I don’t feel like the words flow easily, so what a lovely gift she had.
Favorite quotes: My house😆: “The study there was chiefly consecrated to litter, and the master had less to do with it, personally, then with almost any other room in the house. There, the children, boys and girls, played, or learned lessons, or practiced; there, Mrs. Hastings would sit to see when she had any work in hand to plebian for the eyes of polite visitors.”
“ He did not open the door at the most opportune moment. 😂Maria, Isaac, and Harry were executing a dance that probably had no name in the dancing calendar; Reginald was standing on his head; Rose had just upset the contents of the table, by inadvertently drawing off its old cloth cover, and Grace was scolding her in a loud tone. “what do you call this?” demanded Mr. Hastings, when he had leisurely surveyed the scene. “Studying?“
“Some are given to this dread in an unwanted degree: whilst an epidemic lasts they live in a constant state of fear and pain. It is death they fear: being sent violently to the unknown life to come. I know of only one remedy for this: to be at peace with God: death or life are like then. Lady Goldolphin and had not found it.
I have never seen this book or author on Bookstagram before so it was fun to jump into something a bit unknown. Written in 1863, this novel was considered Mrs. Henry Woods best novel. It centers on the lives of two very different women (Mary and Charlotte) and the man in between them. It leaves some relationships a little vague for our modern crowd, “Was there an affair or not?” And it has some very melodramatic scenes that made me cry towards the end. Overall though, the characters are credible and the relationships and scenery enjoyable. It was a pleasure to read and relax with in the evenings.
I read somewhere that Mrs. Henry Wood had long bouts of illness in her life, but was never short on words and desire to write. I pictured her laying on the couch writing and writing the days away. When I sit down to write anything, I don’t feel like the words flow easily, so what a lovely gift she had.
Favorite quotes: My house😆: “The study there was chiefly consecrated to litter, and the master had less to do with it, personally, then with almost any other room in the house. There, the children, boys and girls, played, or learned lessons, or practiced; there, Mrs. Hastings would sit to see when she had any work in hand to plebian for the eyes of polite visitors.”
“ He did not open the door at the most opportune moment. 😂Maria, Isaac, and Harry were executing a dance that probably had no name in the dancing calendar; Reginald was standing on his head; Rose had just upset the contents of the table, by inadvertently drawing off its old cloth cover, and Grace was scolding her in a loud tone. “what do you call this?” demanded Mr. Hastings, when he had leisurely surveyed the scene. “Studying?“
“Some are given to this dread in an unwanted degree: whilst an epidemic lasts they live in a constant state of fear and pain. It is death they fear: being sent violently to the unknown life to come. I know of only one remedy for this: to be at peace with God: death or life are like then. Lady Goldolphin and had not found it.
September 21, 2022
I had never heard of Mrs. Henry Wood or "The Shadow of Ashlydyat" (originally published in 1863) before being invited to a Victorian book club on Instagram that was reading this book in September. And what a delightful surprise! After a rather slow start, "The Shadow of Ashlydyat" really brings the sensational melodrama in a way that sucked me right in. I mean...while this is not great literature, it is also somehow good writing in the sense that it is entertaining, gripping, and fun.
The premise: In the small English town of Prior's Ash, the Godolphins are a respected banking family who are sometimes haunted by a mysterious shadow that appears near their ancestral home Ashlydyat as foreshadowing to any misfortune that might befall them. The two Godolphin brothers, Thomas and George, lead very different lifestyles that affect the fortunes of their family differently, and when a scandal wreaks havoc throughout the town of Prior Ash, the shadow appears for...almost...the last time.
Ok, that is my best attempt at a blurb for the book, but it actually is kind of misleading because the Gothic, supernatural elements of "the Shadow" are really secondary to what is more a novel of society, marriage, business, and community. There is a wide caste of characters from every level of society in Prior's Ash and beyond, but the main storyline follows George Godolphin and his wife Maria in the ups and downs of their life together. It is almost like "Middlemarch" and "The Woman in White" had a lil' melodramatic baby. 😂
And again, let me say: once I got to Part 2: I was really absorbed. I wanted to scream in frustration about certain characters' actions; I desperately wanted to talk to somebody about what was happening (but I had read ahead of the book club); friends, I CRIED. (And I am not a big crier.) So. I was all in. Even though some characters were basically caricatures and the end was a prolonged sentimental mushball, I really enjoyed it all. I would totally read a sequel if one existed.
The premise: In the small English town of Prior's Ash, the Godolphins are a respected banking family who are sometimes haunted by a mysterious shadow that appears near their ancestral home Ashlydyat as foreshadowing to any misfortune that might befall them. The two Godolphin brothers, Thomas and George, lead very different lifestyles that affect the fortunes of their family differently, and when a scandal wreaks havoc throughout the town of Prior Ash, the shadow appears for...almost...the last time.
Ok, that is my best attempt at a blurb for the book, but it actually is kind of misleading because the Gothic, supernatural elements of "the Shadow" are really secondary to what is more a novel of society, marriage, business, and community. There is a wide caste of characters from every level of society in Prior's Ash and beyond, but the main storyline follows George Godolphin and his wife Maria in the ups and downs of their life together. It is almost like "Middlemarch" and "The Woman in White" had a lil' melodramatic baby. 😂
And again, let me say: once I got to Part 2: I was really absorbed. I wanted to scream in frustration about certain characters' actions; I desperately wanted to talk to somebody about what was happening (but I had read ahead of the book club); friends, I CRIED. (And I am not a big crier.) So. I was all in. Even though some characters were basically caricatures and the end was a prolonged sentimental mushball, I really enjoyed it all. I would totally read a sequel if one existed.
October 7, 2019
Built of greystone, and lying somewhat in a hollow, it wore altogether a gloomy appearance. And it was intensely ugly. A low building of two storeys, irregularly built, with gables and nooks and ins-and-outs of corners, and a square turret in the middle, which was good for nothing but the birds to build on. It wore a time-honored look, though, with all its ugliness, and the moss grew, green and picturesque, on its walls. Perhaps on the principle, or, let us say, by the subtle instinct of nature, that a mother loves a deformed child with a deeper affection than she feels for her other children, who are fair and sound of limb, did the Godolphins feel pride in their inheritance because it was ugly.
This is difficult to rate. When it's good, it's great...but when it loses steam, it's tedious. Mrs Wood was often serialized in magazines -- but even discounting the repetitious moments of vintage fiction in that format, there's a lot that could have been trimmed or removed altogether.
To compare: if Mary Elizabeth Braddon is the Nora Roberts of Victorian melodramas, then Mrs Wood is the Danielle Steel. MEB generally focused on mysterious criminal enterprise and/or blatantly sexual ladies in her novels; Wood also includes criminal antics, but her focus is the domestic stress said crimes place upon a family group, with the sexual threads implied by textual clues. In this case, the fulcrum is George Godolphin, a mimbo golden god who falls into 'financial embarrassment' before abandoning his wife, brother, in-laws, & friends to face the consequences of his own stupidity. (George may also be having an affair -- he denies it, natch, but not even his own servants believe him.)
Like all good Victorian novelists, Wood is fascinated by the repercussions when characters deviate from honorable behavior. But despite Wood's (& the nameless narrator's) conservative morality, she doesn't hold nauseatingly angelic Maria blameless in the fallout. While it's true that Maria has no part in husband George's mistakes, & is therefore unjustly punished by his crimes & abandonment, Mrs Wood -- speaking through patently level-headed & 'aware' females like Margery, Grace, Lady Godolphin, & even villainess Charlotte Pain -- implies that Maria's willful ignorance of George's lifestyle has unnecessarily sentenced herself, her daughter, her family, & other bystanders to a great deal of unpleasantness. To be the angel in the house is one thing; to be a deliberately ignorant paragon is something else entirely.
Interestingly, while MEB is well-regarded as a master of scandalous Victorian drama (& rightly so), Mrs Wood has been mostly forgotten. Maybe her doorstopper novels intimidate casual readers -- yes, they are long-term projects :P -- but there's also her un-scandalous biography. The equivalent of a suburban housewife who later takes a job as part-time editor, Mrs Wood lacks MEB's more flamboyant personal presence to boost her ratings. And though ASHLYDYAT isn't as good as ANNE HEREFORD or EAST LYNNE, it still contains her lovely prose** & dry asides. She deserves more attention in the recognized canon of popular Victorian authors.
3.5 stars. :)
**The paperback Wildside Press edition is littered with uber-sloppy typos. For shame, editors.
This is difficult to rate. When it's good, it's great...but when it loses steam, it's tedious. Mrs Wood was often serialized in magazines -- but even discounting the repetitious moments of vintage fiction in that format, there's a lot that could have been trimmed or removed altogether.
To compare: if Mary Elizabeth Braddon is the Nora Roberts of Victorian melodramas, then Mrs Wood is the Danielle Steel. MEB generally focused on mysterious criminal enterprise and/or blatantly sexual ladies in her novels; Wood also includes criminal antics, but her focus is the domestic stress said crimes place upon a family group, with the sexual threads implied by textual clues. In this case, the fulcrum is George Godolphin, a mimbo golden god who falls into 'financial embarrassment' before abandoning his wife, brother, in-laws, & friends to face the consequences of his own stupidity. (George may also be having an affair -- he denies it, natch, but not even his own servants believe him.)
Like all good Victorian novelists, Wood is fascinated by the repercussions when characters deviate from honorable behavior. But despite Wood's (& the nameless narrator's) conservative morality, she doesn't hold nauseatingly angelic Maria blameless in the fallout. While it's true that Maria has no part in husband George's mistakes, & is therefore unjustly punished by his crimes & abandonment, Mrs Wood -- speaking through patently level-headed & 'aware' females like Margery, Grace, Lady Godolphin, & even villainess Charlotte Pain -- implies that Maria's willful ignorance of George's lifestyle has unnecessarily sentenced herself, her daughter, her family, & other bystanders to a great deal of unpleasantness. To be the angel in the house is one thing; to be a deliberately ignorant paragon is something else entirely.
Interestingly, while MEB is well-regarded as a master of scandalous Victorian drama (& rightly so), Mrs Wood has been mostly forgotten. Maybe her doorstopper novels intimidate casual readers -- yes, they are long-term projects :P -- but there's also her un-scandalous biography. The equivalent of a suburban housewife who later takes a job as part-time editor, Mrs Wood lacks MEB's more flamboyant personal presence to boost her ratings. And though ASHLYDYAT isn't as good as ANNE HEREFORD or EAST LYNNE, it still contains her lovely prose** & dry asides. She deserves more attention in the recognized canon of popular Victorian authors.
3.5 stars. :)
**The paperback Wildside Press edition is littered with uber-sloppy typos. For shame, editors.
August 6, 2019
(In the Gutenberg transcription, which has amazingly few typos, given the length of the book.)
Wood is an amazingly readable writer, and the book clicks right along, until the last few chapters. What I like about Wood is that she doesn't often fall into those Victorian sentences that wind around and around like anacondas; she just briskly gets to the point. And she rarely sermonizes.
"Rarely," I said. The last chapters are larded with musings on death and heaven and religion. But they don't overwhelm the rest of this entertaining slab of sensationalism.
The characters draw from just about every Victorian stereotype possible: the noble hero, the sweetly devoted wife, the ascerbic servant, the evil influence. But Wood gives them all depth and makes them realistic and interesting. (I think Wood really loved Charlotte Pain, who doesn't meet the usual fate of that kind of character.) Wood writes a good six-year-old: Meta is lively and active and doesn't entirely become a saccharine Victorian plot moppet. And Wood gives a surprising amount of depth to the stereotypical Victorian helpmeet: Maria falls into the swamp of delicate, passive Victorian heroine a bit too often for my taste, but she develops into a believable character.
Where the book falters is the plot. It starts out strong, and if you love sensational Victorian novels, you know you're in good hands. But once the curse of Richard de Commins starts to take effect, everything slows down, and characters drop out of sight, and focus shifts to characters ready for heaven. The last part of the novel is actually fairly skimmable.
But up until then, it's a delicious sensation of a novel.
(And, oh, English: One paragraph has some unintended double entendres: "There were few things Miss Meta liked so much as a roll in the hay; and, so long as cocks were to be found in the heighbourhood, Margery would be coaxed over to take her to them." Do we still refer to "haycocks"? Not around here, where hay is baled. And "roll in the hay" no longer means only a child sliding down a pile of hay. It was immature of me, but I did get an unexpected laugh out of Wood's paragraph.)
Wood is an amazingly readable writer, and the book clicks right along, until the last few chapters. What I like about Wood is that she doesn't often fall into those Victorian sentences that wind around and around like anacondas; she just briskly gets to the point. And she rarely sermonizes.
"Rarely," I said. The last chapters are larded with musings on death and heaven and religion. But they don't overwhelm the rest of this entertaining slab of sensationalism.
The characters draw from just about every Victorian stereotype possible: the noble hero, the sweetly devoted wife, the ascerbic servant, the evil influence. But Wood gives them all depth and makes them realistic and interesting. (I think Wood really loved Charlotte Pain, who doesn't meet the usual fate of that kind of character.) Wood writes a good six-year-old: Meta is lively and active and doesn't entirely become a saccharine Victorian plot moppet. And Wood gives a surprising amount of depth to the stereotypical Victorian helpmeet: Maria falls into the swamp of delicate, passive Victorian heroine a bit too often for my taste, but she develops into a believable character.
Where the book falters is the plot. It starts out strong, and if you love sensational Victorian novels, you know you're in good hands. But once the curse of Richard de Commins starts to take effect, everything slows down, and characters drop out of sight, and focus shifts to characters ready for heaven. The last part of the novel is actually fairly skimmable.
But up until then, it's a delicious sensation of a novel.
(And, oh, English: One paragraph has some unintended double entendres: "There were few things Miss Meta liked so much as a roll in the hay; and, so long as cocks were to be found in the heighbourhood, Margery would be coaxed over to take her to them." Do we still refer to "haycocks"? Not around here, where hay is baled. And "roll in the hay" no longer means only a child sliding down a pile of hay. It was immature of me, but I did get an unexpected laugh out of Wood's paragraph.)
October 12, 2011
Fine Victorian cheese, full of drippy virtuous characters, and far more interesting flawed ones. Maria's protracted death from self-pity taxed my patience to the limit, and I was rooting for Charlotte Pain to run her over with her "turn-out."
November 8, 2023
Now after reading and absolutely loving East Lynne, I decided to read more from this author. Her books are mostly forgotten, but she used to be just as popular as Dickens and even more so. I really enjoyed The shadow of Ashlydyat, but it is certainly not as good as East Lynne, also it looses it self at the end. Still I enjoyed it enough to keep reading novels Mrs Henry Wood novels. Thanks to the Gutenberg project for making these books available.
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