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Olive: A Novel
First published in 1850, Olive traces its eponymous heroine's progress from her ill-starred birth to maturity as a painter and wife. The crippled child of parents who are disgusted by her physical 'imperfection', a curvature of the spine, Olive struggles to take her place in the world as artist and woman. Published three years after Jane Eyre, Olive's swift fictional response to Charlotte Bronte's novel raises questions of family, race and nation. This edition also includes 'The Half-Caste', a story that confronts questions of miscegenation and racial prejudice in Victorian Britain. (Excerpt from Goodreads)
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1850
28 people are currently reading
966 people want to read
About the author
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
309 books65 followersDinah Maria Craik (born Dinah Maria Mulock, also often credited as Miss Mulock or Mrs. Craik) was an English novelist and poet. She was born at Stoke-on-Trent and brought up in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.
After the death of her mother in 1845, Dinah Maria Mulock settled in London about 1846. She was determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily until placed in the front rank of the women novelists of her day. She is best known for the novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). She followed this with A Life for a Life (1859), which she considered to be the best of her novels, and several other works. She also published some poetry, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, and A Woman's Thoughts about Women (1858).
She married George Lillie Craik a partner with Alexander Macmillan in the publishing house of Macmillan & Company, and nephew of George Lillie Craik, in 1864. They adopted a foundling baby girl, Dorothy, in 1869.
At Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, while in a period of preparation for Dorothy's wedding, she died of heart failure on 12 October 1887, aged 61. Her last words were reported to have been: "Oh, if I could live four weeks longer! but no matter, no matter!" Her final book, An Unknown Country, was published by Macmillan in 1887, the year of her death.
After the death of her mother in 1845, Dinah Maria Mulock settled in London about 1846. She was determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily until placed in the front rank of the women novelists of her day. She is best known for the novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). She followed this with A Life for a Life (1859), which she considered to be the best of her novels, and several other works. She also published some poetry, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, and A Woman's Thoughts about Women (1858).
She married George Lillie Craik a partner with Alexander Macmillan in the publishing house of Macmillan & Company, and nephew of George Lillie Craik, in 1864. They adopted a foundling baby girl, Dorothy, in 1869.
At Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, while in a period of preparation for Dorothy's wedding, she died of heart failure on 12 October 1887, aged 61. Her last words were reported to have been: "Oh, if I could live four weeks longer! but no matter, no matter!" Her final book, An Unknown Country, was published by Macmillan in 1887, the year of her death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 17, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed this - a wonderful, fascinating, enjoyable, tender novel, dealing with some really important themes and some that can be a little underrepresented in Victorian literature. I can't wait to read more by Dinah Mulock Craik, and would highly recommend this one.
November 3, 2020
I chose to read this Victorian novel because it was recommended to me and because I'd heard it was some sort of retelling of Jane Eyre, so it fitted my Brontë mania project. Two stones, one bird (poor bird).
And yes, once I reached the end, I saw all the parallels : the plain heroin, the older love interest with a secret, the character with a foreign origin and other things I won't mention here not to spoil those who would want to read this.
At the beginning, I found the story wise and very Victorian, proper and all that, but with a twist that I found original : the way that Olive's parents grew apart. I don't think I have read about this before in Victorian literature. The consequences, yes, how it happened, no. Then I was interested by the profession that Olive chose : she became a painter (The tenant of Wildfell Hall's heroin also became a painter, Dinah Craik had a fondness for the Brontës ?) but I would have loved to read more about her art. At the end, Olive kept working even though she's married (as in The professor). All good things, unusual.
The rating isn't better because : one, mostly the style was a little too bombastic for my taste, too romantic ; second, it delt a lot with religion, faith and religious doubt (like the father in North and South - it's my last reference, I promise !) and I'm not religious at all. The way that a character with a foreign origin was portrayed was at the same time lively and cliché : I could believe in her existence, but once in a while, I'd love to see a born and bred English character act with the same passion and lack of restraint - and that lack of restraint goes a long way here. I also found it odd that there never is any dialogue between Olive and Harold about Sara, none at all ?
On the other side, Olive is a darling, loving and caring - a Victorian angel with a plus. A heroin with a deformity is a rare thing for that era. The relationship between her mother and herself is tenderly described and heartwarming. The love between her and her love interest is completely believable. Catholics are not described under a bad light, and for a British author of the XIXth century (a clergyman's daughter furthermore), it's a good point ! Apparently, Dinah Craik had a thing against young men who kept quoting poetry - Lyle is nice, but life teaches him "manhood".
So, I couldn't rate it less that 3.5 because there is originality here even if the writing was at times emphatic. If it wasn't for the style, I would have rated it higher.
One quote that I enjoyed very much :
'Olive moved a little aside. Very meek was she (...). Yet by her meekness, she had oftentimes controlled them both. She did so now."
See what I mean ? Interesting, this notion of control for such a meek character ^^ I first rated this novel 3.5, but I think I'll raise it to 4, so many interesting themes here...
And yes, once I reached the end, I saw all the parallels : the plain heroin, the older love interest with a secret, the character with a foreign origin and other things I won't mention here not to spoil those who would want to read this.
At the beginning, I found the story wise and very Victorian, proper and all that, but with a twist that I found original : the way that Olive's parents grew apart. I don't think I have read about this before in Victorian literature. The consequences, yes, how it happened, no. Then I was interested by the profession that Olive chose : she became a painter (The tenant of Wildfell Hall's heroin also became a painter, Dinah Craik had a fondness for the Brontës ?) but I would have loved to read more about her art. At the end, Olive kept working even though she's married (as in The professor). All good things, unusual.
The rating isn't better because : one, mostly the style was a little too bombastic for my taste, too romantic ; second, it delt a lot with religion, faith and religious doubt (like the father in North and South - it's my last reference, I promise !) and I'm not religious at all. The way that a character with a foreign origin was portrayed was at the same time lively and cliché : I could believe in her existence, but once in a while, I'd love to see a born and bred English character act with the same passion and lack of restraint - and that lack of restraint goes a long way here. I also found it odd that there never is any dialogue between Olive and Harold about Sara, none at all ?
On the other side, Olive is a darling, loving and caring - a Victorian angel with a plus. A heroin with a deformity is a rare thing for that era. The relationship between her mother and herself is tenderly described and heartwarming. The love between her and her love interest is completely believable. Catholics are not described under a bad light, and for a British author of the XIXth century (a clergyman's daughter furthermore), it's a good point ! Apparently, Dinah Craik had a thing against young men who kept quoting poetry - Lyle is nice, but life teaches him "manhood".
So, I couldn't rate it less that 3.5 because there is originality here even if the writing was at times emphatic. If it wasn't for the style, I would have rated it higher.
One quote that I enjoyed very much :
'Olive moved a little aside. Very meek was she (...). Yet by her meekness, she had oftentimes controlled them both. She did so now."
See what I mean ? Interesting, this notion of control for such a meek character ^^ I first rated this novel 3.5, but I think I'll raise it to 4, so many interesting themes here...
January 24, 2019
I have the hardest time reviewing books that surprise me by being 5-star reads.
It might be easier to discuss my reading experience, than the content of the book. I felt it was a bit slow at the start, maybe because I've become so familiar with common "motifs" in Victorian literature. I felt I was on familiar ground. My assessment was that it would be an above-average Victorian novel, but nothing to knock my socks off. Comfortable.
The next thing I knew, I could hardly put it down. I kept thinking about the characters and their circumstances. I wanted to know how it all turned out, yet I didn’t want it to end. I smiled at the book. I sighed. I put my hand to my heart to press down the swell of feeling. I cried.
At the 50% mark, so much had already happened to make me invested, I couldn’t imagine there being that much story left to tell. There was.
I love Olive Rothesay. I also love so many of the characters in this obscure gem of a book. It is about Olive’s life from her birth to her adulthood. She is born with a spinal deformity which puts her at a distinct disadvantage in her time in society. This tender, wonderful novel highlights Olive’s experiences, and looks at the lives of those Olive touches and the choices they all make.
If you enjoy Victorian novels on a regular basis, DO NOT MISS THIS ONE. If you only occasionally read this genre, be aware Olive is thoroughly Victorian: (using 10 words where 1 would suffice; people succumbing to mysterious ailments – the whole bit). Read it anyway.
What interesting relationships!
Such interesting changes the characters undergo!
Overall, a lovely book with many beautiful things to say. I don’t care if this sounds trite, but it’s the kind of book that makes me want to be a better person.
June 14, 2023
As a rule, I do not like romance and for the greatest part this book is not romantic. It is about a young woman born with a physical deformity, a slight humpback, enough to set her apart as someone who could never expect to be loved. And in fact, her selfish mother and father were both devastated at her birth. A kindly Irish nurse serves as both mama and papa to baby and young Olive during her formative years and she never went without the love and nurturing she needed.
How Olive is able to transform those around her with and through love is the stuff of this story. And it turned out to be one of the most poignant love stories, a very touching romance in the best sense of the word. I am most eager to read more by this author!
How Olive is able to transform those around her with and through love is the stuff of this story. And it turned out to be one of the most poignant love stories, a very touching romance in the best sense of the word. I am most eager to read more by this author!
October 26, 2021
What an amazing read! In my journey through Victorian literature, there is no novel I liked so well, excepting Jane Eyre.
This novel traces the poignant life of a young woman who was born with a deformity, a slight hunchback. Her parents recoiled from her at birth, thinking her deformity a punishment from God. Fortunately, the old Scottish nurse provided the love and nurturing Olive needed in her early, tender years.
Later, Olive wins the affection of her parents and in fact, becomes their strength. They are both broken people living a broken marriage, and Olive acted with more wisdom than either of her parents, serving as family uniter.
Olive has no prospects for marriage, due to her physical disfigurement, yet she is a woman overflowing with love and the desire to share it. Her character is fully developed in such a beautiful way as she channels her love into healthy avenues: first friendship with a peer, then a serving love for her Mother, the respectful love for her art master, love for a motherless child, and for an elderly aunt. In all of these instances her spirit is enlarged and her capacity to love is expanded further.
Olive is a woman who is mature before her time because of her sufferings, and because she deeply contemplates the options she has before her. She contrasts the lives of the sisters of the convent who have taken vows vs. the outgoing, fruitful life of her elderly aunt, who is the beloved of all the young people in her locale. Olive studies the options before her and chooses to become an artist (against all odds), to be at peace with being unmarried, and to touch each person in her sphere of influence with love.
The love that comes back to her in the end is unexpected and so abundant that it makes all of her sufferings pale in comparison to the glorious climax.
Olive is a woman of deep Christian faith, and this book includes many faith struggles. For those who do not share this world view, many of the passages might be considered preachy--- but in keeping with the moralistic views of the era whether one agrees or not.
There was a deathbed scene that was profoundly beautiful. The Victorians knew how to write such scenes, being faced with so much death and having to do the final nursing at home. This scene put me in mind of Russell Kirk's philosophy, that one may be happy in the hour of death. It was truly inspiring.
If you don't mind a long novel, and if you enjoy Victorian literature, I cannot recommend this book enough!
This novel traces the poignant life of a young woman who was born with a deformity, a slight hunchback. Her parents recoiled from her at birth, thinking her deformity a punishment from God. Fortunately, the old Scottish nurse provided the love and nurturing Olive needed in her early, tender years.
Later, Olive wins the affection of her parents and in fact, becomes their strength. They are both broken people living a broken marriage, and Olive acted with more wisdom than either of her parents, serving as family uniter.
Olive has no prospects for marriage, due to her physical disfigurement, yet she is a woman overflowing with love and the desire to share it. Her character is fully developed in such a beautiful way as she channels her love into healthy avenues: first friendship with a peer, then a serving love for her Mother, the respectful love for her art master, love for a motherless child, and for an elderly aunt. In all of these instances her spirit is enlarged and her capacity to love is expanded further.
Olive is a woman who is mature before her time because of her sufferings, and because she deeply contemplates the options she has before her. She contrasts the lives of the sisters of the convent who have taken vows vs. the outgoing, fruitful life of her elderly aunt, who is the beloved of all the young people in her locale. Olive studies the options before her and chooses to become an artist (against all odds), to be at peace with being unmarried, and to touch each person in her sphere of influence with love.
The love that comes back to her in the end is unexpected and so abundant that it makes all of her sufferings pale in comparison to the glorious climax.
Olive is a woman of deep Christian faith, and this book includes many faith struggles. For those who do not share this world view, many of the passages might be considered preachy--- but in keeping with the moralistic views of the era whether one agrees or not.
There was a deathbed scene that was profoundly beautiful. The Victorians knew how to write such scenes, being faced with so much death and having to do the final nursing at home. This scene put me in mind of Russell Kirk's philosophy, that one may be happy in the hour of death. It was truly inspiring.
If you don't mind a long novel, and if you enjoy Victorian literature, I cannot recommend this book enough!
October 17, 2021
Did you read Jane Eyre and think that what it really needed was long, tedious, swathes of Christian piety riddled with fallacies and bracketed by highly regressive gender roles? Then Olive may be the book you did not even know you needed in your life. Everyone else, though, is likely to be bored and/or annoyed throughout most of it.
With all this said, not everything is terribly dull or infuriating here. Having a disabled female lead offers an important opportunity for the reader to come into contact with that feels with the lived experience of a woman whose slight spinal curvature is treated by her social environment like a blight. It is unfortunate that Olive is not that engaging a character. She effaces herself in Victorian self-abdication, the virtue that is repeatedly exalted as the paradigm to follow.
Olive says such things as, "Women are content thus to give up their lives to some one beloved. The happiness is far beyond the pain." and the narrative full endorses this take, as it is explained, at length, earlier on:
"Vanbrugh [nasty painter] had said truly, that genius is of no sex; and he had said likewise truly, that no woman can be an artist—that is, a great artist. The hierarchies of the soul's dominion belong only to man, and it is right they should. He it was whom God created first, let him take the preeminence. But among those stars of lesser glory, which are given to lighten the nations, among sweet-voiced poets, earnest prose writers, who, by the lofty truth that lies hid beneath legend and parable, purify the world, graceful painters and beautiful musicians, each brightening their generation—among these, let woman shine!
But her sphere is, and ever must be, bounded; because, however fine her genius may be, it always dwells in a woman's breast. Nature, which gave to man the dominion of the intellect, gave to her that of the heart and affections. These bind her with everlasting links from which she cannot free herself,—nay, she would not if she could. Herein man has the advantage. He, strong in his might of intellect, can make it his all in all, his life's sole aim and reward."
I chose to quote such a long passage because it expresses something of a duality in Olive, the overall thrust is very much that women are inferior and can only attain paltry, diminutive achievements when compared to the what men can naturally accomplish but there is an allowance for female self-realization as individuals. But perhaps more relevant to the novel's operative principle of religiously framing gender relations is the way in which Christianity, the Protestant, vapid, emotionally charged God botherer kind, is inherently tied with what the text overtly calls 'hierarchy'.
'Nature' here is only the way in which God expressed his desire for how genders should interact with each other and that is why Olive, while a professional painter, spends most of her time being the dutiful daughter, then the pining would-be lover, with precious little else in between. Time and time again she defaults to being the martyr, praying, crying, then repeating the cycle.
The sentimentality runs rampant in the way the most forced of Victorian literature is wont to do. Feeling sorry for Olive is not difficult as she is indeed an underdog, be it in terms of gender, or class, without forgetting the disability that shadows her romantic prospects, but genuinely empathizing with her is a struggle. The author just tries too hard. Olive is referred as 'poor Olive' just one time too many and 'little' all too often. It becomes extremely manipulative and backfires more often than not, several times I found myself just bored with 'poor little Olive'.
It might be because Olive has virtually no appeal as a person. Contrast her with Jenny from Our Mutual Friend who is not the protagonist yet triumphs every time she appears, to the point I view her as the one important female character in the entire book. Dickens does expect us to feel sorry for Jenny and we do but we also love her because she comes across as an actual person.
Olive is a mouthpiece for cloying piety and this becomes the center of the novel but it is not so from the start. I suspect that Craik knew full well that if she had gone full Evangelical from the word go, readers would have been bored out of their minds. By the time the religious element overcomes the narrative and morphs into a profoundly uninteresting pseudo-conversion plot, readers are likely to be too invested to just call it quits.
Craik seems to know this as well as after going off the deep end in Jesus love, she offers us a comment to the effect of our not expecting such considerations in a novel but, alas, how can a novel shy from shedding the Godly Gobbleygook upon us all. What the 19th century reader would find annoying, the 21st century reader cannot but help find trite and profoundly terrible more often that not.
Interestingly enough, Craik is aware of unbelievers. She has quite a few snide remarks about them, the one that stands out being, "None but a madman would deny the existence of a God.", but she does write against a background of people who simply don't buy the whole thing.
It is a shame that all she has to offer to prove this God of hers is every bit as awful as what is still being peddled by apologists. Craik is smart enough to shift the discussion in such a way as to keep most of the arguments from being actually expressed in the text proper but on occasion a few will slip by:
"“Of this world,” she continued, “wherein is so much of beauty, happiness, and love. And can that exist in the created which is not in the Creator! Must not, therefore, the great Spirit of the Universe be a Spirit of Love?”"
Nice fallacy of composition you got going on there, Craik.
Craik thinks that women have a more direct link to God, to the simply and innate faith because they are well, less intelligent. Intellect as such is not exactly demonized but it does veer very close to it. Not surprisingly, intellect is mapped on masculinity.
It is in this overlapping of the Venn diagram that the novel does something interesting. The following includes spoilers for Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre
Olive is not entirely bad. It has moments of descriptive depth and hints at possibilities for a woman's life even if it is only to shoot them down. Readers with a high threshold for religious saccharine preaching may very well find it worth reading but everyone else will have to grit their teeth in order to make it through to the end.
With all this said, not everything is terribly dull or infuriating here. Having a disabled female lead offers an important opportunity for the reader to come into contact with that feels with the lived experience of a woman whose slight spinal curvature is treated by her social environment like a blight. It is unfortunate that Olive is not that engaging a character. She effaces herself in Victorian self-abdication, the virtue that is repeatedly exalted as the paradigm to follow.
Olive says such things as, "Women are content thus to give up their lives to some one beloved. The happiness is far beyond the pain." and the narrative full endorses this take, as it is explained, at length, earlier on:
"Vanbrugh [nasty painter] had said truly, that genius is of no sex; and he had said likewise truly, that no woman can be an artist—that is, a great artist. The hierarchies of the soul's dominion belong only to man, and it is right they should. He it was whom God created first, let him take the preeminence. But among those stars of lesser glory, which are given to lighten the nations, among sweet-voiced poets, earnest prose writers, who, by the lofty truth that lies hid beneath legend and parable, purify the world, graceful painters and beautiful musicians, each brightening their generation—among these, let woman shine!
But her sphere is, and ever must be, bounded; because, however fine her genius may be, it always dwells in a woman's breast. Nature, which gave to man the dominion of the intellect, gave to her that of the heart and affections. These bind her with everlasting links from which she cannot free herself,—nay, she would not if she could. Herein man has the advantage. He, strong in his might of intellect, can make it his all in all, his life's sole aim and reward."
I chose to quote such a long passage because it expresses something of a duality in Olive, the overall thrust is very much that women are inferior and can only attain paltry, diminutive achievements when compared to the what men can naturally accomplish but there is an allowance for female self-realization as individuals. But perhaps more relevant to the novel's operative principle of religiously framing gender relations is the way in which Christianity, the Protestant, vapid, emotionally charged God botherer kind, is inherently tied with what the text overtly calls 'hierarchy'.
'Nature' here is only the way in which God expressed his desire for how genders should interact with each other and that is why Olive, while a professional painter, spends most of her time being the dutiful daughter, then the pining would-be lover, with precious little else in between. Time and time again she defaults to being the martyr, praying, crying, then repeating the cycle.
The sentimentality runs rampant in the way the most forced of Victorian literature is wont to do. Feeling sorry for Olive is not difficult as she is indeed an underdog, be it in terms of gender, or class, without forgetting the disability that shadows her romantic prospects, but genuinely empathizing with her is a struggle. The author just tries too hard. Olive is referred as 'poor Olive' just one time too many and 'little' all too often. It becomes extremely manipulative and backfires more often than not, several times I found myself just bored with 'poor little Olive'.
It might be because Olive has virtually no appeal as a person. Contrast her with Jenny from Our Mutual Friend who is not the protagonist yet triumphs every time she appears, to the point I view her as the one important female character in the entire book. Dickens does expect us to feel sorry for Jenny and we do but we also love her because she comes across as an actual person.
Olive is a mouthpiece for cloying piety and this becomes the center of the novel but it is not so from the start. I suspect that Craik knew full well that if she had gone full Evangelical from the word go, readers would have been bored out of their minds. By the time the religious element overcomes the narrative and morphs into a profoundly uninteresting pseudo-conversion plot, readers are likely to be too invested to just call it quits.
Craik seems to know this as well as after going off the deep end in Jesus love, she offers us a comment to the effect of our not expecting such considerations in a novel but, alas, how can a novel shy from shedding the Godly Gobbleygook upon us all. What the 19th century reader would find annoying, the 21st century reader cannot but help find trite and profoundly terrible more often that not.
Interestingly enough, Craik is aware of unbelievers. She has quite a few snide remarks about them, the one that stands out being, "None but a madman would deny the existence of a God.", but she does write against a background of people who simply don't buy the whole thing.
It is a shame that all she has to offer to prove this God of hers is every bit as awful as what is still being peddled by apologists. Craik is smart enough to shift the discussion in such a way as to keep most of the arguments from being actually expressed in the text proper but on occasion a few will slip by:
"“Of this world,” she continued, “wherein is so much of beauty, happiness, and love. And can that exist in the created which is not in the Creator! Must not, therefore, the great Spirit of the Universe be a Spirit of Love?”"
Nice fallacy of composition you got going on there, Craik.
Craik thinks that women have a more direct link to God, to the simply and innate faith because they are well, less intelligent. Intellect as such is not exactly demonized but it does veer very close to it. Not surprisingly, intellect is mapped on masculinity.
It is in this overlapping of the Venn diagram that the novel does something interesting. The following includes spoilers for Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre
Olive is not entirely bad. It has moments of descriptive depth and hints at possibilities for a woman's life even if it is only to shoot them down. Readers with a high threshold for religious saccharine preaching may very well find it worth reading but everyone else will have to grit their teeth in order to make it through to the end.
August 15, 2023
Victorian drek is much like today’s drek—just longer. Dinah Maria Craik dragged out the story of Olive Rothesay to almost unimaginable lengths, offending my literary sensibilities on every page. If I may spare other readers this experience, I will have done my good deed for the day.
The book starts with a bang—the opening scene takes place in a birthing chamber, and the description is more vivid and frank than I would have imagined possible in a Victorian novel. Olive is born, and it is immediately apparent that she has a birth defect, a crooked spine. She is also small and somewhat frail. Her mother, young and shallow, is repelled by her “deformity,” as is her father when he returns from overseas several years later; so in her early years she is raised in solitude by a loving Scots nurse.
Olive grows up a pleaser, trying to compensate for what she perceives as her monstrousness by being excessively loving and outwardly focused. Her parents eventually come around to loving her and she is able to attract some friends, but she never believes in her worthiness. The word “creepmouse” must gave been coined for such a character.
The book was originally serialized and it shows: every few chapters there’s a massive upheaval in Olive’s life, several characters die, and others take their place. Olive herself has few recognizable traits other than a mawkish goodness (though it is clear the author expects us to admire her), so she offers the reader only a weak link as we’re yanked from one setting to another. Implausible coincidences abound. But the most egregious part of the story is not the author’s attention deficit disorder, it’s the overwhelming sentimentality.
Every conceivable stereotype of woman as faithful handmaiden is dragged in and celebrated at tedious length. Olive glories in serving her father, her mother, her friends, anyone whose life happens to cross her path. She is tact personified, adapting her moods and words to those of everyone around her. She is a talented artist who can only justify painting because earning money by her brush is a necessity. She is modest and self-sacrificing and humble. When she falls in love she excoriates herself for that heinous sin of loving without advance permission from the beloved, and we are treated to several chapters of defensive justification of this unmaidenly behavior from the author. And don’t get me started on the pages and pages of emotional religiosity.
This book practices all the vices of sensationalism but tries to get away with them by reinforcing societal norms afterward. If the universe is good there is a special circle reserved in hell for authors who set out to have it both ways, first titillating and then preaching conformity. And Craik isn’t even very good at this low skill. Please don’t waste your time on this book.
The book starts with a bang—the opening scene takes place in a birthing chamber, and the description is more vivid and frank than I would have imagined possible in a Victorian novel. Olive is born, and it is immediately apparent that she has a birth defect, a crooked spine. She is also small and somewhat frail. Her mother, young and shallow, is repelled by her “deformity,” as is her father when he returns from overseas several years later; so in her early years she is raised in solitude by a loving Scots nurse.
Olive grows up a pleaser, trying to compensate for what she perceives as her monstrousness by being excessively loving and outwardly focused. Her parents eventually come around to loving her and she is able to attract some friends, but she never believes in her worthiness. The word “creepmouse” must gave been coined for such a character.
The book was originally serialized and it shows: every few chapters there’s a massive upheaval in Olive’s life, several characters die, and others take their place. Olive herself has few recognizable traits other than a mawkish goodness (though it is clear the author expects us to admire her), so she offers the reader only a weak link as we’re yanked from one setting to another. Implausible coincidences abound. But the most egregious part of the story is not the author’s attention deficit disorder, it’s the overwhelming sentimentality.
Every conceivable stereotype of woman as faithful handmaiden is dragged in and celebrated at tedious length. Olive glories in serving her father, her mother, her friends, anyone whose life happens to cross her path. She is tact personified, adapting her moods and words to those of everyone around her. She is a talented artist who can only justify painting because earning money by her brush is a necessity. She is modest and self-sacrificing and humble. When she falls in love she excoriates herself for that heinous sin of loving without advance permission from the beloved, and we are treated to several chapters of defensive justification of this unmaidenly behavior from the author. And don’t get me started on the pages and pages of emotional religiosity.
This book practices all the vices of sensationalism but tries to get away with them by reinforcing societal norms afterward. If the universe is good there is a special circle reserved in hell for authors who set out to have it both ways, first titillating and then preaching conformity. And Craik isn’t even very good at this low skill. Please don’t waste your time on this book.
August 21, 2011
I found this book while perusing the LibriVox free audiobook archives. The summary said it was "a Jane Eyre variant". Jane Eyre is one of my favorites, so my curiosity was piqued. The main character, Olive, is not an orphan like Jane Eyre, but she suffers from a physical deformity that acts as a similar social impediment. One of my favorite things about this novel is that the characters are realistic and believably flawed. Olive's parents react with disgust that grows barely to tolerance when first confronted with their only child's deformity. While sad, this is believable.
Olive is at first sheltered by an overprotective nursemaid. She grows up thinking absolutely nothing is wrong with her. When the nursemaid dies, she is left to find her own way and eventually discovers that she is different. It is a great shock to her, foremost to know that she is not attractive to men and will therefore probably never marry. But she handles it gracefully and is determined to blaze another path in a society that left women few options.
As the plot progresses, there are other similarities to Jane Eyre, though Craik's story takes some definite twists and turns of it's own. I was reminded of another book with a deformed main character, Fanny Burney's Camilla. Camilla's sister Eugenia is deformed, but she is also an heiress. Eugenia therefore has a one-up on Olive in that should she never marry, her money will still give her a place in society.
Even though Olive is determined to support herself and be happy in spite of her hardships, she does find love in a very unlikely person. I was surprised when this love story popped out of nowhere, but not unhappily so. The last third of the book is dedicated to this romance--there is enough "he/she loves me, he/she loves me not" to make Fanny Burney proud. If annoying, it keeps the plot humming--I will say I was never bored!
Olive is at first sheltered by an overprotective nursemaid. She grows up thinking absolutely nothing is wrong with her. When the nursemaid dies, she is left to find her own way and eventually discovers that she is different. It is a great shock to her, foremost to know that she is not attractive to men and will therefore probably never marry. But she handles it gracefully and is determined to blaze another path in a society that left women few options.
As the plot progresses, there are other similarities to Jane Eyre, though Craik's story takes some definite twists and turns of it's own. I was reminded of another book with a deformed main character, Fanny Burney's Camilla. Camilla's sister Eugenia is deformed, but she is also an heiress. Eugenia therefore has a one-up on Olive in that should she never marry, her money will still give her a place in society.
Even though Olive is determined to support herself and be happy in spite of her hardships, she does find love in a very unlikely person. I was surprised when this love story popped out of nowhere, but not unhappily so. The last third of the book is dedicated to this romance--there is enough "he/she loves me, he/she loves me not" to make Fanny Burney proud. If annoying, it keeps the plot humming--I will say I was never bored!
July 17, 2021
I thoroughly loved it. It's a very character driven book that benefits from being set over a longer period of time, displaying character change as well as change of opinion about characters in a fascinating way. I couldn't read about these people without them evoking some feeling in me and I was thinking about them when I wasn't reading.
While it explores the roles an unmarried woman can have in society, it's also very much about affection. The writing feels quite old but it's still not too hard to read with the story being easy to follow and the depth being in the details.
While I think this is a book that would be fun to analyze and discuss, it's also really engaging. I can't remember the last time I had so many lively reactions to the events of a book. This should be so much better known.
While it explores the roles an unmarried woman can have in society, it's also very much about affection. The writing feels quite old but it's still not too hard to read with the story being easy to follow and the depth being in the details.
While I think this is a book that would be fun to analyze and discuss, it's also really engaging. I can't remember the last time I had so many lively reactions to the events of a book. This should be so much better known.
October 27, 2022
4.5 stars
Olive is born with a deformity in her spine. Her parents are devastated to have a humpback child, but try to show Olive compassion. Her childhood is peaceful, but as Olive grows up she begins to realize that she will never be able to live like other people. She is unlikely to ever marry or have a family. Uneducated and without resources, Olive must lean on her faith to help her through the difficulties of her life. She finds solace in nature and art, and in supporting her friends and family with a patient and kind spirit.
I loved this story so much! The plot is full of twists and secrets. There are so many characters whose fates are intertwined in unexpected ways. It was really interesting to see how people's decisions changed the course of their life and took the story in new directions.
I really enjoyed the deep themes of faith and religious doubt. There is a character who begins to question his religious beliefs, but when he sees Olive's faith in God, he begins to reconsider and seek the truth of God once more. The character development is so inspiring and hopeful! We all have questions about God, but if we just keep looking for the truth in the Bible, God will answer all our questions and give us faith.
Olive's personality is so complex and beautiful! In some ways, she is the typical angelic Victorian heroine, good and pure. But she is always struggling internally with her own self-esteem and sadness. The only thing that brings her peace is her faith in God.
Despite the censure of the world, she finds that she can lead a useful and happy life. She has to fight for every inch of happiness, but her weapon is love. I really liked that she doesn't become bitter, but is thankful for the good things in her life. She doesn't harden her heart because of her misfortunes, but she remains tender and sensitive to respond warmly to her friends and family who love her. This is in contrast to another character who becomes bitter and angry when misfortune comes.
I think the thing I love most about Olive's personality is her intellect. She is quick to see all the aspects of an argument and to take into consideration the emotions and thoughts of the people around her. She is sensitive to beauty in nature, and her skills in sketching and painting is the result of her intelligent approach to art. She is serious and thoughtful and wise beyond her years.
Everyone who knows Olive, from her parents to her friends, begins by pitying her, but in the end they all recognize her worth and they love her. I enjoyed the exploration of these deep themes about self-worth and what makes a worthwhile life. It's really interesting to see the character development of all the people around Olive and how she influences them. She makes them change their perspective from the external to the internal.
I found it interesting that sometimes the writing would say some Victorian sexist phrase about how women are inferior to men in some way, and then in the very next scene we would see an example from one of the characters about how that is not true. I loved how the writing took these common Victorian ideas and proved them wrong!
One particular instance was a saying that old people don't feel their emotions as strongly as young people, so it doesn't matter if old people are sad. In the next scene we see Olive's old aunt keeping a yearly memorial for someone who has died decades before. Her emotions are still strong and her sadness is still real even if her old age. Everyone's emotions deserve respect and consideration.
The writing is very emotional and there are many heart-breaking scenes. The writing style is so powerful and vivid that you can really feel the strong emotions of the characters, even if they are trying to conceal their feelings.
I loved this book! I can't wait to read more from this author.
Olive is born with a deformity in her spine. Her parents are devastated to have a humpback child, but try to show Olive compassion. Her childhood is peaceful, but as Olive grows up she begins to realize that she will never be able to live like other people. She is unlikely to ever marry or have a family. Uneducated and without resources, Olive must lean on her faith to help her through the difficulties of her life. She finds solace in nature and art, and in supporting her friends and family with a patient and kind spirit.
I loved this story so much! The plot is full of twists and secrets. There are so many characters whose fates are intertwined in unexpected ways. It was really interesting to see how people's decisions changed the course of their life and took the story in new directions.
I really enjoyed the deep themes of faith and religious doubt. There is a character who begins to question his religious beliefs, but when he sees Olive's faith in God, he begins to reconsider and seek the truth of God once more. The character development is so inspiring and hopeful! We all have questions about God, but if we just keep looking for the truth in the Bible, God will answer all our questions and give us faith.
Olive's personality is so complex and beautiful! In some ways, she is the typical angelic Victorian heroine, good and pure. But she is always struggling internally with her own self-esteem and sadness. The only thing that brings her peace is her faith in God.
Despite the censure of the world, she finds that she can lead a useful and happy life. She has to fight for every inch of happiness, but her weapon is love. I really liked that she doesn't become bitter, but is thankful for the good things in her life. She doesn't harden her heart because of her misfortunes, but she remains tender and sensitive to respond warmly to her friends and family who love her. This is in contrast to another character who becomes bitter and angry when misfortune comes.
I think the thing I love most about Olive's personality is her intellect. She is quick to see all the aspects of an argument and to take into consideration the emotions and thoughts of the people around her. She is sensitive to beauty in nature, and her skills in sketching and painting is the result of her intelligent approach to art. She is serious and thoughtful and wise beyond her years.
Everyone who knows Olive, from her parents to her friends, begins by pitying her, but in the end they all recognize her worth and they love her. I enjoyed the exploration of these deep themes about self-worth and what makes a worthwhile life. It's really interesting to see the character development of all the people around Olive and how she influences them. She makes them change their perspective from the external to the internal.
I found it interesting that sometimes the writing would say some Victorian sexist phrase about how women are inferior to men in some way, and then in the very next scene we would see an example from one of the characters about how that is not true. I loved how the writing took these common Victorian ideas and proved them wrong!
One particular instance was a saying that old people don't feel their emotions as strongly as young people, so it doesn't matter if old people are sad. In the next scene we see Olive's old aunt keeping a yearly memorial for someone who has died decades before. Her emotions are still strong and her sadness is still real even if her old age. Everyone's emotions deserve respect and consideration.
The writing is very emotional and there are many heart-breaking scenes. The writing style is so powerful and vivid that you can really feel the strong emotions of the characters, even if they are trying to conceal their feelings.
I loved this book! I can't wait to read more from this author.
April 19, 2019
It was (as to me) too correct, too sweet, too predictable, too religious, too didactic, too much patronizing to really enjoy it. If not Arielle Lipshaw (whom I adore as Anne of Green Gables) who read 'Olive' perfectly (link to LibriVox) I wouldn't have finished it. Thanks to Arielle Lipshaw's voice I did enjoy a little the tenderness that flew from the narration and the story.
I must also admit, it was correctly written, the language and the form/structure of the novel - there was nothing to reproach.
I think it was too Victorian as to me. Opal summarized it perfectly:
I have conflicted feelings over this novel. There are parts if it I really enjoyed and parts I really did not. It is VERY Victorian and melodramatic, with fainting ladies and people almost dying from emotions. I didn't mind those details so much as I did the author's blatant moralizing tangents. Yet the plot and characters are intriguing and unique, which made me eager to read more and more, finishing the book quickly.
I must also admit, it was correctly written, the language and the form/structure of the novel - there was nothing to reproach.
I think it was too Victorian as to me. Opal summarized it perfectly:
I have conflicted feelings over this novel. There are parts if it I really enjoyed and parts I really did not. It is VERY Victorian and melodramatic, with fainting ladies and people almost dying from emotions. I didn't mind those details so much as I did the author's blatant moralizing tangents. Yet the plot and characters are intriguing and unique, which made me eager to read more and more, finishing the book quickly.
April 17, 2014
You're going to want to give up on this book. Don't.
Everything turns out okay in the end, but it is a long way there; it's not a woman's weepy; it's genuine tragedy and then redemption.
Here's a good quotation for a t-shirt:
"Alas! there is a madness worse than disease, a voluntary madness, by which a man—longing at any price for excitement, or oblivion—"puts an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brains."
Everything turns out okay in the end, but it is a long way there; it's not a woman's weepy; it's genuine tragedy and then redemption.
Here's a good quotation for a t-shirt:
"Alas! there is a madness worse than disease, a voluntary madness, by which a man—longing at any price for excitement, or oblivion—"puts an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brains."
June 8, 2014
I wanted to like this book. I tried hard to like this book. I'll let the author's own words explain why I didn't.
"...you may turn to the title page, and reading thereon, 'Olive, a Novel' may exclaim,'Most incongruous -- most strange!'"
That pretty much sums it up. I read neither. For most of the book the protagonist was a mere afterthought in what turned out to be an insufferable amount of fluff wrapped around a so-so story that could have easily been told in about 40 less chapters.
You could see everything coming a mile away. Everybody in the story was sick, dying, or died. Add in what was positively the worst 10-page-long dialogue I've ever read, and constant digressions by the author to throw her own editorial commentary into a work of fiction and you have Olive, a Novel.
There were occasional gems - "Was her father mad? Alas! there is a...voluntary madness, by which a man--longing at any price for excitement, or oblivion--puts an enemy into his mouth to steal his brains." - that kept me reading but the two stars I did give it are mostly for one truly touching burst of emotional candor that wasn't worth what I had to go through to read it.
"...you may turn to the title page, and reading thereon, 'Olive, a Novel' may exclaim,'Most incongruous -- most strange!'"
That pretty much sums it up. I read neither. For most of the book the protagonist was a mere afterthought in what turned out to be an insufferable amount of fluff wrapped around a so-so story that could have easily been told in about 40 less chapters.
You could see everything coming a mile away. Everybody in the story was sick, dying, or died. Add in what was positively the worst 10-page-long dialogue I've ever read, and constant digressions by the author to throw her own editorial commentary into a work of fiction and you have Olive, a Novel.
There were occasional gems - "Was her father mad? Alas! there is a...voluntary madness, by which a man--longing at any price for excitement, or oblivion--puts an enemy into his mouth to steal his brains." - that kept me reading but the two stars I did give it are mostly for one truly touching burst of emotional candor that wasn't worth what I had to go through to read it.
March 14, 2023
Well, this was an unexpected delight! I loved this book so much. It is a favorite classic of mine at this point. This has to be one of the most forgotten Victorian gems of them all. I loved this. I loved the character of Olive. This is a beautiful coming of age story, a beautiful love story, a beautiful story of perseverance and faith and grief and love and devotion. It reminded me often of Jane Eyre, which I also love very much. Jane Eyre was written in 1847 and Olive in 1850. I suspect that anyone who loves Jane Eyre would love this also. I would definitely like to read more by Craik which may have to be done online as most of her work appears to be out of print. I am already looking forward to rereading this one day soon. Thank you so much to Katie at Books and Things for this wonderful recommendation. ❤️
October 10, 2019
This is very much a book of its time, a period when a writer could assume that her British readers would share her Christian beliefs and a vision of virtuous womanhood devoted to family and home. This is not to imply it is a dull or conventional story. I enjoyed it enormously. But it was intriguing that she wrote a strong female protagonist who supports herself and her mother through her art, whilst constantly describing women as the weaker sex. And she herself was a successful author. I found the portrayal of disability interesting.
March 21, 2020
3.5 stars. It has a lot of similarities with Jane Eyre and as with JE, I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I feel that Olive loses her independence and identity during the book as she falls in love. Olive works for a while as painter and I hoped it would have been explored more. Still I really enjoyed it and was emotionally invested with the story.
October 17, 2022
This one was so great, much better that what I was expecting. I've loved the whole character arc. Olive is wonderful 😄
August 2, 2023
The author is rather condescending in her telling of the story. Her writing is not the problem, but the story and her patronising assertions about women and raptures about men... Harold was as insufferable as Olive. The only time Olive was palatable was when she was a child.
April 14, 2020
This is the book I was reading when the sheltering in place began, but I read most of it after I was confined at home. First, I must thank Katie at Books and Things for making me aware of this novel. Were it not for her terrific Booktube channel, I would never have know about this book. If you enjoy the classics, please subscribe to her channel. This novel is about a woman who was born with curvature of the spine. Early in her life she is rejected by her mother, then by her father, and then by her only friend. Though deeply wounded by all this, Olive survives and flourishes to become a self-sufficient artist. She is able to accept the flaws of her parents without rancor; she is able to provide comfort to her father and become the sole supporter of herself and her mother. I really enjoyed reading this. The story is told leisurely, but I was always engaged. Olive is born with what seems to be insurmountable challenges, yet she is a tower of strength, able to make a success of her own life and help those she loves achieve the same. I highly recommend this book.
June 18, 2018
Avevo letto, della stessa autrice, 'John Halifax, Gentleman', che mi aveva decisamente impressionato per il suo impianto monumentale; ma quegli spunti didascalici e religiosi che là potevano essere considerati tratti marginali (in un intreccio fortemente connesso con gli sviluppi della 'rivoluzione industriale') qui prendono totalmente il sopravvento, diventano il centro stesso del romanzo. Per non parlare di quel che viene qua e là detto del ruolo della donna, nonostante la scelta dell'eroina (una giovane pittrice, con una storia personale condizionata dalla propria menomazione fisica) promettesse sviluppi più interessanti.
Quante figlie e nipoti di reverendi, tra i primi e gli ultimi decenni dell'ottocento, hanno affrontato le loro storie con spirito più intrepidamente laico, e, per giunta, con lo sguardo proteso verso un'auspicata parità di genere!
Quante figlie e nipoti di reverendi, tra i primi e gli ultimi decenni dell'ottocento, hanno affrontato le loro storie con spirito più intrepidamente laico, e, per giunta, con lo sguardo proteso verso un'auspicata parità di genere!
November 2, 2018
This is not a problematic read-- especially for those who love Victorian novels. If you love long, growing up (literally)/coming of age stories from the Victorian period, with romance (not too gushy), and sudden death, and fires, and crimes of conscience-- but also told smoothly and calmly-- then this is the read for you!
It was not a favorite for me, though; honestly, I skipped around a bit.
I rate a 3.5, not a 3 star. But, y'know, Goodreads ratings....
It was not a favorite for me, though; honestly, I skipped around a bit.
I rate a 3.5, not a 3 star. But, y'know, Goodreads ratings....
January 27, 2019
Enjoyed this book despite too long a closure. Olive seemed too pious, too angelic to me, I would like to see more conflict, more truth to real life. But it is a Victorian novel after all, so no complaints.
October 9, 2020
I didn't much like this one. I couldn't get on with the theme of female self-sacrifice, it was too didactic and the religious message too heavy for me. The descriptions of nature were good, this is not a badly written book, rather my rating is my personal taste in Victorian novels.
January 27, 2024
Olive has got it all: neglected children, atheist clergymen, abandoned mistresses, house fires, and attempted murder. Sentimental Victorian melodrama at its best! Some plot twists I saw coming miles away—others made me gasp…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2014
Tedious, and so old-fashioned as to be frustrating.
August 25, 2023
Oh dear, this goes on and on and on. And on. By the end we know all about the author's views on religion and the proper roles of each sex, because she has told us (if we haven't given up and skimmed all those bits). But as for her characters, she tells, at great length, but never shows.
Olive's defining characteristic is a spinal malformation, that causes her to be rejected by her parents and makes her ineligible for marriage; but we know nothing else about this 'deformity', for example in what way or to what extent the spine is curved, and it seems to cause her no difficulty in any practical way, as in, for example needing to have her clothes altered to fit, or suffering any pain or fatigue through it. It's just a label that's been applied to her and is picked up and waved from time to time (Olive is deformed, you know!).
And then, her other thing is that she's a painter, a talented one, and makes a living from it (only in a female sort of way, of course, no actual genius involved). But do we ever see her at work or hear anything at all about more than one (or possibly two) of her pictures? Nope. She's an artist, and that's just her job, just as if she'd worked 'in an office'. It's there because the plot requires her to move in first with another painter, and then with a wealthy patron who admires her work (but then having provided her with a home, vanishes and is never seen again), but her artistic talent isn't an actual part of her.
People behave in various inexplicable ways - why does Olive's father suddenly take it into his head, to go and stay, for weeks, uninvited and without telling anybody, with a lady much his senior on whom he had a youthful crush but hasn't seen or heard of for decades? Why, when he receives during this stay an alarming letter (and how did this letter reach him anyway?) does this lady persuade her son to lend him a large sum of money that he can't afford to be without? Because the plot requires it, that's why; no other explanation is given.
Why does the orphaned daughter of supposedly aristocratic parents not even know their names and apparently not have even the remotest curiosity on the subject? Why does she never wonder why she has the same surname as the woman, supposedly no relation, who brought her up? Because the author couldn't be arsed to think up anything more plausible, that's why.
You wouldn't want to be a character in this book, by the way - as soon as you're not needed for the plot, you die, either of a shock or some miscellaneous, gentle, fading-away disease. There are corpses everywhere.
I did find myself wondering what would happen in the end though, and spent hours chewing through these verbose and sentimental chapters just to find out. So, to save anybody else who may have started it the effort:
Olive's defining characteristic is a spinal malformation, that causes her to be rejected by her parents and makes her ineligible for marriage; but we know nothing else about this 'deformity', for example in what way or to what extent the spine is curved, and it seems to cause her no difficulty in any practical way, as in, for example needing to have her clothes altered to fit, or suffering any pain or fatigue through it. It's just a label that's been applied to her and is picked up and waved from time to time (Olive is deformed, you know!).
And then, her other thing is that she's a painter, a talented one, and makes a living from it (only in a female sort of way, of course, no actual genius involved). But do we ever see her at work or hear anything at all about more than one (or possibly two) of her pictures? Nope. She's an artist, and that's just her job, just as if she'd worked 'in an office'. It's there because the plot requires her to move in first with another painter, and then with a wealthy patron who admires her work (but then having provided her with a home, vanishes and is never seen again), but her artistic talent isn't an actual part of her.
People behave in various inexplicable ways - why does Olive's father suddenly take it into his head, to go and stay, for weeks, uninvited and without telling anybody, with a lady much his senior on whom he had a youthful crush but hasn't seen or heard of for decades? Why, when he receives during this stay an alarming letter (and how did this letter reach him anyway?) does this lady persuade her son to lend him a large sum of money that he can't afford to be without? Because the plot requires it, that's why; no other explanation is given.
Why does the orphaned daughter of supposedly aristocratic parents not even know their names and apparently not have even the remotest curiosity on the subject? Why does she never wonder why she has the same surname as the woman, supposedly no relation, who brought her up? Because the author couldn't be arsed to think up anything more plausible, that's why.
You wouldn't want to be a character in this book, by the way - as soon as you're not needed for the plot, you die, either of a shock or some miscellaneous, gentle, fading-away disease. There are corpses everywhere.
I did find myself wondering what would happen in the end though, and spent hours chewing through these verbose and sentimental chapters just to find out. So, to save anybody else who may have started it the effort:
October 4, 2022
Well, that was something. I think I was halfway through it before I started to enjoy it. The language is so dramatic, so over the top, so very Victorian, that I found it distracting. But underneath the drama there is a very gripping story that kept me going until I was suddenly enthralled and couldn't put it down. This is my first book by DMC so it took some time to wrap my head around the style. It's supposed to be reminiscent of Jane Eyre, but it reminds me of Fanny Burney's Camilla. Olive reminds me of Eugenia. Where Burney's moralizing is subtle and sarcastic, Craik's is break-the-4th-wall in your face. The romance takes absolutely FOREVER to be realized. And, like Camilla, you just keep asking "My God, how many more calamities can occur in one person's life!?" But, it is also beautifully written, tender, compelling, and very revealing of the time in which it was written. Which is the biggest reason I read Victorian authors, to learn about the time period by which I am so fascinated. I listened to the audiobook at increased speed (it's very long), which made it easier to get through. I also downloaded the ebook so I can go back and save some of the really beautiful passages. I am a Christian so I understand the faith journey that Olive and Harold experience. It is beautiful and inspiring. I appreciate the overt Christianity of the story. It gives me a deeper understanding of the motivations behind the actions and of the spirit of forgiveness that permeates the book. For example, the death of Olive's mother moved me deeply because it expresses what I personally experienced at the death of my own mother who was a woman of great faith. I found it particularly poignant that Sybilla, who is said in the beginning to be a great beauty and an admirer of beauty, which selfish sentiment caused her to reject her deformed child, ends her life blind, unable to see Olive's paintings. Sybilla saw life through her mirror. Olive saw life through her canvas. This is the kind of character development, a spiritual symmetry, that takes place throughout this story. It's almost Dickensian, but with a Christian world view. This book is challenging, but I'm so glad I persevered. It's a story written a hundred years before I was born which is still very relevant to the world I live in and one I won't soon forget.
October 3, 2021
3.5 stars.
I commend the positive representation of a person with a deformity which is rarely seen in Victorian literature. Our main character, Olive, was born with a curvature of the spine and told from a young age that she would never marry or live the conventional life that a woman in that time period is expected to have. This leads her to finding a profession and making her own livelihood through painting. She is portrayed in an angelic light though, unlike Jenny Wren in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend who feels a lot more realistic. Having said that, Olive is a well-defined character—kind, smart, and resourceful.
The thing that turned me off the book slightly is the amount of religious preaching. What started off as a discussion on religion turned into full-on didactic sermonizing, which even for a Victorian novel felt quite a lot. The author also breaks the fourth wall in one section of the book, but instead that being charming ala Trollope, it lifted me out of the story completely.
Nevertheless, this book manages to be both plot- and character-driven, which kept me turning the pages. Olive is a heroine to root for and I couldn't stop reading until I finally see her achieve happiness. Also, I have to say that this is the first Victorian novel—once a sub-genre that I used to love—that I finished in more than two years, which is truly saying something.
I commend the positive representation of a person with a deformity which is rarely seen in Victorian literature. Our main character, Olive, was born with a curvature of the spine and told from a young age that she would never marry or live the conventional life that a woman in that time period is expected to have. This leads her to finding a profession and making her own livelihood through painting. She is portrayed in an angelic light though, unlike Jenny Wren in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend who feels a lot more realistic. Having said that, Olive is a well-defined character—kind, smart, and resourceful.
The thing that turned me off the book slightly is the amount of religious preaching. What started off as a discussion on religion turned into full-on didactic sermonizing, which even for a Victorian novel felt quite a lot. The author also breaks the fourth wall in one section of the book, but instead that being charming ala Trollope, it lifted me out of the story completely.
Nevertheless, this book manages to be both plot- and character-driven, which kept me turning the pages. Olive is a heroine to root for and I couldn't stop reading until I finally see her achieve happiness. Also, I have to say that this is the first Victorian novel—once a sub-genre that I used to love—that I finished in more than two years, which is truly saying something.
September 21, 2023
I’m glad I read this novel by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik. It was interesting to read a Victorian novel in which the main character has a physical deformity. The story reminded me of both Jane Eyre and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Olive’s character was a bit of a goody-two-shoes. She was certainly a Christian woman, if not a saint. Her morals and kindness never faltered. However, she was not entirely perfect. Olive did struggle with her self-esteem and self-worth. She felt as if she had to be a good Christian woman in order to “make up” for her physical deformity.
I was not a huge fan of Harold. I think Olive could have done better. I even preferred Lyle to Harold. Harold had one bad experience with women (Sara) and came to the conclusion that women are fake liars. Rather than realizing Olive is a different person than Sara, Harold believed Olive was just as terrible as Sara because Olive is a woman (like Sara).
I felt like halfway through the book Olive becomes kind of “preachy.” The book suddenly feels like a story meant to teach Christian ideals and morals. It seems like Olive almost completely forgets about her love for art. We, the readers, don’t get to see her passion for art, her art sales, or anything like that anymore.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel. I would like to try to read The Little Lame Prince.
Olive’s character was a bit of a goody-two-shoes. She was certainly a Christian woman, if not a saint. Her morals and kindness never faltered. However, she was not entirely perfect. Olive did struggle with her self-esteem and self-worth. She felt as if she had to be a good Christian woman in order to “make up” for her physical deformity.
I was not a huge fan of Harold. I think Olive could have done better. I even preferred Lyle to Harold. Harold had one bad experience with women (Sara) and came to the conclusion that women are fake liars. Rather than realizing Olive is a different person than Sara, Harold believed Olive was just as terrible as Sara because Olive is a woman (like Sara).
I felt like halfway through the book Olive becomes kind of “preachy.” The book suddenly feels like a story meant to teach Christian ideals and morals. It seems like Olive almost completely forgets about her love for art. We, the readers, don’t get to see her passion for art, her art sales, or anything like that anymore.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel. I would like to try to read The Little Lame Prince.
October 8, 2020
Olive is only the second book I've read in like the past 1.5 months, which is record slowness for me, but its been so hard to readjust to post-college life and job searching alongside my mental illness. Anyway, Olive was written and published by Dinah Craik in 1850. It details the life of a woman born with scoliosis, which, at the time's period, made her an oddity and subject to prejudice, particularly when it comes to making friendships and finding love. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and though there's a long middle section that lacks narrative momentum or purpose, the last 100 pages or so of the book has a lot of narrative twists that are fun, and the book particularly shines when Olive finds love despite not being physically "normal." I did find the reading experience dry at times, as Craik isn't particularly masterful at plot-building or stylish writing (though there are some sentences here and there that stood out as beautifully written). There are also some sections that are dryly didactic when it comes to religious belief which I didn't care for but is a significant concern of this book. I didn't like this novel as much as I thought I would, but I'm still happy I read it.
81 / B-
81 / B-
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