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Little Ottleys #1
Love's Shadow: Book One of the trilogy The Little Ottleys
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
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About the author
Ada Leverson
20 books16 followersAda Leverson (1862-1933), the devoted friend of Oscar Wilde (who called her the wittiest woman in the world), wrote six timeless novels, each a classic comedy of manners. Love’s Shadow, the first in the trilogy The Little Ottleys, is the perfect examples of her wit and style: no other English novelist has explored the world of marriage and married life with such feeling for its mysteries and absurdities.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
January 13, 2021
A witty, tongue-in-cheek, Edwardian comedy of manners.
The author, Ada Leverson (1862 1933), of the Edwardian era too, was a close friend of Oscar Wilde. He spoke of her as the “wittiest woman in the world”! Does that not make you curious?
This is the first of a trilogy about Edith Ottley and her cocksure, supercilious, hypochondriac husband, Bruce. They have one child, Archie. He is two years of age. He’s cute; his haltering words make a reader smile. The family lives in an apartment in Knightsbridge, London. We meet Edith’s friends, and she has many. That there are so many is definitely confusing at the start. Fix your attention on particularly these four--Hyacinth Verney, widow Mrs. Eugenia Raymond, Cecil Reeve and his uncle Lord Selsey. Cecil is Lord Selsey’s heir. All the others do eventually fall into place.
Thwarted love affairs is one theme of this book. Consistently, the one loved loves someone else. The second theme, and the theme that drew my attention, is getting to know Edith and Bruce well and how and why their relationship stands firm. It is them and their relationship that makes me want to read the next book in the Little Ottleys Series.
Edith is our heroine. Her ability to cope with Bruce is the charm of the book. The story is light, sweet and frivolous—never dark or ponderous despite the ridiculous shenanigans of Bruce. We laugh at Bruce. We marvel at Edith’s tranquility and ability to do what is necessary, all the while remaining unruffled.
A download is available free at Librivox, here: https://librivox.org/loves-shadow-by-...
What makes this better than most available at Librivox is the professional and utterly superb reading by the actress Helen Taylor! Her intonations fit perfectly each character—be they stuffy aristocrats, a young child like Archie, the full-of-himself hypochondriac Bruce and Edith, who has learned how to placate Bruce in order to survive. Every word is clear, the volume and tempo are balanced and the pauses perfectly placed. Five stars for the marvelous narration.
Relax at the start—you are merely learning who is who and becoming acquainted with Edith’s coterie of friends. Listen carefully to the dialogue. What is said, one character to another, is where the humor of the book lies. The dialogue is what makes this novel good. View this book as an introduction to the Ottley Family.
***************************************
1.Love's Shadow 3 stars
2.Tenterhooks TBR
3.Love at Second Sight TBR
The author, Ada Leverson (1862 1933), of the Edwardian era too, was a close friend of Oscar Wilde. He spoke of her as the “wittiest woman in the world”! Does that not make you curious?
This is the first of a trilogy about Edith Ottley and her cocksure, supercilious, hypochondriac husband, Bruce. They have one child, Archie. He is two years of age. He’s cute; his haltering words make a reader smile. The family lives in an apartment in Knightsbridge, London. We meet Edith’s friends, and she has many. That there are so many is definitely confusing at the start. Fix your attention on particularly these four--Hyacinth Verney, widow Mrs. Eugenia Raymond, Cecil Reeve and his uncle Lord Selsey. Cecil is Lord Selsey’s heir. All the others do eventually fall into place.
Thwarted love affairs is one theme of this book. Consistently, the one loved loves someone else. The second theme, and the theme that drew my attention, is getting to know Edith and Bruce well and how and why their relationship stands firm. It is them and their relationship that makes me want to read the next book in the Little Ottleys Series.
Edith is our heroine. Her ability to cope with Bruce is the charm of the book. The story is light, sweet and frivolous—never dark or ponderous despite the ridiculous shenanigans of Bruce. We laugh at Bruce. We marvel at Edith’s tranquility and ability to do what is necessary, all the while remaining unruffled.
A download is available free at Librivox, here: https://librivox.org/loves-shadow-by-...
What makes this better than most available at Librivox is the professional and utterly superb reading by the actress Helen Taylor! Her intonations fit perfectly each character—be they stuffy aristocrats, a young child like Archie, the full-of-himself hypochondriac Bruce and Edith, who has learned how to placate Bruce in order to survive. Every word is clear, the volume and tempo are balanced and the pauses perfectly placed. Five stars for the marvelous narration.
Relax at the start—you are merely learning who is who and becoming acquainted with Edith’s coterie of friends. Listen carefully to the dialogue. What is said, one character to another, is where the humor of the book lies. The dialogue is what makes this novel good. View this book as an introduction to the Ottley Family.
***************************************
1.Love's Shadow 3 stars
2.Tenterhooks TBR
3.Love at Second Sight TBR
September 13, 2017
What a delightful read even if it did a chapter or two for me to start getting into the humour in the book. This is the story of a set of young and not-so-young things in Edwardian London, who seem each to fall in love with someone who is invariably in love with someone else. Edith Ottley (who isn’t quite the central character of this one, though I noticed the series this book is a part of is centred around her―so she might perhaps be like Fanny of Love in a Cold Climate) is married to the pompous and buffoonish Bruce who is definitely the funniest character in the book. A far worse hypochondriac than even Emma Woodhouse’s father or ‘J’ of Three Men in a Boat, his conversations (with Edith, mostly) and perceptions of people and situations can’t but make one laugh. (I never remember to mark these when reading but one here’s one example)
After dinner Bruce followed Edith into the drawing-room, looked angrily at the flowers and said—
'Now what's the meaning of all this? Mind, I'm not jealous. It isn't my nature to be. What I dislike is being made a fool of. If I thought that Raggett, after all I've done for him—'
'Oh, Bruce! How can you be so absurd? A poor harmless creature—'
'Harmless creature, indeed! I think it extremely marked, calling on you when I was out.'
'He didn't know you were out. It's the usual time to pay a visit, and he really came just to ask me to belong to the Society.'
'I don't call Raggett a society man.'
'He's a secret-society man,' said Edith. 'He wants me to be a
Legitimist.'
'Now I won't have any nonsense of that sort here,' said Bruce, striking the table with his fist. 'Goodness knows where it will end. That sort of thing takes women away from the natural home duties, and I disapprove of it strongly. Why, he'll soon be asking you to be a Suffragette! I think I shall write to Raggett.'
'Oh, would you, really?'
'I shall write to him,' repeated Bruce, 'and tell him that I won't have these constant visits and marked attentions. I shall say you complained to me. Yes, that's the dignified way, and I shall request him to keep his secret societies to himself, and not to try to interfere with the peace and harmony of a happy English home.'
He drew some writing-paper towards him.
'I'm sure he didn't mean the slightest harm. He thought it was the proper thing, after dining with us.'
'But it isn't like the man, Edith! It isn't Raggett! He's no slave to convention; don't think it. I can't help fancying that there must have been some ulterior motive. It seems to me sinister—that's the word—sinister.'
'Would you think it sinister if he never came, again?'
'Well, perhaps not, but in allowing this to pass—isn't it the thin end of the wedge?'
'Give him a chance and see,' she said. 'Don't be in a hurry. After all, he's your great friend. You're always talking to me about him; and what's he done?—sent a few flowers and called here once. I'm sure he thought you would like it.'
'But don't you see, Edith, the attention should have been paid to me, not to you.'
'He could hardly send you flowers, Bruce. I'm sure he thought it was the proper thing.'
Bruce walked up and down the room greatly agitated.
'I admit that this is a matter that requires consideration. I shouldn't like to make a mountain out of a mole-hill. We'll see; we'll give him a chance. But if he comes here again, or takes any step to persuade you to have anything to do with his Society or whatever it is, I shall know how to act.'
'Of course you will, dear.'
Edith hoped she wouldn't receive a large envelope full of papers about the Legitimists by the first post.
'I hope you know, Bruce, I shouldn't care if I never saw him again.'
'Why not? Because he's my friend, I suppose? You look down on him just because he's a hard worker, and of some use in the world—not a dandified, conventional, wasp-waisted idiot like Cecil Reeve! Perhaps you prefer Cecil Reeve?'
'Much,' replied Edith firmly.
'Why? Let's hear your reasons.'
'Why, he's a real person. I know where I am when I'm talking to him—we're on the same platform.'
'Platform?'
'Yes. When I talk to Mr Raggett I feel as if he had arrived at Victoria, and I had gone to meet him at Charing Cross. Do you see? We don't get near enough to understand each other.'
The focus of the story is society beauty Hyacinth Verney, admired by everyone who knows her. She finds herself in love with Cecil Reeve, heir to Lord Selsey, who admires her alright but is in love with a not so very pretty but charming widow Mrs Raymond, who doesn’t return his affections. But circumstances, Lord Selsey, and Mrs Raymond herself are in Hyacinth’s favour and they help get her what she wants, marriage to Cecil. While Cecil does love Hyacinth, the shadow of his love for Mrs Raymond remains, preventing complete happiness, an at one point even threatening their relationship. How things are resolved, one has to read to find out. Theirs isn’t the only complicated relationship in the story which finds Edith having her own little struggles with Bruce who is perpetually “ill” except when he finds something more interesting to occupy his time, not very interested in work, and always adopting an ostrich-like attitude to their ever-mounting bills. But despite going into matters quite serious as far as love and relationships are concerned, Leverson keeps the tone light and her readers smiling all through.
After dinner Bruce followed Edith into the drawing-room, looked angrily at the flowers and said—
'Now what's the meaning of all this? Mind, I'm not jealous. It isn't my nature to be. What I dislike is being made a fool of. If I thought that Raggett, after all I've done for him—'
'Oh, Bruce! How can you be so absurd? A poor harmless creature—'
'Harmless creature, indeed! I think it extremely marked, calling on you when I was out.'
'He didn't know you were out. It's the usual time to pay a visit, and he really came just to ask me to belong to the Society.'
'I don't call Raggett a society man.'
'He's a secret-society man,' said Edith. 'He wants me to be a
Legitimist.'
'Now I won't have any nonsense of that sort here,' said Bruce, striking the table with his fist. 'Goodness knows where it will end. That sort of thing takes women away from the natural home duties, and I disapprove of it strongly. Why, he'll soon be asking you to be a Suffragette! I think I shall write to Raggett.'
'Oh, would you, really?'
'I shall write to him,' repeated Bruce, 'and tell him that I won't have these constant visits and marked attentions. I shall say you complained to me. Yes, that's the dignified way, and I shall request him to keep his secret societies to himself, and not to try to interfere with the peace and harmony of a happy English home.'
He drew some writing-paper towards him.
'I'm sure he didn't mean the slightest harm. He thought it was the proper thing, after dining with us.'
'But it isn't like the man, Edith! It isn't Raggett! He's no slave to convention; don't think it. I can't help fancying that there must have been some ulterior motive. It seems to me sinister—that's the word—sinister.'
'Would you think it sinister if he never came, again?'
'Well, perhaps not, but in allowing this to pass—isn't it the thin end of the wedge?'
'Give him a chance and see,' she said. 'Don't be in a hurry. After all, he's your great friend. You're always talking to me about him; and what's he done?—sent a few flowers and called here once. I'm sure he thought you would like it.'
'But don't you see, Edith, the attention should have been paid to me, not to you.'
'He could hardly send you flowers, Bruce. I'm sure he thought it was the proper thing.'
Bruce walked up and down the room greatly agitated.
'I admit that this is a matter that requires consideration. I shouldn't like to make a mountain out of a mole-hill. We'll see; we'll give him a chance. But if he comes here again, or takes any step to persuade you to have anything to do with his Society or whatever it is, I shall know how to act.'
'Of course you will, dear.'
Edith hoped she wouldn't receive a large envelope full of papers about the Legitimists by the first post.
'I hope you know, Bruce, I shouldn't care if I never saw him again.'
'Why not? Because he's my friend, I suppose? You look down on him just because he's a hard worker, and of some use in the world—not a dandified, conventional, wasp-waisted idiot like Cecil Reeve! Perhaps you prefer Cecil Reeve?'
'Much,' replied Edith firmly.
'Why? Let's hear your reasons.'
'Why, he's a real person. I know where I am when I'm talking to him—we're on the same platform.'
'Platform?'
'Yes. When I talk to Mr Raggett I feel as if he had arrived at Victoria, and I had gone to meet him at Charing Cross. Do you see? We don't get near enough to understand each other.'
The focus of the story is society beauty Hyacinth Verney, admired by everyone who knows her. She finds herself in love with Cecil Reeve, heir to Lord Selsey, who admires her alright but is in love with a not so very pretty but charming widow Mrs Raymond, who doesn’t return his affections. But circumstances, Lord Selsey, and Mrs Raymond herself are in Hyacinth’s favour and they help get her what she wants, marriage to Cecil. While Cecil does love Hyacinth, the shadow of his love for Mrs Raymond remains, preventing complete happiness, an at one point even threatening their relationship. How things are resolved, one has to read to find out. Theirs isn’t the only complicated relationship in the story which finds Edith having her own little struggles with Bruce who is perpetually “ill” except when he finds something more interesting to occupy his time, not very interested in work, and always adopting an ostrich-like attitude to their ever-mounting bills. But despite going into matters quite serious as far as love and relationships are concerned, Leverson keeps the tone light and her readers smiling all through.
March 11, 2018
A frivolous bit of silliness, to be sure - but then one needs some comic relief occasionally. It may have appealed to readers when it was published but the humour is definitely dated - in fact, I think it belongs in the 19th century. This is the first of a trilogy but I won't be reading subsequent stories!
March 26, 2021
Fun Edwardian comedy.
The story revolves around the marriage of Bruce and Edith Outlet and their circle of friends; among these, Hyacinth, who is in love with Cecil Reeve; Cecil Reece is in love with another woman, but she's not in love with him and so this casts a shadow over the potential romance of Cecil and Hyacinth.
I was liked the plot with this couple, but I thought the scenes with some of the supporting characters were much better, particularly between Charlses, (Hyacinth's cousin and guardian) and his wife. Best of all were the scenes with Edith managing Bruce, her husband. I don't know how she put up with him for so long. if there had been more of these, I think it would have been a 5* read.
The story revolves around the marriage of Bruce and Edith Outlet and their circle of friends; among these, Hyacinth, who is in love with Cecil Reeve; Cecil Reece is in love with another woman, but she's not in love with him and so this casts a shadow over the potential romance of Cecil and Hyacinth.
I was liked the plot with this couple, but I thought the scenes with some of the supporting characters were much better, particularly between Charlses, (Hyacinth's cousin and guardian) and his wife. Best of all were the scenes with Edith managing Bruce, her husband. I don't know how she put up with him for so long. if there had been more of these, I think it would have been a 5* read.
May 13, 2013
"Tea? At three o'clock in the afternoon! I never heard of such a thing. You seem to have strangely Bohemian ideas in this house, Miss Yeo."
I was dimly aware of Ada Leverson as Wilde's 'Sphinx', one of the supporting characters in his great drama. But until I was in what turned out not to be HMV's closing down sale after all, and saw this going for pennies, it had never occurred to me that she'd left a trace beyond that. This was written almost a decade after Wilde's death, and at first I was wondering if gentle prodding at the conventions of Edwardian drawing rooms is what he'd have been reduced to were it not for his foolish, glorious fall. That response underestimated Leverson's skill; hers is not the wit of the single hammer-blow. It's the wit which works by slow accumulation, an eye-dropper filled with acid. Imagine if Jane Austen, instead of being compromised by forever mooning after matrimony she'd never known, had experienced first-hand how ghastly it could be. All the hypocrisies and horrors of relations between the sexes in those gilded olden days we can so easily idolise for the outfits, Leverson had lived through - and replicates here, with perfectly controlled savagery. Anyone who talks about the breakdown of traditional morality and gender roles as a bad thing should be obliged to read this book as many times as it takes to shut them up.
I was dimly aware of Ada Leverson as Wilde's 'Sphinx', one of the supporting characters in his great drama. But until I was in what turned out not to be HMV's closing down sale after all, and saw this going for pennies, it had never occurred to me that she'd left a trace beyond that. This was written almost a decade after Wilde's death, and at first I was wondering if gentle prodding at the conventions of Edwardian drawing rooms is what he'd have been reduced to were it not for his foolish, glorious fall. That response underestimated Leverson's skill; hers is not the wit of the single hammer-blow. It's the wit which works by slow accumulation, an eye-dropper filled with acid. Imagine if Jane Austen, instead of being compromised by forever mooning after matrimony she'd never known, had experienced first-hand how ghastly it could be. All the hypocrisies and horrors of relations between the sexes in those gilded olden days we can so easily idolise for the outfits, Leverson had lived through - and replicates here, with perfectly controlled savagery. Anyone who talks about the breakdown of traditional morality and gender roles as a bad thing should be obliged to read this book as many times as it takes to shut them up.
May 18, 2011
This was really funny. A cross between Oscar Wilde and the person at a party who gives you a running commentary with a bitchy turn of phrase on everyone else there. Every man in it seemed an idiot or arrogant or both and the characterizations were wonderful. The Ottley's, the young married couple who were the hero, I use that term very loosely, and the long suffering heroine steer their middle class course through relationship and partys and misunderstanding and love affairs. Easy to read, totally non-challenging, funny and a fascinating look at the ways in which women, exercising little external influence in their marriages could often be very much the power behind the throne.
July 13, 2022
Heerlijk boek, echt een comedy of manners. Moest alleen af en toe te erg lachen om in slaap te vallen. Door met deel 2!
July 3, 2018
“Love’s Shadow” is light and fluffy, like a meringue. The characters tend to be shallow caricatures and the plot has been done a million times before but even so, I found myself enjoying it immensely. For a while I couldn’t figure out why I like this book so much and then suddenly I realized…it’s the DIALOGUE!
The dialogue is brilliant. This book could be turned into a movie or a play without hiring a script writer...just let the actors read their lines directly from the book.
'Edith, Mitchell shall never set foot under my roof—never darken these doors again!'
'I wonder why, when people are angry, they talk about their roofs and doors? If you were pleased with Mitchell again, you wouldn't ask him to set foot under your roof—nor to darken the door. You'd ask him to come and see us. Anyhow, he won't feel it so very much—because he'll not notice it. He's never been here yet.'
The story centers around Edith, who is kind and self-sacrificing to a fault, her histrionic hypochondriac husband, Bruce, and their circle of friends.
One of my favorite conversations in the book occurs when Edith must run an errand and Bruce begrudgingly condescends to keep watch over their toddler son, Archie, for the very first time.
As soon as Edith had gone he held out a card to his father, and said—
'E for efalunt.'
Bruce frowned, nodded, waved his hand, and went on reading….
'X for swordfish,' said Archie, holding out another card.
'Don't talk, Archie….'
'This is my bear. It's the same bear.'
'The same bear as what?'
'Why, the same bear! This is a soldier.'
He put the wooden soldier in his mouth, then put it carefully back in the box.
'This is my bear,' said Archie again. 'Just the same bear. That's all.'
Bruce threw away the paper.
'You want to have a talk, eh?' he said.
'This is my best suit,' said Archie. 'Have you any sugar in your pockets?'
'Sugar in my pockets? Who put that into your head?'
‘Nobody didn't put it in my head. Don't you put any in your pocket?'
'No. Sugar, indeed! I'm not a parrot.'
Archie roared with laughter.
'You're not a parrot!' he said, laughing loudly. 'Wouldn't it be fun if you was a parrot. I wish you was a parrot.'
'Don't be foolish, Archie.'
'Do parrots keep sugar in their pockets?'
'Don't be silly.'
'Have parrots got pockets?'
'Play with your soldiers, dear.'
'Do parrots have pockets?'
'Don't be a nuisance.'
'Why did you say parrots had sugar in their pockets, then?'
'I never said anything of the kind.'
I listened to the free LibriVox audio book, beautifully narrated by Helen Taylor: https://librivox.org/loves-shadow-by-.... The ebook is free on gutenberg.org and in the Kindle store.
The dialogue is brilliant. This book could be turned into a movie or a play without hiring a script writer...just let the actors read their lines directly from the book.
'Edith, Mitchell shall never set foot under my roof—never darken these doors again!'
'I wonder why, when people are angry, they talk about their roofs and doors? If you were pleased with Mitchell again, you wouldn't ask him to set foot under your roof—nor to darken the door. You'd ask him to come and see us. Anyhow, he won't feel it so very much—because he'll not notice it. He's never been here yet.'
The story centers around Edith, who is kind and self-sacrificing to a fault, her histrionic hypochondriac husband, Bruce, and their circle of friends.
One of my favorite conversations in the book occurs when Edith must run an errand and Bruce begrudgingly condescends to keep watch over their toddler son, Archie, for the very first time.
As soon as Edith had gone he held out a card to his father, and said—
'E for efalunt.'
Bruce frowned, nodded, waved his hand, and went on reading….
'X for swordfish,' said Archie, holding out another card.
'Don't talk, Archie….'
'This is my bear. It's the same bear.'
'The same bear as what?'
'Why, the same bear! This is a soldier.'
He put the wooden soldier in his mouth, then put it carefully back in the box.
'This is my bear,' said Archie again. 'Just the same bear. That's all.'
Bruce threw away the paper.
'You want to have a talk, eh?' he said.
'This is my best suit,' said Archie. 'Have you any sugar in your pockets?'
'Sugar in my pockets? Who put that into your head?'
‘Nobody didn't put it in my head. Don't you put any in your pocket?'
'No. Sugar, indeed! I'm not a parrot.'
Archie roared with laughter.
'You're not a parrot!' he said, laughing loudly. 'Wouldn't it be fun if you was a parrot. I wish you was a parrot.'
'Don't be foolish, Archie.'
'Do parrots keep sugar in their pockets?'
'Don't be silly.'
'Have parrots got pockets?'
'Play with your soldiers, dear.'
'Do parrots have pockets?'
'Don't be a nuisance.'
'Why did you say parrots had sugar in their pockets, then?'
'I never said anything of the kind.'
I listened to the free LibriVox audio book, beautifully narrated by Helen Taylor: https://librivox.org/loves-shadow-by-.... The ebook is free on gutenberg.org and in the Kindle store.
March 30, 2010
Hyacinth is young, beautiful and popular with her London social set. So why does she fall in love with Cecil, who is in love with Eugenia, on older, plain widow? And why does Eugenia want to marry Cecil's uncle, since she admits she doesn't love him any more than she loves Cecil? And how does Hyacinth's friend Edith stand her arrogant prig of a husband, Bruce? Actually, it seems that no one can stand Bruce.
I had never heard of Leverson but the blurb on the back cover of Oscar Wilde calling her the wittiest woman in the world convinced me that I had to try this and I wasn't disappointed. This book moves quickly with short chapters and characters all bumping into each other and gossiping about what each has seen and heard and showing the ridiculous lengths people will go to attract their 'ideal' and the unhappiness that success can bring. Here's a brief dialogue between husband and wife:
Bruce: "Odd. Very odd you should get it into your head that I should have any idea of leaving you. Is that why you're looking so cheerful-laughing so much?"
Edith: "Am I laughing? I thought I was only smiling."
I had never heard of Leverson but the blurb on the back cover of Oscar Wilde calling her the wittiest woman in the world convinced me that I had to try this and I wasn't disappointed. This book moves quickly with short chapters and characters all bumping into each other and gossiping about what each has seen and heard and showing the ridiculous lengths people will go to attract their 'ideal' and the unhappiness that success can bring. Here's a brief dialogue between husband and wife:
Bruce: "Odd. Very odd you should get it into your head that I should have any idea of leaving you. Is that why you're looking so cheerful-laughing so much?"
Edith: "Am I laughing? I thought I was only smiling."
March 1, 2014
A comedic novel about a group of genteel London folk and their various hopes and grievances when it comes to love. 1908.
Full review (and other reading recommendations!) at Another look book
Light and engaging, with nothing against it, only a great deal of wit in its favor. Yes, I'd say the Oscar Wilde comparison is well-founded. I liked it even more than I used to adore Wilde, in fact. I enjoyed the characters more; they felt like they went a little deeper. Much as I enjoy The Importance of Being Earnest, for instance, I doubt I could have stomached a sequel, let alone a series. The Little Ottleys, on the other hand, could prove useful and diverting for future rainy afternoons.
Full review (and other reading recommendations!) at Another look book
Light and engaging, with nothing against it, only a great deal of wit in its favor. Yes, I'd say the Oscar Wilde comparison is well-founded. I liked it even more than I used to adore Wilde, in fact. I enjoyed the characters more; they felt like they went a little deeper. Much as I enjoy The Importance of Being Earnest, for instance, I doubt I could have stomached a sequel, let alone a series. The Little Ottleys, on the other hand, could prove useful and diverting for future rainy afternoons.
November 25, 2010
Hyacinth is young, beautiful and popular with her London social set. So why does she fall in love with Cecil, Cecil is in love with Eugenie an older, plain widow. Eugenie wants to marry Cecils uncle, whe she admitd she doesn,t anymore than she loves Cecil. Edith is Hyacinths friend who is married to Bruce an arrogant prig of a husband. Who nobody likes and everyone wonders how Edith can stand him.This book moves quickly with short chapters and characters all bumping into each other and gossiping about what each has seen and heard. It just shows the ridiculous lengths people will go to attract their ideal and the unhappiness that success can bring
April 24, 2010
An odd but enjoyable little book. It pokes fun at marriage, pointing out the absurdities of convention and the egomaniacs it attracts.
Even though it is quite funny, I did find the book to be overall a little bland. Most of the characters were either too idiotic or too saintly to be believable, making it hard to feel much concern for their love lives. I imagine a more forgiving reader would find this book delightful, but I was a little bit bored.
Even though it is quite funny, I did find the book to be overall a little bland. Most of the characters were either too idiotic or too saintly to be believable, making it hard to feel much concern for their love lives. I imagine a more forgiving reader would find this book delightful, but I was a little bit bored.
July 1, 2016
This Edwardian author sits comfortably on the Sake, Wilde, Wodehouse continuum. Ada Leverson writes sparkling, fast paced stories with lots of clever dialogue. She has a funny and surprising way of turning cliches on their ears. You can also listen to all the 'Little Ottleys' trilogy on Libivox for free, excellently read by Helen Taylor.
August 2, 2016
Fluff so light it felt as if I was reading the papery equivalent of whipped cream. The introduction touts Leverson as a wit but that didn't completely come through, even though there were a few lines that made one grin. Love's Shadow was a pale, less amusing and memorable sister of one of Wilde's comedies if they had been novels.
September 17, 2018
this was so depressing. im so depressed. i literally wanted to rescue every single main female character and murder all of the men. whoever said this was like oscar wilde's writing should also be murdered. how those women didn't murder every single man in their lives is a straight up miracle and beyond me.
May 25, 2013
più che un romanzo, pur essendoci un filo conduttore, si tratta di un insieme di episodi- a volte caustici e spumeggianti, altre più triti. lettura leggera e spiritosa per amanti del genere british ma nulla più.
[l'edizione italiana è scandalosamente costosa]
[l'edizione italiana è scandalosamente costosa]
March 31, 2017
So funny! And great surprise for me.
December 1, 2022
Great fun. Ended rather abruptly! 😊
March 16, 2010
Reason for Reading: I'm reading all the Bloomsbury Group books.
Summary: This is Edith Ottley's story, though I wouldn't call her the main character. Though it is through Edith that all the characters can be traced back (as in the six degrees of Kevin Bacon). Edith and Bruce Ottley are a young married couple with a two year old son. Bruce is hard to describe without making him sound like a chauvinistic brute. He is also a hypochondriac and would rather not work and be served upon day and night. This is Bruce's character, but it is a pastiche of the weak yet dominating husband, though not mean-spirited, just self-centred. Edith takes advice from friends, especially her mother-in-law, and always complying cheerfully she never looses the upperhand and laughs off Bruce without him even knowing it. There is also Edith's friend Hyacinth, the real main character, who is a young twenties girl living on her own, with a companion, who is in love with a man who is love with someone else. Every other man is in love (or infatuation) with her including her friends' husbands, her former guardian and her ladies companion.
Comments: Hyacinth's story becomes the main focus of the plot while Edith and Bruce's stays in the foreground being the centre from which all other story arcs are in one way or another related. These other story arcs are filled with secondary characters having relationship problems themselves. Hyacinth's love, Cecil, is in love with an older woman Eugenia, who has vowed never to marry again and thinks of him as a boy anyway. Anne, Hyacinth's ladies companion gives very intelligent advice but is jealous of anyone who will take Hyacinth away from her. Then there's Bruce, who like everyman, is attracted to Hyacinth as well, but from afar and by drilling his wife on her visits with her.
Many other characters are intertwined as well and the dialogue is full of wit and repartie. Every character is simply adorable and lovable, even the mysterious Mr. Raggett who we never really fully understand but who, unlike the other men in this story, has fallen for Edith and woos her. Bruce, himself, does take some getting used to, being the only non-likable character but he always comes up short against Edith, without even knowing it and this quiet battle of the sexes is quite humorous.
It took me several chapters (short as they are) to get into the book but once I'd met everyone and the story got going I was completely smitten with everything, everyone and all the goings on in Knightsbridge, England. This is an intelligent, bright, witty romantic comedy. A truly delightful story that can be summed up in that ubiquitous term "the British cozy".
Summary: This is Edith Ottley's story, though I wouldn't call her the main character. Though it is through Edith that all the characters can be traced back (as in the six degrees of Kevin Bacon). Edith and Bruce Ottley are a young married couple with a two year old son. Bruce is hard to describe without making him sound like a chauvinistic brute. He is also a hypochondriac and would rather not work and be served upon day and night. This is Bruce's character, but it is a pastiche of the weak yet dominating husband, though not mean-spirited, just self-centred. Edith takes advice from friends, especially her mother-in-law, and always complying cheerfully she never looses the upperhand and laughs off Bruce without him even knowing it. There is also Edith's friend Hyacinth, the real main character, who is a young twenties girl living on her own, with a companion, who is in love with a man who is love with someone else. Every other man is in love (or infatuation) with her including her friends' husbands, her former guardian and her ladies companion.
Comments: Hyacinth's story becomes the main focus of the plot while Edith and Bruce's stays in the foreground being the centre from which all other story arcs are in one way or another related. These other story arcs are filled with secondary characters having relationship problems themselves. Hyacinth's love, Cecil, is in love with an older woman Eugenia, who has vowed never to marry again and thinks of him as a boy anyway. Anne, Hyacinth's ladies companion gives very intelligent advice but is jealous of anyone who will take Hyacinth away from her. Then there's Bruce, who like everyman, is attracted to Hyacinth as well, but from afar and by drilling his wife on her visits with her.
Many other characters are intertwined as well and the dialogue is full of wit and repartie. Every character is simply adorable and lovable, even the mysterious Mr. Raggett who we never really fully understand but who, unlike the other men in this story, has fallen for Edith and woos her. Bruce, himself, does take some getting used to, being the only non-likable character but he always comes up short against Edith, without even knowing it and this quiet battle of the sexes is quite humorous.
It took me several chapters (short as they are) to get into the book but once I'd met everyone and the story got going I was completely smitten with everything, everyone and all the goings on in Knightsbridge, England. This is an intelligent, bright, witty romantic comedy. A truly delightful story that can be summed up in that ubiquitous term "the British cozy".
January 22, 2013
This book from 1908 is billed as a "comedy of manners". It was written by Ada Leverson, who was a great friend of Oscar Wilde, and it shows the same type of wit. I have to say I found it all a bit too clever and brittle at the end.
The book is about two families and their interconnection through the meanderings of romantic love. Edith is married to Bruce Ottley, a tiresome bore who manages to blame his wife for every mistake he makes and whose life seems dominated by his envy of all those around him. Bruce is unconsciously infatuated with Hyacinth, Edith's beautiful and lively friend. Hyacinth is in love with Cecil, who has a crush on the older and wiser Mrs. Raymond. Mrs. Raymond makes it clear to Cecil that she has no interest in his romantic feelings, and he marries Hyacinth. This is distressing to Hyacinth's guardian and her companion, Anne Yeo, who are both more than a little fascinated by Hyacinth themselves. Mrs. Raymond then marries Cecil's uncle, and Cecil chooses to be upset by this to the point that his new bride feels that her husband still loves his former flame. She threatens to leave him or to live "as brother and sister". Of course in the end Cecil comes to his senses and harmony is restored in their household. Anne Yeo, described as a "queer" and "odd" creature, first decamps to a Bohemian boarding house, then -possibly- to Australia. Through it all, we hear of the many vicissitudes Bruce Ottley fancies himself the victim of : his numerous imaginary ailments, his wife's perceived financial mismanagement, his odious boss who insists he arrives on time at the office, and the scandalous manner in which his acting talent is underestimated.
This is a light read, fun for an afternoon. I can't say that I was impressed by the psychological development of the characters - it sometimes seemed that the author didn't know whether she wanted to write a traditional novel, or a mere entertainment. Hyacinth is too beautiful, too attractive, too rich, too independent - this type of heroine ends up being boring. Edith is calmly tolerant of her husband all through the novel, with only the smallest signs of rebellion apparent in her placid answers to his unreasonable requests. Their interactions were actually the most fun part of the book - it was amazing how Bruce managed to twist everything she said, no matter how placatory, into an insult or a sign of neglect. Unfortunately, we all know people like that. So in a way, he was the most credible, but also the most annoying, character in the book.
The book is about two families and their interconnection through the meanderings of romantic love. Edith is married to Bruce Ottley, a tiresome bore who manages to blame his wife for every mistake he makes and whose life seems dominated by his envy of all those around him. Bruce is unconsciously infatuated with Hyacinth, Edith's beautiful and lively friend. Hyacinth is in love with Cecil, who has a crush on the older and wiser Mrs. Raymond. Mrs. Raymond makes it clear to Cecil that she has no interest in his romantic feelings, and he marries Hyacinth. This is distressing to Hyacinth's guardian and her companion, Anne Yeo, who are both more than a little fascinated by Hyacinth themselves. Mrs. Raymond then marries Cecil's uncle, and Cecil chooses to be upset by this to the point that his new bride feels that her husband still loves his former flame. She threatens to leave him or to live "as brother and sister". Of course in the end Cecil comes to his senses and harmony is restored in their household. Anne Yeo, described as a "queer" and "odd" creature, first decamps to a Bohemian boarding house, then -possibly- to Australia. Through it all, we hear of the many vicissitudes Bruce Ottley fancies himself the victim of : his numerous imaginary ailments, his wife's perceived financial mismanagement, his odious boss who insists he arrives on time at the office, and the scandalous manner in which his acting talent is underestimated.
This is a light read, fun for an afternoon. I can't say that I was impressed by the psychological development of the characters - it sometimes seemed that the author didn't know whether she wanted to write a traditional novel, or a mere entertainment. Hyacinth is too beautiful, too attractive, too rich, too independent - this type of heroine ends up being boring. Edith is calmly tolerant of her husband all through the novel, with only the smallest signs of rebellion apparent in her placid answers to his unreasonable requests. Their interactions were actually the most fun part of the book - it was amazing how Bruce managed to twist everything she said, no matter how placatory, into an insult or a sign of neglect. Unfortunately, we all know people like that. So in a way, he was the most credible, but also the most annoying, character in the book.
August 20, 2014
I am really enjoying Golden Age fiction, I have to say! It's probably my favourite time in history: so much hope, so much change, no wars yet to ruin it.
This was the story of a girl called Hyacinth, the boy she loves, the woman he loves, and her friends the Ottleys, who are a bit ... special. In other words, Edith puts up with her husband, Bruce, being what in modern parlance we'd call emotionally abusive. She lets him get away with murder. For some reason I see a lot of this in the hospital - sweet little old wives apologising for their pigs of husbands - and it just makes me tired. There's no point in being sweet and kind if you allow your other half to be a pig to everyone. You're just being a pig by proxy then. No dice.
It was very witty, though, in fairness! Although the end was unpalatably abrupt.
This was the story of a girl called Hyacinth, the boy she loves, the woman he loves, and her friends the Ottleys, who are a bit ... special. In other words, Edith puts up with her husband, Bruce, being what in modern parlance we'd call emotionally abusive. She lets him get away with murder. For some reason I see a lot of this in the hospital - sweet little old wives apologising for their pigs of husbands - and it just makes me tired. There's no point in being sweet and kind if you allow your other half to be a pig to everyone. You're just being a pig by proxy then. No dice.
It was very witty, though, in fairness! Although the end was unpalatably abrupt.
December 23, 2017
I had somehow put Ada Leverson in completely the wrong time period. Having assumed she was writing in the 1930s and 40s I had to do a quick reassessment of the time period when I saw it was first published in 1908. The whole tone of the novel actually fits with it having been published thirty years later – a light, bright, witty comedy of manners. It is a quite delightful little read.
I was interested to discover that Ada Leverson was great friends with Oscar Wilde – who of us wouldn’t rather love to get the chance to listen in on their conversations. Perhaps Love’s Shadow offers a little glimpse into their world.
The novel concerns the loves and preoccupations of a group of young, society Londoners, with themes of unequal marriage and unrequited love.
Edith and Bruce Ottley live in what they consistently think of as a very tiny flat – my suspicion is, that Leverson’s idea of a tiny flat and mine might differ by several rooms. Anyway, the young couple are about two years into their marriage and now have a young son. Bruce is a little dull, he shuffles off to the office most days – what he actually does, we don’t know. Though we get the impression fairly quickly that whatever it is Bruce does he does fairly half-heartedly – and is often late, and finds the least excuse to not go in at all. For Bruce is a terrible hypochondriac – on the smallest of provocations he imagines himself quite close to death – and takes to his bed for days on end, while Edith is forced to wait upon him. It is not surprising that Edith is already a little bored.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
I was interested to discover that Ada Leverson was great friends with Oscar Wilde – who of us wouldn’t rather love to get the chance to listen in on their conversations. Perhaps Love’s Shadow offers a little glimpse into their world.
The novel concerns the loves and preoccupations of a group of young, society Londoners, with themes of unequal marriage and unrequited love.
Edith and Bruce Ottley live in what they consistently think of as a very tiny flat – my suspicion is, that Leverson’s idea of a tiny flat and mine might differ by several rooms. Anyway, the young couple are about two years into their marriage and now have a young son. Bruce is a little dull, he shuffles off to the office most days – what he actually does, we don’t know. Though we get the impression fairly quickly that whatever it is Bruce does he does fairly half-heartedly – and is often late, and finds the least excuse to not go in at all. For Bruce is a terrible hypochondriac – on the smallest of provocations he imagines himself quite close to death – and takes to his bed for days on end, while Edith is forced to wait upon him. It is not surprising that Edith is already a little bored.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
February 11, 2015
It's London in 1908 and Edith Ottley is married to the one of the most self-centered, annoying and oblivious men in town. We never learn why she married him, but she has certainly learned to handle his tantrums, imaginary illnesses, financial foibles and constant string of half-truths with amazing grace and dignity. Usually she gets her own way in the end, and besides she dotes on her young son Archie. Edith's close friend, Hyacinth, is one of London's true beauties, and she is extremely wealthy and independent which allows her to behave in ways that other more constrained women cannot. However, Hyacinth's beauty tends to draw to her many men and women who become obsessed with her. One of those women is her eccentric companion Anne who both loves Hyacinth and resents her love for Hyacinth which makes her jealous and manipulative, but ultimately determined to see Hyacinth happy. Meanwhile, Hyacinth has fallen in love with Cecil who is in love with the widow, Mrs. Raymond, who wants Cecil to fall in love with Hyacinth. Also, in this diverse group of people are Lord Sesley, Cecil's uncle, who is a wealthy lover of the arts and knowledge; Hyacinth's guardian, Sir Charles, who realized too late that he too was in love with his young ward; and Lady Cannon, the wife of Sir Charles, who is an upright, uptight, woman is determined that things be done properly and people behave properly.
This was a very funny and witty book. It reminded me a bit of Oscar Wilde's writing about people in society. Certainly excellent examples of social satire.
This was a very funny and witty book. It reminded me a bit of Oscar Wilde's writing about people in society. Certainly excellent examples of social satire.
March 16, 2010
Overall, I found Love's Shadow to be quite entertaining. I wouldn't recommend it to those who like fast-paced novels filled with drama and action as it will probably be bore them.
Although, this book isn't what I typically read, I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. There is drama and conflict in the book, but it's more understated and less "in-your-face," which makes sense since it was written in 1908. The description on the back of the book is a little misleading since I expected a completely different story after reading it - if it was a little more truthful, I think I would have enjoyed the book more.
Another thing that surprised me was how easy it was to read considering most of the books I've read from the late 1800s/early 1900s always seem to boggle my mind or bore me to death. I'd have to say that Ada Leverson writing seemed quite modern for her time (although I'm no expert).
Overall, it was entertaining, and I"m pretty sure others will find it interesting as well (my rating of the book is actually a 3.5 rather than just 3 stars). Now I'll get to the aspects that I didn't like - honestly, some of the characters were irritating, especially Bruce. By the end of the book, they kept blaming others for their problems when it was they themselves who brought it on, which grew very annoying, especially since some of their problems were quite petty.
Although, this book isn't what I typically read, I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. There is drama and conflict in the book, but it's more understated and less "in-your-face," which makes sense since it was written in 1908. The description on the back of the book is a little misleading since I expected a completely different story after reading it - if it was a little more truthful, I think I would have enjoyed the book more.
Another thing that surprised me was how easy it was to read considering most of the books I've read from the late 1800s/early 1900s always seem to boggle my mind or bore me to death. I'd have to say that Ada Leverson writing seemed quite modern for her time (although I'm no expert).
Overall, it was entertaining, and I"m pretty sure others will find it interesting as well (my rating of the book is actually a 3.5 rather than just 3 stars). Now I'll get to the aspects that I didn't like - honestly, some of the characters were irritating, especially Bruce. By the end of the book, they kept blaming others for their problems when it was they themselves who brought it on, which grew very annoying, especially since some of their problems were quite petty.
March 21, 2010
Love’s Shadow by Ada Leverson is a novel about the personalities of a group of social individuals in England sometime after the turn of the century. First published in 1908, it excludes the style and flavor of literary style at that time, with both pointed and subdued humor and cynicism about the personalities of the time.
It focuses mainly on Edith Ottley and her too-droll, and hypochondriac husband Bruce (whom the reader will come to wonder why anyone puts up with him, least of all, overly-tolerant Edith) and Hyacinth Verney who is as lovely as her name. Hyacinth adores the handsome Cecil Reeve, who has become infatuated with a slightly older woman who wants very little to do with Cecil.
The die is cast for hurt feelings, much sobbing and huffing about, and a quaint little expose of the inner life of these society folks. So very much depends upon their personalities, as the plot is calm and slow, but the reader entirely comes to wonder how things will work out between them all. Reminiscent in some ways of Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster, it is a turn-about in that it focuses on the female’s point of view more than the male’s, and is a delightful lighthearted story about romances.
This book was received through librarything's Early Review program.
It focuses mainly on Edith Ottley and her too-droll, and hypochondriac husband Bruce (whom the reader will come to wonder why anyone puts up with him, least of all, overly-tolerant Edith) and Hyacinth Verney who is as lovely as her name. Hyacinth adores the handsome Cecil Reeve, who has become infatuated with a slightly older woman who wants very little to do with Cecil.
The die is cast for hurt feelings, much sobbing and huffing about, and a quaint little expose of the inner life of these society folks. So very much depends upon their personalities, as the plot is calm and slow, but the reader entirely comes to wonder how things will work out between them all. Reminiscent in some ways of Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster, it is a turn-about in that it focuses on the female’s point of view more than the male’s, and is a delightful lighthearted story about romances.
This book was received through librarything's Early Review program.
August 12, 2010
A close friend of Oscar Wilde's, Leverson's style and tone is similar to Wilde's biting, quick wit. Love's Shadow offers an engaging look at the ludicrous things we do for love. Like Wilde, Leverson offers a meddlesome cast of characters whose actions only serve to confuse one another. At the heart of the story are the Ottleys, Bruce and Edith, a very ordinary middle-class Edwardian couple wishing for a little more excitement in their very ordinary lives. Edith's friend, Hyacinth Verney has all the excitement and independence that Edith craves, but only wants for the attention of Cecil Reeve, a young man who only has eyes for a much older woman who refuses to indulge his fancy.
Love's Shadow is a fast-paced, amusing romp, Leverson revealing the foibles of her characters in a series of vignettes. It almost reminds me of Colette's Claudine and Annie, particularly the dissatisfaction that seems to accompany love as experienced by Edith and Hyacinth.
Love's Shadow is a fast-paced, amusing romp, Leverson revealing the foibles of her characters in a series of vignettes. It almost reminds me of Colette's Claudine and Annie, particularly the dissatisfaction that seems to accompany love as experienced by Edith and Hyacinth.
October 9, 2011
Read this on the strength of the Bas Bleu review--"Full of hilarious interactions and clever social commentary...a rescued classic!"--and Oscar Wilde's assesment of the autor as "the wittiest woman in the world." But I found the plot predictable and the characters tiresome or put-upon or both. It's true that I'm viewing it through a 21st-century lens and might find the same story set in an earlier time more palatable. After all, for most of history women's life work has been limited to searching for husbands and putting up with them once they succeed, and certainly there are modern counterparts to all the characters and situations in the novel. But 1908 seems too recent to find amusing the dishonesty that underlies all the relationships in this story. Perhaps that's why it resonated with Wilde, who could not be his authentic self without destroying himself in a time when "coming out" meant something completely different than it means today.
August 1, 2014
What an odd little book; no real plot to speak of--there's a half-hearted narrative about the romantic life of Hyacinth Verney, a glamorous young woman in Edwardian London, but it's thickly interspersed with short vignettes from the lives of the people around her. But her friends, relations, and acquaintances all seem to be insulated from her, and from one another.
That said, the vignettes are sharply drawn --Leverson combines the keen social observations of Jane Austen, a Wodehouse-esque familiarity with (and willingness to mock) the British upper class, and a Wildean penchant for brilliant one-liners, but overlays the whole with an acerbic wit which occasionally flares up into outright nastiness.
NB: This novel features a character who is currently number 1 on my "fictional male character to whom I'd most like to give a good, hard slap" list. If he'd been in many more scenes, I'm not sure I'd have been able to finish reading the book. Your tolerance may be lower. Beware.
That said, the vignettes are sharply drawn --Leverson combines the keen social observations of Jane Austen, a Wodehouse-esque familiarity with (and willingness to mock) the British upper class, and a Wildean penchant for brilliant one-liners, but overlays the whole with an acerbic wit which occasionally flares up into outright nastiness.
NB: This novel features a character who is currently number 1 on my "fictional male character to whom I'd most like to give a good, hard slap" list. If he'd been in many more scenes, I'm not sure I'd have been able to finish reading the book. Your tolerance may be lower. Beware.
June 3, 2010
I received a free advance copy of the book through Goodreads. (Thanks, Bloomsbury Press!) As is frequently the case, I was torn when it came to rating the book. I'd have given it 3 1/2 stars if that were an option. After a slow start, the book is entertaining and witty, and an interesting look into the lives of Edwardian London. The characters are privileged-class people, who have butlers, maids, nurses to look after babies. Therefore their lives are consumed with social status, whom to dine with, what to wear, falling ardently in love with people whose affections are directed elsewhere. I found one of the main characters, Bruce Ottley, to be quite irksome. He is a megalomaniac, lazy, a spendthift and a hypochondriac. His poor long-suffering wife! If she had dumped him I would have rated the book 5 stars, lol.
June 11, 2010
I think the theme of this book is that love does not always last forever. Edith and Bruce who are an average couple just don't love each other the same anymore and struggle to realize what they want and if they have it. In the beginning of this book Bruce asks Edith how to spell raggett and Edith is not sure so she hesitates to answer. Before she gets the chance to say something, Bruce says, "With all the fuss about modern culture and higher education nowadays, girls are not even taught to spell!" (4) The subtext surrounding this piece of dialogue is what Bruce is really thinking as he says this. Bruce is really thinking in his head that his wife should know how to spell Raggett and he is kinda making fun of her. He's thinking that his wife can not spell and he is a little pissed off that his wife couldn't help him out.
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