Lost for Love

by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

EXCERPT:

In all things that he did, Flora's well-being was the doctor's paramount consideration. He brought pleasant people to his house; men of professional standing, and their wives. He sought to win friends for her, and the gentle charm of her manner endeared her to the people he brought about her, almost in spite of herself. To know her was to love her.

To Cuthbert Ollivant's small circle of intimates Flora was known only as his ward.

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1870

About the author

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She was an extremely prolific writer, producing some 75 novels with very inventive plots. The most famous one is her first novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition and fortune as well. The novel has been in print ever since, and has been dramatised and filmed several times.

Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.

She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

While often rather slow-moving, I still enjoyed this old-fashioned story. Daily life was portrayed in the homes of two very different “classes” of families. The complications of a love triangle, and the ramifications of lies and cover ups are far reaching. There was notable character development, and interesting tie-ins between the two families.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Elizabeth Braddon at her best gives us some very dramatic writing even when her characters are indifferently drawn and the plot meanders without going anywhere. Unfortunately, "Lost for Love" is not one of her best books: it is a sad let-down as far the plot is concerned, being a love quadrangle, but in some ways a little more that that - but how much more, exactly? Braddon's signature elements are all there – jealousy, murder, blackmail and betrayal. Or are they?

The book itself is a winner for the sheer suspense and fast paced writing, although the easy lines - almost the caricatures - of her dramatis personae, every one of them a stock character, fails to impress. While some of her other books feature quite likeable rascals, here there is only weakness of character, not actual villainy. Nor is there any dramatic conflict, merely a study of contrasts. I have given it three stars, because for all its faults, it makes for an enjoyable read.

This book is now out of print, but a downloadable copy is available on Internet Archive.

[Dystopian Mayhem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should be prepared for Braddon’s style by now, but the myriad of feelings that I experience with every book I read by her is unstoppable. This book started well, the characters and the plot were interesting, then halfway through I was tempted to stop reading the book, but I persevered and through it all I never let myself hope for the best for any of the characters. Even if the ending was pleasant enough, the means that led to it was agonizing and unjust.