Dora Thorne

by Charlotte M. Brame

Most fathers would refuse to hear all this nonsense, Ronald, he said, gently. "I listen, and try to convince you by reasonable arguments that the step you seem bent upon taking is one that will entail nothing but misery. I have said no angry word to you, nor shall I do so. I tell you simply it can not be. Dora Thorne, my lodge keeper’s daughter, is no fitting wife for my son, the heir of Earlescourt. Come with me, Ronald; I will show you further what I mean." They went together, the father and son, so like in face yet so dissimilar in mind. They had been walking up and down the broad terrace, one of the chief beauties of Earlescourt. The park and pleasure grounds, with flushed summer beauty, lay smiling around them. The song of hundreds of birds trilled through the sweet summer air, the water of many fountains rippled musically, rare flowers charmed the eye and sent forth sweet perfume; but neither song of birds nor fragrance of flowers—neither sunshine nor music—brought any brightness to the grave faces of the father and son. With slow steps they quitted the broad terrace, and entered the hall. They passed through a long suite of magnificent apartments, up the broad marble staircase, through long corridors, until they reached the picture gallery, one of the finest in England. Nearly every great master was represented there. Murillo, Guido, Raphael, Claude Lorraine, Salvator Rosa, Correggio, and Tintoretto. The lords of Earlescourt had all loved pictures, and each of them ad added to the treasures of that wonderful gallery. One portion of the gallery was set aside for the portraits of the family. Grim old warriors and fair ladies hung side by side; faces of marvelous beauty, bearing the signs of noble descent, shone out clearly from their gilded frames. "Look, Ronald," Lord Earle said, laying one hand upon his shoulder, "you stand before your ancestors now. Yours is a grand old race. England knows and honors it. Look at these pictured faces of the wives our fathers chose. There is Lady Sybella Earle; when one of Cromwell’s soldiers drew his dagger to slay her husband, the truest friend King Charles ever had, she flung herself before him, and received the blow in his stead. She died, and he lived—noble and beautiful, is she not? Now look at the Lacy Alicia—this fair patrician lady smiling by the side of her grim lord; she, at the risk of her life, helped him to fly from prison, where he lay condemned to death for some great political wrong. She saved him, and for her sake he received pardon. Here is the Lady Helena—she is not beautiful, but look at the intellect, the queenly brow, the soul-lit eyes! She, I need not tell you, was a poetess. Wherever the English language was spoken, her verses were read—men were nobler and better for reading them. The ladies of our race were such that brave men may be proud of them. Is it not so, Ronald?"

Genres: Classics, Victorian

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1880

About the author

Charlotte Mary Brame (middle name sometimes given as Monica, last name sometimes spelled Braeme) was an English author of romantic novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Bertha M. Clay.

Reviews

[OLT · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book had been written in this century, I would have stopped reading by the fourth page, probably. However, it was published in the mid 1870s, a time when such relationships and mesalliances could have actually been as problematic as Brame made them here, a time when melodramatic sensation books were all the rage.

This is Brame's most popular work, I believe, but I did not enjoy it as much as her Wife in Name Only. DORA THORNE is even more melodramatic, moves even more slowly and the characters' actions frustrated me even more than the ones in WIFE.

The story's main theme is the dangers of marrying down (or up, as was Dora's case). These mesalliances just don't work well and end with some kind of tragedy. Brame did a great job showing this in the marriage of lower-class Dora and upper-class Ronald but once the story turned to Dora's twin daughters by Ronald, things took a huge turn for the melodramatic and moved at such a slow, frustrating pace that it had me speed-reading to get to the end.

There's romance, jealousy, sorrow, tragedy and a whole lot of what seems stupid behavior to a person with 21st-century sensibilities. I only recommend this book to a reader like me, one who enjoys jumping into popular books from long-ago times to see what people were reading then, in addition to the classics we all know about.

[Kristine Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Armas sentimentaalne romaanike. Tänapäevase lugeja maitse jaoks ehk liiga ilutsev ja lihtsakoeline. 21. sajandil hinnates kolm tärni, aga oma ajastus igati nelja tärni vääriline. Tasub lugeda kasvõi selleks, et mõista, miks näiteks Jane Austeni teosed ajaproovile paremini vastu on pidanud

[Phil Syphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a bit slow-paced, with little excitement on the whole, yet it was good in parts.

The title character doesn’t feature all that much. Dora is more of a central figure rather than a leading lady.

The author has some good ideas but gives too much away with unsubtle remarks of what’s to come. By hinting at what’s going to happen later on, she lessens the impact of important events, thus reducing or even eliminating the suspense.

Ms Brame’s is also too fond of adjectives. The following quote shows how her frequent use of double adjectives results in clunky sentences:

“The children looked with frank, fearless eyes into his plain, honest face.”

Despite Ms Brame’s faults, I consider her a good writer with the potential of being a better one. Her overall plot in “Dora Thorne” is not flawed. It’s a well-constructed story. As mentioned, her elements of style and the unsubtle hints of what fate awaits certain cast members are the problems.

The characters are mostly well-depicted. My favourite is the beautiful Valentine Charteris. The author painted her vividly in terms of appearance and personality. Beatrice Earle is another strong character creation.

In short, “Dora Thorne” was worth checking out, but I wouldn’t read it again.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst Victorian novel I've ever read. And I've really read quite a few.

Awful, sanctimonious melodrama, unrealistic in the extreme. I don't begrudge the Victorians their pulpy dime novels, but can they please be entertaining in addition to being unbelievable and trashy? Do the women have to spend all their time being wronged, weeping, and accidentally drowning?