Leonora

by Maria Edgeworth

Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) was an Anglo-Irish novelist. She was born at Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, the second child of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, a well-known author and inventor. On her father's second marriage in 1773, she went with him to Ireland, where she eventually was to settle on his estate, Edgeworthstown, in County Longford. She acted as manager of her father's estate, later drawing on this experience for her novels about the Irish. Maria's first published work was Letters for Literary Ladies in 1795, followed in 1796 by her first children's book, The Parent's Assistant; or, Stories for Children, and in 1800 by her first novel Castle Rackrent. Mr. Edgeworth encouraged his daughter's career, and has been criticized for his insistence on approving and editing her work. After her father's death in 1817 she edited his memoirs, and extended them with her biographical comments. She was an active writer to the last, and worked strenuously for the relief of the famine-stricken Irish peasants during the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849).

Genres: Classics, Romance, Fiction, Novels, British Literature, English Literature

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1806

About the author

Maria Edgeworth was an Anglo-Irish gentry-woman, born in Oxfordshire and later resettling in County Longford. She eventually took over the management of her father's estate in Ireland and dedicated herself to writing novels that encouraged the kind treatment of Irish tenants and the poor by their landlords.

Reviews

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating for the plot, not for the writing, as Edgeworth is usually pretty solid on that front. Heavily didactic, and basically boils down to "beware of French ladies and their loose morals." And I'm not quite sure it's a happy ending with what a jackhole Leonora's husband turned out to be.

[samarina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Como já diria o pensador contemporâneo Rennan da Penha:

"Então para de falar que ele é seu
Marido dos outros não é presente de Deus
Talarica
'Tava sentando no macho da tua amiga
E tu vai tomar um pau."

Obviamente bem escrito, mas além da narrativa espistolar(que eu particularmente não curto tanto), teve como enredo principal assuntos que me irritam muito: cornas mansas e homens adúlteros.

**disclaimer: sei como eram as coisas naquela época e que mulher não podia fazer muita coisa a não ser aceitar mas!!não sou obrigada a gostar, chega a ser patético o jeito que a Leonora se humilha pelo marido, que tem tanta culpa de traí-la quanto a "amiga" dela.

[Mary Fagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable critique of the cult of sensibility and the sentimental novel.