Well! This was a fun read, but a very mixed bag. Marryat is definitely not as good a writer as Wilkie Collins or Mary Elizabeth Braddon, but deserves her place in the Victorian sensation novelists hall of fame, for her energy and audacious female heroines.
What’s good about this novel: a strong, capable heroine who smokes, rides, acts, makes everybody fall in love with her (male or female), is extraordinarily beautiful and a master at disguise. A lot of plot twists, including exotic locations, murder, illegitimacy and extramarital relationships, mystery, suicide, a duel, a lesbian kiss, lost siblings or half-siblings, doppelgängers, children born out of wedlock or secretly adopted, and a hysterical invalid suffering from a mysterious illness. Marryat writes with a lot of energy and the story moves on at a fast pace with many cliffhangers.
What’s not so good: Leona is a great heroine, but unfortunately she is a unicorn. All other females are disgusting, silly or weak, whereas the men are described much more favourably if they are not outright villains. There is much xenophobia and racism. Marryat also has the unfortunate habit of using French or Spanish phrases sprinkled in the dialogue. Mon Dieu! The characters are two-dimensional and the action like a comic strip. I was also disappointed in the weak solution to the mystery, which seemed inadequate for all the preceding drama of the novel.
On the whole, I enjoyed this novel and I do think that it is an interesting specimen of its time, even if it isn’t great literature.