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Lilith
Mistress and servant, they shared a grandfather, friendship, adventures, and a surprising destiny in the Victorian England.
For Amanda Leigh, only child of a stern, pious aristocrat, life is very dreary until a new servant joins the household. Uneducated Lilith Tremorney is irrepressible, refusing to settle for the degrading subservience life offers people of her class. Amanda and Lilith form a lifelong friendship.
For Amanda Leigh, only child of a stern, pious aristocrat, life is very dreary until a new servant joins the household. Uneducated Lilith Tremorney is irrepressible, refusing to settle for the degrading subservience life offers people of her class. Amanda and Lilith form a lifelong friendship.
First published January 1, 1954
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About the author
Jean Plaidy
190 books1,592 followersEleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 13, 2011
I eat up Victoria Holt and Jean Plaidy novels. However, I didn't find this one very interesting. It is set in the Victorian era. Two girls, cousins but different social classes, make their way through life as friends.
I disliked the main character. Yes, she orchestrates events to her advantage, but her ways and justifications are appalling.
After I was finished reading, I looked to see when the original copyright was originated.
1954.
Maybe by 1954 standards, this was daring. By my standards, I found it sad.
I disliked the main character. Yes, she orchestrates events to her advantage, but her ways and justifications are appalling.
After I was finished reading, I looked to see when the original copyright was originated.
1954.
Maybe by 1954 standards, this was daring. By my standards, I found it sad.
November 15, 2022
Милий і витончений роман у класичному стилі. Розповідає про життя двох кузин. Благородної леді Аманди, яка попри свою сором'язливість кинула виклик суспільству і втекла із дому, щоб не йти заміж за нелюба, та служниці Ліліт, що вирушила у велике місто у пошуках щастя. На їхні долі випало чимало випробувань, але зрештою кожна отримала те, чого прагнула понад усе.
⠀
Мені сподобався легкий і ненав'язливий стиль авторки, без зайвих подробиць і описів. Вона чудово передала дух вісімнадцятого століття, створила сильних харизматичних персонажів, за пригодами яких було дуже цікаво спостерігати. Це не банальний любовний роман з купою пристрастей і страждань. Це більш глибока історія про те, як доля грається із людьми, поперемінно обдаровуючи їх то радощами, то негараздами.
⠀
Мені сподобався легкий і ненав'язливий стиль авторки, без зайвих подробиць і описів. Вона чудово передала дух вісімнадцятого століття, створила сильних харизматичних персонажів, за пригодами яких було дуже цікаво спостерігати. Це не банальний любовний роман з купою пристрастей і страждань. Це більш глибока історія про те, як доля грається із людьми, поперемінно обдаровуючи їх то радощами, то негараздами.
February 21, 2023
This is the 116th book I’ve read by this author (this includes her works as Philippa Carr and as Victoria Holt), and I rank it in the Top 3.
It’s a pity she didn’t write more like this. She’s better at creating her own characters and stories than she is at biographical fiction as far as I’m concerned.
What we have is something that reads like a nineteenth-century classic. It opens in the 1840s, in Cornwall, and to begin with it focuses on two twelve-year-old girls. One, as you might guess, is Lilith. She’s of the poorer class.
The other girl is Amanda, who’s of a higher status, living with her over-religious father and weak-minded mother.
These two opposites meet when the insolent Lilith is given a job in Amanda’s house. After an uneasy start, the two begin a life-long friendship. Lilith is selfish but an affection for Amanda grows as time passes, while Amanda is sweet-natured and cares for those worse off than herself, so it’s not unusual that she should befriend a girl beneath her station.
The novel is divided into three parts, with Part 1 being in Cornwell. A lot goes on here, including secret meetings between lovers, and Amanda’s kind nature is forever overlooked and misunderstood by her father, whose treatment of her is cold to say the least.
The second book sees some of the main characters in London. From here, the years begin to pass much quicker than the Cornwall section. New characters come into the story. They, like everyone already introduced to the reader, are vivid and believable.
Can’t add too much about what happens from this point, as it might reveal spoilers, but I loved the way the main characters’ lives twisted and turned.
In many of this author’s other novels, I predicted certain outcomes with ease, yet in this novel I was surprised again and again.
By Part 3, the years begin to fly by. We get child characters come into the tale, which adds more colour, and through one child a whole new and unexpected plotline develops.
I see one or two other reviewers have commented that they dislike the main character. To me, that’s not too important. I’m more interested in believable characters than likeable ones. Lilith may not be likeable, but she is vivid and memorable. She's the sort of character that any author should be proud of creating. If readers are indifferent, then the author has failed somewhat.
Having said that, I can’t state that I disliked Lilith. She has a charm that balances out her darker side, plus her affections for her brother and Amanda make her more human.
I didn’t like Lilith’s grandmother, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s another instance of the author creating a vivid character.
I loved Amanda, as you might have guessed by now. I also liked Lilith’s brother William, the child characters that appear in the last part of the book, and quite a few others.
I’d no clue how this novel would finish. When the ending came, though, it left me disappointed for the first and only time since I started reading. It’s not that it was bad or unrealistic, or anything along those lines, but I expected something more definite. I can’t elaborate without giving it away, but you’ll understand if you give this fine novel a read.
It’s almost as if the author didn’t know how to end it. It had the potential to continue for another hundred or more pages. It’s a shame she didn’t write a sequel.
Only bad points are the usual Plaidy traits of ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’, reporting on events instead of dramatizing, etc., yet the story and characters are so strong, these style defects didn’t intrude like they have in so many of her other novels.
In nutshell, while some readers didn’t find ‘Lilith’ to their tastes, for me this was an absorbing read.
It’s a pity she didn’t write more like this. She’s better at creating her own characters and stories than she is at biographical fiction as far as I’m concerned.
What we have is something that reads like a nineteenth-century classic. It opens in the 1840s, in Cornwall, and to begin with it focuses on two twelve-year-old girls. One, as you might guess, is Lilith. She’s of the poorer class.
The other girl is Amanda, who’s of a higher status, living with her over-religious father and weak-minded mother.
These two opposites meet when the insolent Lilith is given a job in Amanda’s house. After an uneasy start, the two begin a life-long friendship. Lilith is selfish but an affection for Amanda grows as time passes, while Amanda is sweet-natured and cares for those worse off than herself, so it’s not unusual that she should befriend a girl beneath her station.
The novel is divided into three parts, with Part 1 being in Cornwell. A lot goes on here, including secret meetings between lovers, and Amanda’s kind nature is forever overlooked and misunderstood by her father, whose treatment of her is cold to say the least.
The second book sees some of the main characters in London. From here, the years begin to pass much quicker than the Cornwall section. New characters come into the story. They, like everyone already introduced to the reader, are vivid and believable.
Can’t add too much about what happens from this point, as it might reveal spoilers, but I loved the way the main characters’ lives twisted and turned.
In many of this author’s other novels, I predicted certain outcomes with ease, yet in this novel I was surprised again and again.
By Part 3, the years begin to fly by. We get child characters come into the tale, which adds more colour, and through one child a whole new and unexpected plotline develops.
I see one or two other reviewers have commented that they dislike the main character. To me, that’s not too important. I’m more interested in believable characters than likeable ones. Lilith may not be likeable, but she is vivid and memorable. She's the sort of character that any author should be proud of creating. If readers are indifferent, then the author has failed somewhat.
Having said that, I can’t state that I disliked Lilith. She has a charm that balances out her darker side, plus her affections for her brother and Amanda make her more human.
I didn’t like Lilith’s grandmother, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s another instance of the author creating a vivid character.
I loved Amanda, as you might have guessed by now. I also liked Lilith’s brother William, the child characters that appear in the last part of the book, and quite a few others.
I’d no clue how this novel would finish. When the ending came, though, it left me disappointed for the first and only time since I started reading. It’s not that it was bad or unrealistic, or anything along those lines, but I expected something more definite. I can’t elaborate without giving it away, but you’ll understand if you give this fine novel a read.
It’s almost as if the author didn’t know how to end it. It had the potential to continue for another hundred or more pages. It’s a shame she didn’t write a sequel.
Only bad points are the usual Plaidy traits of ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’, reporting on events instead of dramatizing, etc., yet the story and characters are so strong, these style defects didn’t intrude like they have in so many of her other novels.
In nutshell, while some readers didn’t find ‘Lilith’ to their tastes, for me this was an absorbing read.
March 7, 2015
As a devoted Victoria Holt fan, I’m delighted to find other books by her to read. I’d been familiar with her royalty novels written under the Jean Plaidy name, but wasn’t as familiar with her other books under the same pseudonym. Lilith reminded me of Thomas Hardy novels and Les Misérables, with its focus on class distinctions, poverty, and the passions of everyday people. The writing style is not as superb as Les Mis, nor are there any fantastic quotes, but it is engaging and suspenseful.
Lilith is clearly named to invoke the demonic imagery; at the very least to show her character as willful, wild, and untamed for Victorian England. She’s cunning, opportunistic, and manipulative, yet sympathetic enough that we want her to conquer life’s obstacles and move up in society. And it’s clear her goals are not simply to be in “high society,” but to create security and comfort. She scorns nobility’s fixation on status and social distinctions, but envies their comfortable homes, plentiful food, warm clothing, etc. So she schemes carefully to get what she can, all while loving a kind, yet frivolous, gentleman.
This novel is really a story of two Cornish girls, Lilith, and her employer’s daughter, Amanda, with whom she becomes good friends. Despite class and educational differences, they work together to survive the hardships of London and grow up together under amazing and difficult circumstances.
I was slightly disappointed by the ending, but it also illustrates Lilith’s perseverance (stubbornness?) in ensuring the security of her family for the future.
If you’re looking for Holt’s gothic suspense, this is NOT a good choice, but it is an excellent example of accurate historical fiction set in Victorian England.
Lilith is clearly named to invoke the demonic imagery; at the very least to show her character as willful, wild, and untamed for Victorian England. She’s cunning, opportunistic, and manipulative, yet sympathetic enough that we want her to conquer life’s obstacles and move up in society. And it’s clear her goals are not simply to be in “high society,” but to create security and comfort. She scorns nobility’s fixation on status and social distinctions, but envies their comfortable homes, plentiful food, warm clothing, etc. So she schemes carefully to get what she can, all while loving a kind, yet frivolous, gentleman.
This novel is really a story of two Cornish girls, Lilith, and her employer’s daughter, Amanda, with whom she becomes good friends. Despite class and educational differences, they work together to survive the hardships of London and grow up together under amazing and difficult circumstances.
I was slightly disappointed by the ending, but it also illustrates Lilith’s perseverance (stubbornness?) in ensuring the security of her family for the future.
If you’re looking for Holt’s gothic suspense, this is NOT a good choice, but it is an excellent example of accurate historical fiction set in Victorian England.
October 28, 2022
este libro me sorprendió mucho me lo compré en un mercadillo y la verdad que no esperaba mucho de él y la trama y la historia me encantaron.
La protagonista no es la típica niña buena más bien es una chica que se ha tenido que buscar la vida, para mí fue un libro muy entretenido y lo disfrute mucho.
La protagonista no es la típica niña buena más bien es una chica que se ha tenido que buscar la vida, para mí fue un libro muy entretenido y lo disfrute mucho.
June 29, 2024
Aunque la trama es sencilla, se desarrolla muy bien. Pienso que es uno de los mejores trabajos de Jean Plaidy.
February 5, 2009
VERY unsatisfactory book. Only one of the characters is very slightly likable...and only one person truly lives "happily ever after". Not that that is always a problem (Wuthering Heights, for example.), but in this book it is.
I give it two stars because some of the characters are pretty well developed and the storyline is engaging, if no likable. I have enjoyed some of Jean Plaidy's books in the past, but this is not one that I liked.
I give it two stars because some of the characters are pretty well developed and the storyline is engaging, if no likable. I have enjoyed some of Jean Plaidy's books in the past, but this is not one that I liked.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews