Emmeline

by Charlotte Turner Smith

The plot of Charlotte Smith's autobiographical first novel Emmeline (1788) includes the expected thrills of the eighteenth-century courtship novel: abduction, duels, and a "fairy-tale princess."

At the same time, the novel satirically reworks such literary conventions by focusing on the dangers of early engagement and marriage, and challenges a social and legal system in which women are inherently illegitimate subjects.

This Broadview edition includes primary source material relating to the novel's reception; women, marriage, and work; and landscape in eighteenth-century fiction. Mary Hays's biographical writing on Smith is also included, as is selected correspondence.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 18th Century, Gothic, Romance, British Literature, Literature

520 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1788

About the author

Charlotte Turner Smith was an English Romantic poet and novelist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility.

Reviews

[Jeff Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why BBC hasn't turned this story into a miniseries. I love period dramas and this one is one that probably inspired Jane Austen. I learned about Emmeline of Mowbray Castle reading a biography of Austen and since it was written around her time, it may have been a novel that inspired her. Smith does a great job with character development. Every person in the novel is well fleshed out and had interesting and distinct personalities. Emmeline was a Virtus character and the romance in the novel was really well-done and had some good twists and turns in it. The pacing was slow at times, which is understandable considering the era, but what a great glimpse of the Regency era and the mores of the day. My biggest problem was the tendency of the female characters to faint when emotionally challenged. Not all did, but it was not something Lizzy Bennett would have done when facing her problems. All in all, a delightful read and seriously BBC, get on that miniseries!

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the relatively unknown treasures of British literature. This is quite paradoxical as it is one of the books that had a great influence on later writers, with many of the elements that characterize the genre of Gothic literature to be present. Of course, I can not really say that this book is absolutely part of this genre. There is at first the classic scenery of these stories, a castle that has seen better days, and a protagonist who has all the characteristics of such heroines, a gentle and sensitive young woman who wants to maintain her principles in a world there is a lot of immorality, enough mystery and a dose of adventure, but beyond that, we have a more typical romantic story of the time.

Emmeline, the heroine of our story, has been left orphaned from a very young age and so she never met her parents. She was looked after by her uncle in this castle and offered her a fairly comfortable but lonely life, but without offering her something even more important: love and affection. Sometime after he is forced to deal with her more, and that creates the big problem as his only son falls in love with her, and despite his father's objections, he does not accept to go back. Innocent Emmeline initially frightens with his interest, then flatters but remains firmly in her denial as she wants to obey her uncle, who threatens to disown him. So she moves from place to place to escape his pressure and this creates strange situations that become even more bizarre as she meets information about her past, while her exit to the world offers many acquaintances and many different choices.

These are made in a particularly intense emotional novel, where the author with the utmost sensitivity bends over her heroine, inviting us to follow her adventures and sympathizing with her. Through this story, however, she also shows us the ideal of the time for the behaviour of women. Emmeline is characterized by her very strict ethics and her inviolable principles while being compassionate and sensitive, full of understanding about the mistakes of others, ready to forgive, capable of reconciling things and offering help. At the same time, however, she is a woman intipedent as she can be that is not allowing offences, she actively seeks her happiness by making decisions about her life without waiting for others to decide on it. Love, of course, affects her and fills her with beautiful emotions, but she knows how to subdue them to logic, and that certainly belongs to the writer's attempt to present women as logical creatures, far from the stereotype that prevailed at that time. These in a world hard enough for women, where society expected them to obey, not to talk, to accept unmitigated the bad behaviour of some men and generally to live in a certain way, punishing those who escape from it particularly tough way.

All this I read in this book and I can say that I was excited. The story is very interesting from start to finish and the writer carries it to us in a very nice way of writing, very poetic and beautiful, but she can write with it about the most serious issues. The cause of this excitement, however, is more the lovable heroine of this book, which the author created with the most beautiful materials, making me so much to like her that objective criticism is impossible. For this excited, I will put the top rate and I will definitely continue with other books of this author.

Ένας από τους σχετικά άγνωστους θησαυρούς της βρετανικής λογοτεχνίας. Αυτό είναι αρκετά παράδοξο καθώς είναι από τα βιβλία που είχαν πολύ μεγάλη επιρροή στους μεταγενέστερους συγγραφείς, με πολλά από τα στοιχεία που χαρακτηρίζουν το είδος της γοτθικής λογοτεχνίας να είναι παρόντα. Βέβαια στην πραγματικότητα δεν μπορώ να πω ότι το βιβλίο αυτό κατατάσσεται απόλυτα σε αυτό το είδος. Υπάρχει στην αρχή το κλασικό σκηνικό αυτών των ιστοριών, ένα κάστρο όπου έχει δει και καλύτερες ημέρες, και μία πρωταγωνίστρια που έχει όλα τα χαρακτηριστικά των ηρωίδων αυτού του είδους, μία ευγενική και ευαίσθητη νεαρή γυναίκα που θέλει να διατηρήσει τις αρχές της σε έναν κόσμο που υπάρχει πολύ ανηθικότητα, αρκετό μυστήριο και μία δόση περιπέτειας, από εκεί και πέρα, όμως, έχουμε μία περισσότερο τυπική ρομαντική ιστορία της εποχής.

H Emmeline, η ηρωίδα της ιστορίας μας, έχει μείνει ορφανή από πολύ μικρή ηλικία και έτσι δεν γνώρισε ποτέ τους γονείς της. Τη μεγάλωσε έτσι ο θείος της σε αυτό το κάστρο, ο οποίος της πρόσφερε μία αρκετά άνετη αλλά μοναχική ζωή, χωρίς, όμως, να της προσφέρει κάτι ακόμα πιο σημαντικό: αγάπη και στοργή. Κάποια στιγμή έρχεται η ώρα που αναγκάζεται να ασχοληθεί περισσότερο μαζί της και αυτό δημιουργεί το μεγάλο πρόβλημα καθώς ο μοναδικός γιος του την ερωτεύεται παράφορα και παρά τις αντιρρήσεις του πατέρα του δεν δέχεται να κάνει πίσω. Η αθώα Emmeline στην αρχή τρομάζει με το ενδιαφέρον του, στη συνέχεια κολακεύετε αλλά μένει σταθερή στην άρνησή της καθώς θέλει να υπακούσει το θείο της, όποιος απειλεί να τον αποκληρώσει. Έτσι μετακινείται από μέρος σε μέρος για να ξεφύγει από την πίεση του και αυτό δημιουργεί περίεργες καταστάσεις που γίνονται ακόμα πιο περίεργες καθώς συναντάει πληροφορίες για το παρελθόν της, την ώρα που η έξοδο της στον κόσμο της προσφέρει πολλές γνωριμίες και πολλές διαφορετικές επιλογές.

Αυτά γίνονται σε ένα ιδιαίτερα έντονο συναισθηματικά μυθιστόρημα, όπου η συγγραφέας με τη μέγιστη ευαισθησία σκύβει πάνω από την ηρωίδα της, καλώντας μας να ακολουθήσουμε τις περιπέτειες της, συμπάσχοντας μαζί της. Μέσα από αυτή την ιστορία, όμως, μας δείχνει και το ιδανικό της εποχής για τη συμπεριφορά των γυναικών. Η Emmeline χαρακτηρίζεται από την πολύ αυστηρή ηθική της και για τις απαραβίαστες αρχές της, ενώ παράλληλα είναι συμπονετική και ευαίσθητη, γεμάτη κατανόηση για τα λάθη των άλλων, έτοιμη να συγχωρέσει, ικανή να συμβιβάσει τα πράγματα και να προσφέρει βοήθεια. Την ίδια ώρα, όμως, είναι μία γυναίκα όσο μπορεί ανεξάρτητη, που δεν δέχεται να την προσβάλλουν, αναζητά ενεργά την ευτυχία της παίρνοντας αποφάσεις για τη ζωή της, χωρίς να περιμένει να αποφασίσουν για αυτήν κάποιοι άλλοι. Ο έρωτας φυσικά την επηρεάζει και τη γεμίζει όμορφα συναισθήματα, ξέρει, όμως, να τον υποτάσσει στην λογική, και αυτό σίγουρα ανήκει στην προσπάθεια της συγγραφέως να παρουσιάσει τις γυναίκες ως λογικά πλάσματα, μακριά από το στερεότυπο που κυριαρχούσε τότε. Αυτά σε έναν κόσμο αρκετά σκληρό για τις γυναίκες, όπου η κοινωνία περίμενε από αυτές να υπακούν, να μην μιλάνε, να δέχονται αδιαμαρτύρητα την κακή συμπεριφορά κάποιων ανδρών και γενικότερα να ζουν με ένα συγκεκριμένο τρόπο, με την τιμωρία για όσες ξεφύγουν από αυτό να είναι ιδιαίτερα σκληρή.

Όλα αυτά διάβασα σε αυτό το βιβλίο και μπορώ να πω ότι ενθουσιάστηκα. Η ιστορία είναι τρομερά ενδιαφέρουσα από την αρχή ως το τέλος η συγγραφέας μας την μεταφέρει με έναν πολύ ωραίο τρόπο γραφής, πολύ ποιητικό και όμορφο, που μπορεί, όμως, με αυτόν να μιλάει για τα πιο σοβαρά θέματα. Η αιτία αυτού του ενθουσιασμού, όμως, είναι περισσότερο η αξιαγάπητη ηρωίδα αυτού του βιβλίου, που η συγγραφέας τη δημιούργησε με τα πιο ωραία υλικά, κάνοντας μετά τη συμπαθήσω τόσο πολύ που η αντικειμενική κριτική είναι αδύνατη. Για αυτό συγκινημένος θα βάλω την άριστη βαθμολογία και θα συνεχίσω σίγουρα με άλλα βιβλία της συγγραφέως.

[Bethany Creed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be sure your smelling salts are at hand before picking up this sensational bestseller of 1788, because it truly has it all—the dissipations of fashion; scandal; affairs; duels; libertines seducing married women of virtue; husbands as dissolute as they are wealthy; repentant former libertines whose integrity is retrieved from their career of dissipation through an heart still sensible; repining fallen women driven to near derangement through sensibility of the stain on their character; illegitimate offspring; pseudoillegitimate offspring who, in a shocking plot twist that no one could foresee, turn out to be deserving heiresses to a large fortune; connivers who scheme to separate the virtuous from their rightful fortunes; faithful servants; conversations that cannot take place before the servants; violent passions; incurable affections; fainting; more fainting; heroines more dead than alive; attempted rape deflected by virtue; the shedding of manly tears; forgiveness and redemption; and of course, a happy marriage to reward the virtuous with as perfect a felicity as we can expect this side of heaven.

My only disappointment with this eminent work is that its most wicked characters—Bellozane, the Crofts—escape unpunished or, in the case of Lady Frances Crofts, insufficiently punished. The good should end happily and the bad, unhappily; that is what fiction means.

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is it about orphans which makes them so appealing? And if they are good and beautiful, even more so?

Emmeline lives in moldering Mowbray Castle, tenderly brought up by longtime servants, housekeeper, Mrs. Carey and steward, Mr. Williamson. He dies when Emmeline is 14 and is replaced by the unscrupulous Maloney. A couple years later as Emmeline is coming of age, her mother figure, Mrs. Carey also dies, and our heroine is left really alone with a man who fancies not only the property but her.

Emmeline writes her negligent uncle, Lord Montreville, who delegates to his house-steward to answer her that a woman has been hired as replacement for Mrs. Carey. But when she eventually arrives, Emmeline’s problems go from bad to worse. Now she has two enemies instead of one.

Finally, her uncle does come to check on things but that only results in his only son, Delamere, falling helplessly in love with Emmeline, which is diametrically opposed to the family wishes. Delamere must marry wealth, not his poor cousin.

Emmeline is only too glad to go live with Mrs. Carey’s sister, but if only life were so simple! Delamere is not so easily put off and neither are his parents. Without family—except those who are fighting about her—and money, Emmeline doesn’t seem to have many choices, but her goodness makes her many friends along the way. The story takes Emmeline from the castle across England, to the Isle of Wight, to France, Switzerland and back. She acquires other suitors besides Delamere.

There is much tearful drama, swooning, protestations of undying love and taking to bed sick with grief (not just Emmeline!), but there is also wisdom, loyalty, compassion and humor.

It’s a surprising long story, yet I found myself not minding the length and enjoying it very much as something very different than anything you would ever read today.

[Grace Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The edition I have of this is from Charlotte Turner Smith, "Works" on Kindle from The Perfect Library. Whilst the kindle editions of eighteenth century novels are never great, it is here in it's entirety (which is more than I can say for The Old Manor House in the same collection - where volume three is missing). However, this is not so much a review of the edition as the work itself, which I LOVED.

Emmeline is Mrs Smith's first novel and represented the early stages of her desperate attempts to make enough money from her writing to sustain herself and her many children. The story is traditional romantic eighteenth century fayre - Emmeline, the eponymous protagonist, is young and beautiful (and never sufficiently described, just to be sure that her readers can all romantically imagine themselves in her position!) and basically any man who comes across her, falls in love with her. Not only does she receive offers from the elderly steward of a castle, but also the volatile Lord Delamere (her cousin) who then proceeds to make a nuisance of himself through four volumes of Emmeline's struggles to survive whilst she is understood to be "the natural daughter" (i.e. illegitimate child) of a Lord, whose brother then carelessly provides for her (only his idea of providing for her is to give her money when he feels like it - which is not often). She also falls prey to a volatile Frenchman (who similarly falls in love with her and makes a nuisance of himself), an elderly financier called Rochely, and the honourable Godolphin, who represents the only rational male in the whole text. The character of Mrs Stafford is particularly interesting as she is based on the author herself. Similarly, the feckless Mr Stafford is based on her real-life husband, Benjamin Turner, (whose inventive use of wigs in order to enrich arable land really cheered me up). Both Mrs Stafford and the character of Adelina have been forced to marry early in the novel (as Smith herself was - marrying at just 15); and this book really is a diatribe against early marriage.

Volume IV is the weakest of the volumes - obviously written in a hurry as Mrs Smith probably needed the money. During this final volume, Emmeline actually opens the caskets left to her by her deceased parents (bearing in mind that she's had them in her possession for 17 years by this point) and reads the correspondence therein, and finds, lo and behold! that she is the legitimate daughter of the house of Mowbray and worth a lot of money. The last few pages then cover her recovery of her fortune, her assistance to Mrs Stafford, and marrying her lover, Godolphin. It's all's well that ends well, but one cannot help but think that if Emmeline had just opened the casket and read the letters when they were first given to her (or when she was first able to read) she'd have saved herself around four volumes of misery.

This is the stuff of romantic fiction; and yet, one cannot deny that in it Smith is making an important point. As Fletcher notes in her introduction to smith's Celestina "... her art is highly ambitious, analysing England’s economic and political ills in the sugar-coating of romantic fiction, and offering domestic, specifically female struggles as fit subjects for that elitist form, the sonnet." (p. 44) This novel astutely picks up on the fact that for eighteenth-century women, marriage really was a business transaction, and one in which they had very little say. For example, poor old Emmeline is forced to sign a contract that she will accept Delamere, but she really has no feelings for him at all beyond that of a sister. When she meets Godolphin and realises that she is in love with him, she is powerless to break that contract until Delamere ditches her first. Similarly, even when he does this she is too afraid of Delamere's volatile temper (he has quite a few tantrums in the novel when he doesn't get his own way) to break it to him that she has met someone else.

Part romantic novel, part social criticism, part conduct book for eighteenth-century women, and an important lesson in managing your temper and not over-indulging your children, this is a fabulous story. I can't recommend it enough.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so under-rated, it is almost criminal! Written in four volumes in the 1780s, this novel follows the story of Emmeline Mowbray, the eponymous 'Orphan of the Castle' as she negotiates life following the death of her maid/nurse (who had been her surrogate parent following the deaths of her parents). It is a blend of Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Ann Radcliffe - mixing together manners, man-trouble, a strong female lead character, and the Gothic in order to provide a commentary on 18th century marriage - I honestly don't know why this book is not in more general circulation. As publishers appear not to have produced a physical book which contains all four volumes in one text, I read this on my Fire. I really wish a physical copy existed though; this book is one of my favourites and deserves to be housed in one of my bookcases.

It's got everything a novel of this type should have: snobby, proud dynastic families, forbidding stately homes, men in desperate search for wives, duels, deaths ..... It is a drama in approx 500 pages which is very hard to put down. Emmeline the man-magnet, seems to attract every young man in the novel; some of these menfolk are right cads. There are instances of comedy too, and very obvious baddies. The action continues right up until the last page - just when you think you know how the novel will end, it spins off in another direction. One thing that did 'bug' me a bit was the coincidental appearance of characters, particularly in the section based in France, which detracted from the realism of the story a bit (to avoid spoilers, I won't refer to the characters I am meaning).

I'd recommend this to anyone who is an Austen/Brontes/Radcliffe/Thomas Hardy fan. It's a hidden treasure which deserves to be read more widely. And there is an equivalent of Mr Darcy...... need I say more?

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis:
Emmeline was written by Charlotte Turner Smith and published in 1788. It follows a girl named Emmeline who is an illegitimate orphan brought up at her father’s secluded castle in Wales. When her Uncle comes to visit with his son, Emmeline’s peaceful world is forever shaken. Her cousin Delamere develops an extreme passion for her that she doesn’t welcome and neither does his father who doesn’t want him to marry beneath his station in life. Emmeline constantly moves from place to place, usually to avoid Delamere’s advances. As time goes on she makes two female friends who were both married young and ended up in various troubles because of their situations. Emmeline has these examples to warn her what could happen if she yields to Delamere. She eventually falls in love with a man named Godolphin and gets some of her financial dependency issues solved. This is a courtship novel or a novel of sensibility that started to be very popular at the time. Yet, it goes a step further in that it satirizes society at the time, especially around the rights of women and the dangers of early and arranged marriages. It also in parts contains certain elements of the gothic, which was another popular genre at the time.

Storyline:
I was pleasantly surprised by Emmeline. It started out seeming like a gothic novel, but then it quickly turned more into a novel of sensibility. Those elements were fun and all and it can always be amusing to read these 18th century novels that can turn into such melodramatic soap operas. Yet, what made me really like this novel was that it criticized this society. It criticized the aristocracy who were entitled, spoiled, greedy and excessively focused on maintaining their reputation and status in society. In another vein what it really criticized was what this world was like for women. There was a lot of criticism of these upper class families who would marry off their daughters so young usually to men of their own choosing who made the most sense financially and socially. Emmeline’s friends Mrs. Stafford and Lady Adelina are examples of how that could go wrong. Both of them are married young to men who gamble/ spend all of their money and are unfaithful. Lady Adelina’s husband was a drunk. Mrs. Stafford’s husband ends up in debt and she constantly has to figure out how to save her family and provide for her children. Lady Adelina leaves her husband and has an affair with another man. Sadly Lady Adelina becomes pregnant out of wedlock. They show the unhappiness of this type of relationship and union and the two different outcomes that could come of it. Mrs. Stafford is more practical and tries to patch up her husband’s mistakes because what she truly loves are her children. Lady Adelina is much more of an emotional personality and is easily seduced by the man she really loves. Charlotte Turner Smith has a lot of compassion for these characters, who are kind of based on her own experiences with marriage. Mrs. Stafford in particular is modeled after her. There also was a lot more compassion for Lady Adelina’s situation as a ‘fallen’ woman than I would have expected in a novel from this time period. Fast forward to the 19th century and I don’t think there would have been much dwelling on a woman having a baby out of wedlock. Anyways, Emmeline gets to decide where her future is going because of these examples. She could end up in the same situation with Delamere, but she successfully avoids it and finds real love with a more grounded man who she could have a happier life with. Not only is marriage criticized, but also how financially dependent women were and how they were perceived as property. There was so little freedom in that world and their lives could be dictated by these harsh patriarchal figures. Sure, Emmeline ends in a bit of a too easily wrapped up fairytale ending, but it was a book that dealt with a lot of important issues for the time this was written in.

Setting:
There is a lot of traveling in Emmeline, so there were lots of scene changes. I loved the gothic setting of Mowbray Castle in Wales and wished more of the settings had been like that one. During those scenes, Charlotte Turner Smith showed how adept she was at creating fantastic nature descriptions. There are a few parts set in more natural secluded places, which are contrasted with parts set more in metropolitan areas in or around London. The metropolitan settings really show this constraining society where everyone has lost their natural feeling. Emmeline was brought up in a ‘wild’ landscape and therefore she seems to retain a natural humanity and better intellectual understanding than the frivolous or conniving people heavily involved in society.

Characters:
The characters were pretty interesting for a novel of this time period. Emmeline did have some of the traits typical in heroines of novels of those times. She was virtuous, kind and pretty. While she does have moments of delicacy, she does know her own mind and heart and stands up for herself at certain points. She does get in a bit of an internal tug of war of adhering to the rules of the world she lives in and following her own heart and mind. She’s the character that gets to see the various options as a woman and because of what she sees her friends go through she makes wiser choices. One can’t help but sympathize with the unhappy Mrs. Stafford and her admirable strength and practicality. Lady Adelina elicits a lot of sympathy as well. She brings the most of the melodrama however, that seems overdone in this day and age. She starts to suffer from physical and mental illness because of what she had gone through. It made sense because even though she has surprisingly supportive friends she risks losing her reputation, she carries a tremendous amount of guilt and shame and mostly she suffers because I believe she desired to be with the man she loved and probably felt guilty and confused about her own desires. Sometimes she seems ridiculous, but she probably was the strongest reminder of the double standards at the time and how difficult and confusing it could be to be a woman. She brings to light the lack of freedom of women and the repression of their sexuality. Not all the male characters were negative, but many of them were so repressive. Delamere reminded me of men in this day and age as well, who become too crazy obsessive, jealous and possessive. While this was a very different time period many of these issues are kind of still relevant in a way even though obviously we’ve progressed quite a bit. Goldolphin at least seemed like a relatively good example of masculinity at the time and same with his brother Lord Westhaven. They seem more grounded and use their masculine power to protect and help the women in their lives instead of controlling them or taking their power away.

Did I Like It?:
I did quite like this forgotten 18th century classic! It was rather enjoyable to read for a novel of it’s time and while there was some of the typical extreme melodrama and improbable circumstances for a novel of the time, there was lots of interesting criticism of this society, particularity how it pertained to women. I’m surprised this isn’t an 18th century classic that isn’t more widely known, since it was so progressive for it’s time. This is a very obscure classic, it had been on my to-read list for awhile and I have forgotten how I even came across it’s existence. I am very glad I decided to pick it up however.

Do I Recommend This?:
If you are interested in 18th century literature I do think this is a good one to check out. If you think the romantic novels of sensibility from that time are fun, but would like more social criticism as well this is a great choice.

[Ami 乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ (written by Jane Austen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was definitely a ride! I would say that I enjoyed it a lot in the beginning but as it went on and more and more drama was added, I began finding the novel a litle tedious. Still, despite that, it's a decently good read and I'd recommend to people who like Jane Austen's works!

[Lee Foust · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed a bit as I went into this thinking it was a Gothic romance, but it turned out to be a mere romance, or, really, something of a novel/romance hybrid. That is to say, it was a bit episodic in nature, but had none of the unrealistic elements, colorful historical setting, or flights of fancy usually associated with the form, especially as practiced in 18th century England.

Negatives first: It's the usual way too long for most modern readers (although they still eat up that Harry Potter crap), and taxed my patience for sure, especially since there were no Gothic tropes or even the usual pastoral scenery descriptions to liven up the endless machinations of two people trying to get married and the baddies who would prevent them. (One nice variation on a theme: the heroine is not at all sure of the hero, and the plot revolves around cautioning one from a hasty, early marriage, so that was kinda neat.) The prose is bland, but thankfully not stilted or awkward as are some writers of the era, so a modern reader who's used to the standard (and, to me, very boring) bestseller novelists of today won't be perturbed by any old-fashioned awkwardness or undue artistic pretensions in the prose. To me it was just bland.

On the upside Charlotte Turner Smith turns out to be an early English feminist writer so the tale is chock full of men behaving like the selfish, overprivileged and condescending morons we so often are while the female characters take the high roads of reason, rectitude, and fairness, and thus all the conflicts of the narrative work to expose the injustices of a social and legal system so skewed in its favoring men over women. I enjoyed the lesson. A+ for political correctness and for veering from the standard romance plot to say something new and (for its time) modern, but it was a long read filled with some repetitions of the same old conflicts and a distinct lack of the color one expects from a good classic romance, as opposed to the realistic novel form.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Austen tips a wink at Charlotte Smith's novels in Catharine; or The Bower, a bit of juvenalia. Was she impressed, or was she making fun of the then current craze for 18th century chick lit? I had to check it out. While not up to Austen's stature, Mrs. Smith turns out a twisty plot, several heroines fainting on sofas, some delightfully selfish women very much in the style of Mrs. Rushworth and a pair of dashing heroes who do not blush, even when going into transports over the palpitations of their true loves' angelic bosoms. Fair warning: this is not for the short attention-span set - it's four volumes long.

[John Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about Emmeline from a chapter on its author in Not Just Jane. The life of Charlotte Turner Smith, as described in that book, provides many parallels to the plot of Emmeline. Despite having read many Victorian marriage dramas, I was surprised by the men in this novel. They are obsessive, irresponsible, and entitled, with only a few exceptions. The author's life, as well as the experiences of her female characters, demonstrates how dangerous and uncertain the institution of marriage was for women in the nineteenth century. Historical context aside, a long novel like Emmeline succeeds to the degree that one sympathizes with the characters, even the antagonists. In this regard I was well pleased overall with the book. While I felt a little bogged down by it in the middle, I woke up the morning after I finished it feeling like I missed the whole infuriating cast of characters. That's a good thing!

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2019/10/13...

[Grace Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is Charlotte Smith’s first original novel and it shows all the promise of a woman with enormous literary talent. The story is as follows: Emmeline (the orphan of the castle), grows up as an orphan (unsurprisingly) in a practically ruined Welsh castle (nor there – the clue’s in the title, after all. Emmeline is the “natural daughter” i.e. illegitimate daughter of Lord Montreville’s now deceased brother. As such, she has no real claim to the family and has been left to rot in this setting along with an old housekeeper and steward. The setting is undeniably picturesque – although Smith was ahead of her time in writing of Wales as a Romantic setting. At around this time, it was fashionable for people of the “first society” to travel abroad on a Grand Tour. However, when the revolution occurred in France, and latterly the wars there, this became difficult and tourists instead turned to the sublime scenery of Wales and the lake district. However, at the time Smith was writing, the beauty of the Welsh scenery was probably not well known among illustrious travellers. Smith depicts the scene beautifully. She had (as Walter Scott termed it) the eye of a landscape painter; and her scene is depicted exactly in this manner. What the reader sees is a painting of a landscape, rather than an actual landscape.

Sorry – got a bit lost on description of landscape – back to the review. Emmeline is the eminently sensible heroine (not romantic at all, despite her name) who is singled out by the volatile and unstable Delamere (her spoiled cousin) who spends all of volume one accosting, pestering, emotionally blackmailing and chasing her from place to place in an attempt to get her to agree to a “Scottish expedition” with him (i.e. an elopement to Gretna). Emmeline, realising that any woman who marries a man who is quite frankly as bonkers as Delamere is, is going to spend her life being miserable, manages to resist his horrible importunities of her. At the end of volume one, after Delamere’s father has repeatedly told him to leave poor Emmeline alone and desist from his attentions to her, Delamere decides to disappear. Adopting the name of an Irish lord, he disappears into lodgings in London.

From there into volume two, where there’s pretty much more of the same for poor Emmeline. Delamere, refusing to take no for an answer, is driven to ever more excessive lengths to get his horrible mits on Emmeline and she is driven to ever more excessive lengths to avoid him. Eventually, she is forced to sign an agreement saying that she will marry him at the end of an expired period. Poor Emmeline really doesn’t want to do this but is forced into it by the fact that women have utterly no choice in refusing the men who force themselves upon them. Volumes three and four continue with Emmeline’s adventures, permitting her to meet the honourable Godolphin – a young handsome man with a fine house on the Isle of Wight, who poor Emmeline immediately falls for (who wouldn’t? Especially when you compare him with the utterly insane Delamere). There follows much to-ing and fro-ing with Emmeline feeling she can’t show her true feelings to Godolphin because of the wretched agreement she’s been forced to sign by Delamere. Smith skilfully guides the reader through all these obstacles to the (probably inevitable – although you couldn’t always rely on Smith for this) happy ending. At the end, Emmeline’s excuses for not admitting her love to Godolphin get a bit thin (referring to an Uncle who hasn’t bothered about her for three entire volumes smacked of an excuse to me) and one gets the feeling that Emmeline would probably have been happy not to have got married at all. (And there may be something in this – Smith’s marriage was notoriously unhappy).

There’s lots going on in this book from social commentary to a Smith biographical figure in Mrs Stafford and her ridiculous husband (using old wigs to manure a field, which according to an article entitled “The Old Manor House” in The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction” of 25th August 1827, was based on a real idea at the time) to the debased morals of the upper classes in comparison with Emmeline’s more natural education. A great book, and if you enjoy it, I would recommend Smith’s later novel Montalbert (1795, I think) which tells the same story from a different angle, i.e. what would happen if the heroine did marry that volatile and unstable hero.

I can't comment on this edition - I read it in an eighteenth-century online collection

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to read the Oxford edition with its many helpful, well-researched notes and references. A long book written something like 240 years ago but still speaks to the soul. I knew of the book years ago from mention by Jane Austen, but I never thought to look for it, nor did I think I would enjoy anything with "castle" in the title since I was not attracted to Gothic castle tales. I was wrong to categorize as I often am. The heroine is quite wonderful. It is a job to read the book as it clocks in at over 530 pages and I had to use reading glasses plus a magnifying glass, alas. I'm glad I did.

[Your Anxious Virgo | Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man. This needs to be adapted to a series or something.

[Arnstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young lady and her despotic suitor; a novel which showcases many of the difficulties that women encountered in its day and age.

That Turner's first novel became essentially a discourse on marriage is an indication of how much of her own life she put into it – some of it even borders on the autobiographical. Her own was a horror story where her father made her into ”a legal prostitute” (her own words in a letter to a Sarah Farr Rose from 1804) by marrying her off against her will to a violent gambler named Benjamin Smith. She was fifteen at the time, and at sixteen she gave birth to their first child, the first out of twelve. Smith ran into serious debts due to his gambling addiction, forcing him once to flee to France with his entire family, and another time to be incarcerated in debtor's prison, where again Turner had to follow him because their marriage bound her to his misdeeds. Finally he died, but some legal technicality prevented her father in law from supporting her and the children. After all that her husband had done to ruin her life she was still left penniless afterwards, and that was when she decided to write Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle. It was written primarily as a means to an income, but it also allowed her to express herself with regard to her own life experiences and her issues with society at that time.

(It is based on these very experiences and ideas that I choose to use Turner's maiden name rather than her married one. Considering her resentment also of her father I am not sure which one she would prefer, but at least it seems that her father treated her with kindness until the forced marriage. He even encouraged her writing of poetry at a time when so many would have denied her this because of her sex. In other words, when I call her Turner it is, admittedly, as a choice of the lesser evil, but at least it is a choice that does not acknowledge the marriage that ruined over twenty years of her life.)

Emmeline Mowbray never knew either of her parents but she was raised in her father's castle. It had been inherited by her uncle on the fathers side, Lord Montreville, and since he saw no immediate use of the place then neither did he see any reason to protest her residing there among the castle's few remaining caretakers. On a whim, Lord Montreville changes his opinion and wants to renovate the place and use it as a rural retreat. He arrives together with his son, Frederic Delamere, to give the necessary instructions to the builders, and that is when disaster strikes: Delamere lays eyes on Emmeline, his fifteen year old cousin, and is instantly smitten by her charms. He demands of his father, who is after all her guardian, that she be given to him as his wife. This is, of course, unthinkable both for Emmeline and Lord Montreville, but Delamere has been spoiled until he has become quite intemperate, and now reacts only with unrestrained tantrums when his father denies him this. The only solution that Lord Montreville could think of is to send Emmeline away into hiding, essentially banishing her from her home. But Delamere is not to be discouraged. He cannot and will not be denied his will, and assisted by the lecherous Colonel George Fitz-Edward he starts pursuing young Emmeline across England. During her journeys she is to meet others whose plights are similar to hers, and whose stories are also related to us readers; this plurality of similar fates serves to underscore that the issues which cause Emmeline so much misery is not an isolated one, rather they are issues linked to the workings of society.

According to the novel there are stark differences between genders as far as society is concerned, and Turner seems to make a point out of making these differences quite pronounced.

when she could for a moment give vent to her full heart in weeping over the little infant, whose birth, so similar to her own, seemed to render it to her a more interesting and affecting object. She lamented the evils to which it might be exposed; though of a sex which would prevent its encountering the same species of sorrow as that which had embittered her own life. (vol. 2, p. 129)

The women of the tale are never the full masters of their fates, though they may by their sense of morality and of correctness influence the paths of their lives. In particular the author advocates against rash and unwise decisions when choosing a husband, which would lead to a life of misery rather than one of happiness. Even letting yourself be courted by a man of poor sentiments can lead to great problems: Jealous men who had thought themselves a woman's lover quickly become violent when they discover that their amorous professions has a more fortunate competitor; those men who are careless and inconsiderate when courting will make no better husbands, often resulting in them considering their wives to be obstacles or possessions, goals that have been obtained; and men of a “French” mindset, who fancy themselves free to dally with whomever woman they so lay eyes on, some even to the magnitude where it becomes a sport and a matter of pride, are as fleeting in their affections as they seem to be. Yet, men are not always unilateral and cruel, they can even change their ways if their hearts so permit it; nor are women entirely incapable of souring their own futures, and can do so both by embracing libertine lifestyles or by treating their surroundings with malice. It would be unfair to label Emmeline as a tale filled with straw men representing foul gender identities. It does not vilify men, as it would be so easy for it to do, but does make it a point that some of them are indeed villains, and that knowing who are what might turn out to be of the greatest importance when one's happiness is considered.

Turner poured heavily from her life experience onto these pages. Through the lives of several of the female characters we are treated to her own story as previously related. No single character tells the whole story, but combined they tell all of it. The one told by the character Adeline Trelawny is particularly similar to Turner's and one might get the feeling that she had herself once wished for a similar rescue from her own life. Despite how personal, and perhaps sore, the novel is it also bears clear signs that it was written with some sense of hurry and that its length did matter greatly – at the time publishers often paid for the page count rather than the quality of the content. Scenes often drone on with people fainting, bursting into tears, repeating their fears, and prolongedly pondering their misery. This reviewer was left with the idea that there is enough story in Emmeline to, with elegance, fill up only two thirds of its actual length. There is, in other words, much of this tale that demands a bit of patience to get through. Also, new characters are presented at regular intervals so that they may inform us of their own tragedies – but at least, and contrary to many other writers who utilize this method of padding, after being introduced every one of these characters remain important throughout the remainder of the tale.

The version which this review is based on is severely flawed. It is the three-volume edition from 1799 published by Doherty and Simms, as reprinted from microfilm by Gale ECCO Print Editions. The text has far more illegible parts than any other photocopied book that I've come across: In addition to an abnormally high amount of poorly reproduced words and sentences there are parts missing from at least every fourth page. It is always the parts closest to the spine that is lost, which makes me suspect that the text in the original book sat too close to the spine, making it difficult to get proper images of those parts. It is perfectly impossible to read these copies without a sizeable amount of guesswork or without an electronic copy at hand for reference, and so this reviewer would not recommend buying it. The poor reproduction is poor enough that it doesn't even invoke this sense of history, this sense of beholding the book like it was in its own time, which it normally should have done. All other reproductions of Emmeline by Gale ECCO Print Editions are of four-volume printings, which would make them a more expensive purchase. This reviewer has not had the opportunity to peruse them, but if they have a better legibility then the extra cost is clearly worth it. There is also, apparently, a modern edition published by Broadview Press in 2003 that includes several articles on the subject of the author and the central theme, marriage in the 18th century, as well as selected pieces of the authors correspondence; it should therefore clearly be the edition of choice for anyone who seeks out this novel with an underlying wish to understand it fully.

It would seem that Turner succeeded both in presenting the problems which she aimed to and in feeding her children. For her, then, Emmeline was precisely this: a success. Had not her acute poverty forced her hand then this novel would likely have been quite different, if it had been at all. (Turner did not like to write novels, much preferring poetry instead.) With this pity in mind – and it is important to remember that all of the unfortunates in Emmeline state that they wish for this pity, this compassionate understanding – it is much easier to look past the novel's flaws, and attempt to enjoy it on the merits that it has. One of these merits is that it is one of the most persuasive amongst early feminist novels, and not just because of its well-made characters and their affecting stories, but because its social critique is so spot on and flawless. This merit alone is enough to elevate this tale to one of great historical importance.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Emmeline” is my first Charlotte Turner Smith that I read, I really enjoyed this romantically engaging novel, melodramatic at times, old fashioned ideas that are refreshing in this immoral way of the world. No touch of religious sentiment, which I actually really like, except the last sentence.

“she saw an infinite deal for which to be grateful, and failed not to offer her humble acknowledgment to that Providence, who, from dependance and indigence, had raised her to the highest affluence; given her, in the tenderest of husbands, the best, the most generous and amiable of men; and had bestowed on her the means snd inclination to deserve, by virtue and beneficence, that heaven, where only she can enjoy more perfect and lasting felicity.”

Before I started to read this story I wondered how it would differ from Richardson’s “Clarissa Harlowe”, I had read Clarissa years ago and remembered how I loved it. Both published around the same time, so I found it interesting, the subject matter similar, “the first step” yet “Emmeline” in general is positive yet with the rakes, not do rakish but focusing on greed and lack of parental restraints. Also Richardson had more a religious flavor though dealing with evil immorality and ridiculous saying, “an old rake makes the best husband”.


Story in short- Emmeline is a poor relation that must be careful not to sink the the mire of unfortunate circumstances.

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert

Emmeline is orphaned also since birth, thought to be illegitimate niece to an older dead brother, who has not the care in education or monetary excess, the limited in all concerning her but through morally good caretakers teaching the young girl and a good disposition, she is able to choose wisely and Provenance providing good friends, she is able to refuse steps which would have sullied her character. When her cousin comes with his father to stay at Mowbray Castle, the high spirited and unrestrained passions of Delamere make Emmeline especially careful to steer in the right path. Her uncle, especially her aunt refuses to let their only son marry someone so beneath their status. Emmeline is willing to wait for she inly has a sisterly love from her ardent lover. His passions consume him and the father, sorely wishes his son had married Emmeline who is superior to the elder haughty daughter, who ends up being sent to a convent, not being able to live the life of ruin, after her lover killled her brother. Though Delamere had high passions, he had a more honorable character who cared for his haughty mother where as this daughter did not care. The youngest daughter had the character of the likes of Emmeline but not without the advantages that the other cousin lacked. When Emmeline’s rights as the rightous owner of the family estate, Lord and Lady Montreville are besides themselves. The caveat of not marrying young and unwisely with several examples, makes this and enjoyable read. Lord Montreville cheating his niece with the help of the Croft family scoundrels.

[Patrizia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho portato a termine la lettura di questo estenuante romanzo ('estenuante' è proprio l'aggettivo che mi è venuto più e più volte alla mente negli oltre due mesi che l'ho avuto sottomano) solo per colpa di un'improvvida recensione (contenuta in 'Not Just Jane', di Shelley DeWees), che formulava un confronto tra la Turner Smith e la Austen, a tutto vantaggio della prima. Al contrario, leggerlo mi ha confermato nella convinzione che la ventata di novità introdotta dall'autrice di P&P nella letteratura inglese (non per nulla la povera aveva avuto qualche difficoltà a trovare editori per i suoi romanzi) è in genere ampiamente sottovalutata. Nonostante avesse avuto una vita più eccitante e spregiudicata della riservata figlia del pastore di Steventon, la Turner Smith si lascia andare a un plot decisamente convenzionale, ancora settecentesco, pieno di peripezie (passioni, rapimenti, intrighi, inganni), dalle quali la protagonista, fino alla fine, sembra via via travolta, incapace di prendere una qualunque decisione autonoma.
Mio Dio, anche la giovanissima e ingenua Katherine Morland avrebbe saputo fare di meglio.

[Elizabeth Ricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I did not finish the book. It was taking forever to make any progress.

There were three reasons that I wanted to read it. First, I have a granddaughter named Charlotte Smith. Second, it is the book that Martha Ballard is reading in The Frozen River, a book that I really liked. Last, it plays an important role in the development of literature--particularly the Gothic novel and Romanticism.

But since I didn't have that patience to go on and knowing that it had a happy ending, I read a summary of what happens. It made me KIND OF wish I had read it all the way through, but now that I know what is going to happen, I sure that I don't want to wade through fainting fits, descriptions, and duels. I also didn't want to read any more about a suitor that I couldn't stand.

Maybe in a few years I will return to it. Until then, I have a new name to add to my list of favorites--Emmeline.

[Leonardo Romano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escrita impecável e pára por aí. Queria ser mais positivo quanto a esse livro, já que a autora conseguiu de mim admiração pela forma como escreve. No entanto, uma história não pode ser perfeita só na sua exposição. É preciso que seus personagens nos imprimam algum interesse, conexão. E o que se pode dizer dessas tantas figuras que povoam o romance? Nenhum deles, absolutamente nenhum personagem é digno de ser lembrado. Nem mesmo a protagonista, infelizmente. Eu deveria ser menos rigoroso quanto a esse ponto, pois Emmeline representa uma dignidade ímpar, assim como um personagem que só vem aparecer na metade do livro. Mas, mesmo suas qualidades impossíveis são obliteradas pela quantidade infinita de desentendimentos e impressões errôneas que todos tem de todos durante essas 500 páginas de mal entendidos.

[N.A. A. Rondán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every page of it. In some ways it's a classic 18th century novel, but it will surprise you in many ways. The main female character is not your usual overly emotional and fragile trope (as was usual at the time), many social criticisms regarding women's rights (which I loved to see and truly bold of the author considering her time). I read it since it's considered important in the shaping of the gothic genre, and of which I'm an enthusiast. Regardless of what brings you to read this, it's worth every reading minute.

[Kit Kincade · Rating 3 out of 5]

It did make me wonder if somehow this book wasn't connected to Smith's thoughts of the Glorious Revolution. It didn't occur to me until I was pretty far into it that it had a character named James Crofts, like the Duke of Monmouth, and a major figure named Godolphin. This might need further investigation if it hasn't already been.

[Erin]

Referenced in The Frozen River as a book Martha reads.

[Quin Mewborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Criminally underrated. The moral of the story— don’t get married at 15– aged exceptionally.

[Jordan Lubben · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Jane Austen, you will love this book even more after discovering this book, published in 1788, was the inspiration for Austen’s novels. This story was so beautifully written and captivating, I could hardly put it down and finished the 730 page book in only 3 days. Charlotte did a wonderful job developing characters and relationships throughout the book, it was difficult not to be completely emotionally invested in their lives. I believe this is the best book I have ever read in my life!

[Alexis Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this very quickly for class, but it was so interesting! I loved the storyline, I loved discussing it in class, and would highly recommend it again to any who love Jane Austen! It has a great and engaging story that explains a lot of the 18th century novel!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, a terrific read - and offered a fascinating insight into women's lives and concerns at the end of the eighteenth century.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s good but it’s melodramatic. If this is your first time reading something like this you have to be patient with it and I enjoy reading things like Emmeline

[Sharon Healy-Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her sonnets are much better.

[Adam Shenouda · Rating 2 out of 5]

pretty stereotypical but it has some funny bits