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A Most Dangerou Woman #1
A Most Dangerous Woman: The Complete Season 1
Victorian literature's most exciting heroine, Marian Halcombe, finally gets the story she deserves in this thrilling and romantic sequel to Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White.
At the conclusion of Collin’s tale the brave Walter Hartright has saved his love Laura Fairlie from a plot to steal her fortune, with help from Laura's plain but whip-smart half sister Marian.
In Brenda Clough’s deliciously authentic sequel it's Marian Halcolmbe who finds and marries her true love, Theo Camlet. But when Theo’s first wife, who everyone believed to be dead, reappears, Marian and her brother in law Walter must delve into the darkest and most dangerous corners of London to save Theo from accusations of bigamy and murder, as well as the hangman’s noose.
At the conclusion of Collin’s tale the brave Walter Hartright has saved his love Laura Fairlie from a plot to steal her fortune, with help from Laura's plain but whip-smart half sister Marian.
In Brenda Clough’s deliciously authentic sequel it's Marian Halcolmbe who finds and marries her true love, Theo Camlet. But when Theo’s first wife, who everyone believed to be dead, reappears, Marian and her brother in law Walter must delve into the darkest and most dangerous corners of London to save Theo from accusations of bigamy and murder, as well as the hangman’s noose.
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First published August 18, 2018
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May 24, 2018This novel picks up where Wilkie Collins’ famous The Woman in White leaves off.
At the end of the novel the beautiful, sensitive and passive sister gets her happy ending, as does Walter, the villains are defeated . . . and the terrific, dynamic Marian is confined to Victorian spinsterhood, dedicating herself to her sister’s family, a fate the adventure-loving, intelligent, and brave Marian doesn’t deserve.
Brenda Clough decided to fix that.
This isn’t the first time that Collins’s story has been retold or reexamined through text, most notably in Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith.
What I admired about Brenda Clough’s A Most Dangerous Woman is that Clough doesn’t stuff a 21stCentury woman into more-or-less Victorian clothes. That’s not to say there isn’t room for such stories, because of course there is, and an enthusiastic audience who wants exactly that.
But if you, like me, have read tons of nineteenth century literature and history, tracing the development of English literature at one end through Jane Austen’s satiric wit examining human foibles, and her insistence on how the female viewpoint matters, up to Virginia Woolf tackling previously unmentioned subjects a century later, you might appreciate the skill with which Clough matches tone and the details of Collins’s novel before beginning Marian’s adventures.
It begins with Marian getting a new journal from her sister, in the hopes that she will now get to do something with her life and to attain the happiness she deserves. Clough does a terrific job of matching the humorous, vigorous tone of Collins’ writing as she paints a picture of domestic contentment, but introduces a sinister note in a newspaper article about dangerous Balkan spies and derring-do in the Austrian Empire.
A cracked tooth in old Mrs. Hartright sends Marian off to London to accompany Walter’s mother, where she meets Theo Camlet, a local publisher, and his two small children. Camlet, a widower who’d been abandoned by his wife, is cautious, but the two swiftly become friends over books.
Another aspect that I really enjoyed is that Serial Box is, through its weekly installments, emulating how Victorian novels were published all through the mid-nineteenth century: The Woman in White first appeared in Dickens’ magazine All the Year Round from 1859-60.
The first installment of A Most Dangerous Woman ends with a splendid cliff-hanger in true Victorian form, kicking off what will be a terrific adventure.
At the end of the novel the beautiful, sensitive and passive sister gets her happy ending, as does Walter, the villains are defeated . . . and the terrific, dynamic Marian is confined to Victorian spinsterhood, dedicating herself to her sister’s family, a fate the adventure-loving, intelligent, and brave Marian doesn’t deserve.
Brenda Clough decided to fix that.
This isn’t the first time that Collins’s story has been retold or reexamined through text, most notably in Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith.
What I admired about Brenda Clough’s A Most Dangerous Woman is that Clough doesn’t stuff a 21stCentury woman into more-or-less Victorian clothes. That’s not to say there isn’t room for such stories, because of course there is, and an enthusiastic audience who wants exactly that.
But if you, like me, have read tons of nineteenth century literature and history, tracing the development of English literature at one end through Jane Austen’s satiric wit examining human foibles, and her insistence on how the female viewpoint matters, up to Virginia Woolf tackling previously unmentioned subjects a century later, you might appreciate the skill with which Clough matches tone and the details of Collins’s novel before beginning Marian’s adventures.
It begins with Marian getting a new journal from her sister, in the hopes that she will now get to do something with her life and to attain the happiness she deserves. Clough does a terrific job of matching the humorous, vigorous tone of Collins’ writing as she paints a picture of domestic contentment, but introduces a sinister note in a newspaper article about dangerous Balkan spies and derring-do in the Austrian Empire.
A cracked tooth in old Mrs. Hartright sends Marian off to London to accompany Walter’s mother, where she meets Theo Camlet, a local publisher, and his two small children. Camlet, a widower who’d been abandoned by his wife, is cautious, but the two swiftly become friends over books.
Another aspect that I really enjoyed is that Serial Box is, through its weekly installments, emulating how Victorian novels were published all through the mid-nineteenth century: The Woman in White first appeared in Dickens’ magazine All the Year Round from 1859-60.
The first installment of A Most Dangerous Woman ends with a splendid cliff-hanger in true Victorian form, kicking off what will be a terrific adventure.
Want to read
February 10, 2019I've witnessed much of the plotting/researching/writing of this wonderful new series. Sherwood Smith has already read this first book in the series and her explanation is best:
This novel picks up where Wilkie Collins’ famous The Woman in White leaves off.
At the end of the novel the beautiful, sensitive and passive sister gets her happy ending, as does Walter, the villains are defeated . . . and the terrific, dynamic Marian is confined to Victorian spinsterhood, dedicating herself to her sister’s family, a fate the adventure-loving, intelligent, and brave Marian doesn’t deserve.
Brenda Clough decided to fix that.
More here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm not quite reading this yet. I have subscribed to it on Serial Box and can't wait, though! I will be receiving the story in serials [duh!] and am thrilled that it will be available as audiobook, too, for the same subscription. [scampers with glee]
Adding to My Kind of Mystery-2019 shelf. Never got it read last year, but this year I will. Can't wait!
This novel picks up where Wilkie Collins’ famous The Woman in White leaves off.
At the end of the novel the beautiful, sensitive and passive sister gets her happy ending, as does Walter, the villains are defeated . . . and the terrific, dynamic Marian is confined to Victorian spinsterhood, dedicating herself to her sister’s family, a fate the adventure-loving, intelligent, and brave Marian doesn’t deserve.
Brenda Clough decided to fix that.
More here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm not quite reading this yet. I have subscribed to it on Serial Box and can't wait, though! I will be receiving the story in serials [duh!] and am thrilled that it will be available as audiobook, too, for the same subscription. [scampers with glee]
Adding to My Kind of Mystery-2019 shelf. Never got it read last year, but this year I will. Can't wait!
June 4, 2019
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is the jumping-off point for this fast-paced thriller, following up the characters there and introducing some new ones, plus bringing some wry political and social sensibility to the mid-Victorian laws and customs that our protagonists swim in.
March 10, 2022
A Victorian drama set in the mid 19th century. The title character has accepted her spinsterhood, believing she is too plain to attract a husband until widower Theophilus Camlet enters her life. Even then, Marian has difficulty believing love has come her way, especially when the suitor appears to be a perfect match. Eventually, a marriage proposal leads to marriage. When the happy couple returns from their honeymoon, it is to find the first Mrs Camlet installed in the house. I hardly need to say that complications develop from there, and I don’t want to give too much away except to say that Camlet ends up in prison twice.
Marian is her beloved’s staunch advocate, never losing faith in him and never letting anything stand in her way as she pursues the truth. In her endeavours, she is assisted by her sister and brother-in-law who, while doing his best to help, tries to rein in Marion’s rash tendencies. She has a habit of leaping headfirst into situations without giving any thought to her safety or the safety of her unborn child. I did not care for the character of Marian. She seemed to me to be too mannish, as if, in order to create a ‘strong’ female protagonist, the author had written a male character and just changed the clothes and pronouns. She is too assertive, too reckless for a woman of her time. The author did a better job with the gentle sister and the thoughtful, dependable brother-in-law.
Aside from my dislike of Marian, I found much to like in this book. The writing is so reminiscent of the period, particularly the dialogue but also the narrative. The author has captured the flavour of the era nicely and without long and irrelevant descriptions of clothing. Full marks for that. Also, the plot never lets up. No sooner do the characters begin to believe their problems are over than another wrinkle appears.
On the whole, this is an enjoyable book that kept my interest and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
****
Marian is her beloved’s staunch advocate, never losing faith in him and never letting anything stand in her way as she pursues the truth. In her endeavours, she is assisted by her sister and brother-in-law who, while doing his best to help, tries to rein in Marion’s rash tendencies. She has a habit of leaping headfirst into situations without giving any thought to her safety or the safety of her unborn child. I did not care for the character of Marian. She seemed to me to be too mannish, as if, in order to create a ‘strong’ female protagonist, the author had written a male character and just changed the clothes and pronouns. She is too assertive, too reckless for a woman of her time. The author did a better job with the gentle sister and the thoughtful, dependable brother-in-law.
Aside from my dislike of Marian, I found much to like in this book. The writing is so reminiscent of the period, particularly the dialogue but also the narrative. The author has captured the flavour of the era nicely and without long and irrelevant descriptions of clothing. Full marks for that. Also, the plot never lets up. No sooner do the characters begin to believe their problems are over than another wrinkle appears.
On the whole, this is an enjoyable book that kept my interest and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
****
September 15, 2019
Almost as good as the Woman in White. This book is a sequel to the Woman In White. Brenda Clough did an excellent job of recreating the tone and characters we met in the original tale. This is both the strength and the weakness of the book. It is well worth purchasing it from Serialbox.com and reading it.
March 21, 2022
This was great fun, even though my recollections of The Woman in White, which evidently inspired it, are rather vague. I think I'll go back and re-read it now, but it wasn't necessary to do that to enjoy Marian Halcomb.
Brenda Clough certainly does know how to build suspense! I shall be vague here and not reveal one plot twist that definitely adds to the tension, but I stayed up reading way late on a couple of nights for this book partly because of that.
That said, I have to mention my one real criticism of Marian Halcomb. It gets off to something of a slow start. Marian's life at the start is quiet to the point of torpor. Keep going, friends. You'll be rewarded.
Suspense isn't all that we're offered. I enjoyed the fact that several characters in the book had loving, respectful personal relationships. Marian's love for Theophilus Camlet is as strong as she is, in spite of all their trials. They meet because his two children have ventured out into the night to find a mother, their own being dead. It's delightfully dramatic, and then changes to show such charming parental love.
Oh my, the plot twists in this book! Clough manages to take some of the classic Victorian tropes--bigamy, the slums of London, family love--and make them new.
I'm definitely going to read the new one.
Brenda Clough certainly does know how to build suspense! I shall be vague here and not reveal one plot twist that definitely adds to the tension, but I stayed up reading way late on a couple of nights for this book partly because of that.
That said, I have to mention my one real criticism of Marian Halcomb. It gets off to something of a slow start. Marian's life at the start is quiet to the point of torpor. Keep going, friends. You'll be rewarded.
Suspense isn't all that we're offered. I enjoyed the fact that several characters in the book had loving, respectful personal relationships. Marian's love for Theophilus Camlet is as strong as she is, in spite of all their trials. They meet because his two children have ventured out into the night to find a mother, their own being dead. It's delightfully dramatic, and then changes to show such charming parental love.
Oh my, the plot twists in this book! Clough manages to take some of the classic Victorian tropes--bigamy, the slums of London, family love--and make them new.
I'm definitely going to read the new one.
October 22, 2018
The Woman in White is one of my favorite Victorian novels and Marian Halcombe is one of my favorite literary characters, so I was excited and intrigued by a book that would continue her story.
Except... Marian seems to have had a personality transplant and spends most of the story stuck at home while heavily pregnant, while poor Walter Hartwright does 99% of the legwork.
One reason TWIW is so fabulous is that it had one of the best villains ever in Count Fosco. This sequel had the potential for a fabulous villain in Margaret Camlet, the "dangerous woman" of the title, but sadly
One scene near the end has Marian showing more of her usual standing up to some anarchists, but it is too little, too late.
The epistolary style mimics TWIW, but the story is missing an introduction to explain why all of these different diaries, journals, letters, etc., are collected together. And as the final insult, Walter gets the final entry instead of Marian.
Except... Marian seems to have had a personality transplant and spends most of the story stuck at home while heavily pregnant, while poor Walter Hartwright does 99% of the legwork.
One reason TWIW is so fabulous is that it had one of the best villains ever in Count Fosco. This sequel had the potential for a fabulous villain in Margaret Camlet, the "dangerous woman" of the title, but sadly
One scene near the end has Marian showing more of her usual standing up to some anarchists, but it is too little, too late.
The epistolary style mimics TWIW, but the story is missing an introduction to explain why all of these different diaries, journals, letters, etc., are collected together. And as the final insult, Walter gets the final entry instead of Marian.
February 4, 2025
Not having read the book description, I was 75% through this excellent novel before I realized it is actually a sequel to Wilkie Collins’ classic The Woman in White. I mention this to let you know that you absolutely do not need to be familiar with Collins’ story to enjoy Marian Holcombe.
Knowing Clough to be a science fiction and fantasy author, I actually picked this up assuming it to be some sort of steampunk adventure. And though I was surprised by the authentic Victorian-style writing, I was not disappointed. In fact, I was enthralled.
To me, the best speculative fiction is about strong characters facing complex, otherwordly situations. In this case, the otherworldly aspects just happen to be actual, realistic problems faced (especially by women) in the rigid, mannered society of the 19th Century.
Brilliant.
Knowing Clough to be a science fiction and fantasy author, I actually picked this up assuming it to be some sort of steampunk adventure. And though I was surprised by the authentic Victorian-style writing, I was not disappointed. In fact, I was enthralled.
To me, the best speculative fiction is about strong characters facing complex, otherwordly situations. In this case, the otherworldly aspects just happen to be actual, realistic problems faced (especially by women) in the rigid, mannered society of the 19th Century.
Brilliant.
May 18, 2021
This first episode of The Most Dangerous Woman series was first released in 2018 as A New Journal, but is now eponymously titled Marian Holcombe. It’s a rousing historical pastiche that follows up on the characters in Wilkie Collins’s A Women in White. It’s also very much in the spirit of other Victorian countryside sagas such as Alcott’s early novel The Inheritance. Clough’s first in this series is a well-researched tale incorporating British law at the time, with details about life in prison, housing inadequacies of the urban poor, and the travails of middle class pregnancy. It’s also suspenseful, and often very funny. I see that there are a dozen novels in Clough’s Marian Holcombe series coming out, which I look forward to exploring.
May 21, 2019
A fun sequel to The Woman in White.
The book has a tough challenge, to both appeal to modern sensibilities and remain true to the spirit of the original. It does an acceptable job, though I don’t recall quite as much attention to the details of fashion. It’s an entertaining listen.
The book has a tough challenge, to both appeal to modern sensibilities and remain true to the spirit of the original. It does an acceptable job, though I don’t recall quite as much attention to the details of fashion. It’s an entertaining listen.
June 14, 2018
What a way to leave us hanging!
I thoroughly enjoy reading vintage diaries and this one was a fun read. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
I thoroughly enjoy reading vintage diaries and this one was a fun read. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
October 24, 2018
High adventures Victorian style. Beautifully written.
January 28, 2021
Full disclosure, I am related to Brenda by marriage. However, I affirm that this is a gripping book full of twists and surprises. The whole series is coming out, one a month in 2021.
Read
January 12, 2021Marian Halcombe: A Most Dangerous Woman picks up where Wilkie Collins’ famous The Woman in White leaves off. So a few words about The Woman in White.
It first appeared in Dickens’ magazine All the Year Round from 1859-60, and is generally regarded as the first of the Victorian “sensation” novels.
When it came out, it wowed the reading public so much that marketing got behind it: there were “Woman in White” perfumes, hats, and clothes. There was “Woman in White” music to draw customers into shops to buy the sheet-music (remember most entertainment was do-it-yourself). The names from the book turned up in baptistry registers—Walter was considered a hot commodity for male names.
Not only did it reinvent the melodramatic romantic gothics of earlier years, it combined them with a new form: the detective novel, which drew heavily on the “true crime” penny dreadfuls, which were fictionalized criminal cases. Gruesome and weird stuff still happened, but no longer in sinister and mysterious German castles (though those didn’t entirely die away—far from it!) but right at home, to people like those next door. There was still plenty of blood and thunder and implied UST with handsome but dastardly cads menacing virtuous women, but with a bit more realism worked in.
It also introduced a new kind of heroine in Marian, who was strong instead of delicate, distinctive rather than beautiful, intelligent instead of passive, and active instead of die-away. Readers of both sexes were electrified by Marian’s daring.
So, at the end of The Woman in White, the beautiful, sensitive and passive Laura gets her happy ending, as does Walter, the villains are defeated . . . and the terrific, dynamic Marian is confined to Victorian spinsterhood, dedicating herself to her sister’s family, a fate the adventure-loving, intelligent, and brave Marian doesn’t deserve.
Brenda Clough decided to fix that.
This isn’t the first time that Collins’s story has been retold or reexamined through text, most notably in Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith.
What I admired about Brenda Clough’s Marian Halcombe is that Clough doesn’t stuff a 21stCentury woman into more-or-less Victorian clothes. That’s not to say there isn’t room for such stories, because of course there is, and an enthusiastic audience who wants exactly that.
But if you, like me, appreciate more of a period feel without having to slog through two-page paragraphs with trainloads of subordinate clauses, you might appreciate the skill with which Clough matches tone and the details of Collins’s novel before beginning Marian’s adventures.
It begins with Marian getting a new journal from her sister, in the hopes that she will now get to do something with her life and to attain the happiness she deserves. Clough does a terrific job of matching the humorous, vigorous tone of Collins’ writing as she paints a picture of domestic contentment, but introduces a sinister note in a newspaper article about dangerous Balkan spies and derring-do in the Austrian Empire.
A cracked tooth in old Mrs. Hartright sends Marian off to London to accompany Walter’s mother, where she meets Theo Camlet, a local publisher, and his two small children. Camlet, a widower who’d been abandoned by his wife, is cautious, but the two swiftly become friends over books.
And so the adventure begins, with cliff-hanger chapter-endings, coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Brenda Clough has written a series—each borrowing from popular genres of the time, while carrying forward the mix of detective work, sensationalism, and drama of the original. There’s a Ruritanian one, there’s an “adventure lost at sea” one . . . and so on. Each resolves, but they build the story of Marian and her family—they are, I found, highly addictive.
It first appeared in Dickens’ magazine All the Year Round from 1859-60, and is generally regarded as the first of the Victorian “sensation” novels.
When it came out, it wowed the reading public so much that marketing got behind it: there were “Woman in White” perfumes, hats, and clothes. There was “Woman in White” music to draw customers into shops to buy the sheet-music (remember most entertainment was do-it-yourself). The names from the book turned up in baptistry registers—Walter was considered a hot commodity for male names.
Not only did it reinvent the melodramatic romantic gothics of earlier years, it combined them with a new form: the detective novel, which drew heavily on the “true crime” penny dreadfuls, which were fictionalized criminal cases. Gruesome and weird stuff still happened, but no longer in sinister and mysterious German castles (though those didn’t entirely die away—far from it!) but right at home, to people like those next door. There was still plenty of blood and thunder and implied UST with handsome but dastardly cads menacing virtuous women, but with a bit more realism worked in.
It also introduced a new kind of heroine in Marian, who was strong instead of delicate, distinctive rather than beautiful, intelligent instead of passive, and active instead of die-away. Readers of both sexes were electrified by Marian’s daring.
So, at the end of The Woman in White, the beautiful, sensitive and passive Laura gets her happy ending, as does Walter, the villains are defeated . . . and the terrific, dynamic Marian is confined to Victorian spinsterhood, dedicating herself to her sister’s family, a fate the adventure-loving, intelligent, and brave Marian doesn’t deserve.
Brenda Clough decided to fix that.
This isn’t the first time that Collins’s story has been retold or reexamined through text, most notably in Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith.
What I admired about Brenda Clough’s Marian Halcombe is that Clough doesn’t stuff a 21stCentury woman into more-or-less Victorian clothes. That’s not to say there isn’t room for such stories, because of course there is, and an enthusiastic audience who wants exactly that.
But if you, like me, appreciate more of a period feel without having to slog through two-page paragraphs with trainloads of subordinate clauses, you might appreciate the skill with which Clough matches tone and the details of Collins’s novel before beginning Marian’s adventures.
It begins with Marian getting a new journal from her sister, in the hopes that she will now get to do something with her life and to attain the happiness she deserves. Clough does a terrific job of matching the humorous, vigorous tone of Collins’ writing as she paints a picture of domestic contentment, but introduces a sinister note in a newspaper article about dangerous Balkan spies and derring-do in the Austrian Empire.
A cracked tooth in old Mrs. Hartright sends Marian off to London to accompany Walter’s mother, where she meets Theo Camlet, a local publisher, and his two small children. Camlet, a widower who’d been abandoned by his wife, is cautious, but the two swiftly become friends over books.
And so the adventure begins, with cliff-hanger chapter-endings, coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Brenda Clough has written a series—each borrowing from popular genres of the time, while carrying forward the mix of detective work, sensationalism, and drama of the original. There’s a Ruritanian one, there’s an “adventure lost at sea” one . . . and so on. Each resolves, but they build the story of Marian and her family—they are, I found, highly addictive.
March 2, 2021
Won this in LibraryThing First Reviewers Giveaway. Was I supposed to know this character from another book? I am st the point where Marian is accepting marriage. I am bored and wanted intrigue. I think I will put this aside. Or do i skim a bit in search of the intrigue?
Edit: I read more, it got better. I confess, I ended up skimming it. But the tale was just not my cup of tea. Too slow and a poor attempt to sound Victorian.
Edit: I read more, it got better. I confess, I ended up skimming it. But the tale was just not my cup of tea. Too slow and a poor attempt to sound Victorian.
March 28, 2021
I read this book in two days. I didn't want to put it down the first day, but work interfered. I enjoy a strong female lead, but even more I appreciate family that supports a woman who is not a bland societally 'typical' woman. In this story set in Victorian England, the main character, originally created by Wilkie Collins. Brenda W. Clough develops the character a little more putting her in situations that require Marian to move outside her comfort zone to resolve the issues within the situation.
I strongly recommend this book to devotees of Victorian England, cozy mysteries, and strong female leads.
I strongly recommend this book to devotees of Victorian England, cozy mysteries, and strong female leads.
February 19, 2021
This book takes place in London of 1858, where the laws and customs were very strict and mean.
Marian Halcombe marries a widower and then his first wife shows up and he is thrown in prison for bigamy. She and her family have to save him and their honor. They belong the the gentry, but we see that commoners are even worse off.
I see that there are more books in this series, the next one taking place in 1860 (explicitly, the first book just mentions The Great Stink).
Marian Halcombe marries a widower and then his first wife shows up and he is thrown in prison for bigamy. She and her family have to save him and their honor. They belong the the gentry, but we see that commoners are even worse off.
I see that there are more books in this series, the next one taking place in 1860 (explicitly, the first book just mentions The Great Stink).
January 23, 2023
I liked this. I read The Woman in White a very long time ago so o just read a summary of it to remind myself before I read this. That worked, you don’t need to know every detail of it to read this book.
I liked this story. Marian is a strong heroine and Çamlet is a nice man.
I’m going to start reading the second book to see if I will like the series.
I liked this story. Marian is a strong heroine and Çamlet is a nice man.
I’m going to start reading the second book to see if I will like the series.
December 14, 2023
A galloping adventure in times of yore, where independence and intelligence in the glint of a woman’s eye was not only dangerous, but terrifying. But then again, who wouldn’t want your wife to have the strength to plow through the atrocities you are charged with?
February 8, 2024
An excellent historical thriller with a strong, complex protagonist and a plot that will keep you guessing. It's fast-paced, well researched, and a heckuva lot of fun. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews