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The Doctor's Wife
When The Doctor's Wife was first published in 1864, Mary Elizabeth Braddon was well known for her scandalous bestseller, Lady Audley's Secret. Adultery, death, and the spectacle of female recrimination and suffering are the elements that combine to make The Doctor's Wife a classic women's 'sensation' novel. Yet it is also Braddon's most self-consciously literary work and her rewriting of Madame Bovary. Like Emma Bovary, Braddon's heroine, Isabel Gilbert, is trapped in a marriage to a man incapable of understanding her imaginative life. But Braddon's novel differs vastly from Flaubert's in the nature and consequences of Isabel's 'affair'.
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1864
101 people are currently reading
3744 people want to read
About the author
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
1,036 books381 followersMary 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
November 2, 2022
Victober (3)
[2.5] rounded up(?)
I remember my first time reading a novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, it was a short story called The Christmas Hirelings, a very sweet, uplifting, and wholesome story set on Christmas Day that was actually one of my best readings in December 2021. Also, the audiobook that you can find easily on Audible and is actually very well narrated by Richard Armitage was definitely the cherry on the cake. In short, I'd wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try, especially during this Christmas season that is just around the corner.
Unfortunately, The Doctor's Wife is a completely different scenario, perhaps not a terrible reading experience, but a novel that didn't live up to my expectations.
To begin with, according to its blurb, this novel is supposed to be a new version of Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert), where basically the 'essence' of that French classic should have been here, however, The Doctor's Wife has almost nothing to do with that Flaubert's novel and its storyline.
Perhaps only the fact that both Emma Bovary and Isabel Gilbert (the protagonist of this story) are very much into reading books and married to a rural doctor makes The Doctor's Wife be similar to Madame Bovary in terms of their protagonists, but this fact is by no means enough to say these two books have a similar plot.
Secondly, Braddon's story is plain and sometimes boring; the author is going on and on about the protagonist's thoughts, that are somewhat interesting but not enough to grab the reader's attention throughout the whole book. She—our protagonist—is literally daydreaming about her life, thinking of the possibility of living like her favorite characters in this or that novel, and even though I found some descriptions really compelling, most of them were repetitive and tedious, hence my disappointing experience.
Unlike Madame Bovary, The Doctor's Wife is not about adultery, but about falling in love with someone you can't be with. Basically the whole plot might be described as 'the story of two people who love each other but can't be together due to one of them is married to anyone else.' I must confess that I picked up this novel because I was expecting to find a love triangle, for instance, something in the style of Flaubert, Theodore Fontane (L' Adultera), or even Tolstoy (Anna Karenina), but unfortunately I just found a story where everything is happening in the characters' minds, so to speak. Besides, Braddon is digressing a lot form the main plot, for instance, she talks about the concept of a sensation novel, its characteristics, and even one minor character is a writer of sensation novels. In the beginning I was so confused about this character's explanations since the character was given some examples of how to write a good sensation novel, but alas!, it was not clearly understandable; then I wanted the author to stop rambling on this topic because at some point it was too much—that's why this book has about 450 pages, it's just too long for a simple story—however, I eventually loved the fact that Braddon is mentioning quite a few novels—from both the 18th century and the 19th century—as well as some authors, and also she is describing the typical 3-volume novels that many authors used to write during the Victorian era; this information is given to the reader through this character (the novelist) and our protagonist (don't forget she loves reading a lot). Ultimately, I ended up very much enjoying these digressions, perhaps even more than the main plot when this turned into repetitive descriptions.
It was funny that the author at the very beginning starts talking about the fact that the doctor, and future Isabel's husband, is usually skipping the first few chapters of the great novelist's fictions [Walter Scott] in order to get at once to the action of the story when that is what you, as a reader, really want to do while reading this novel. That being said, I can't deny that overall I did enjoy reading this story – since I find myself gravitating towards Victorian novels, I'll always be eager to read as many of them as I can, and therefore I'll end up enjoying their storyline, topics, characters, and whatnot. There will be exceptions though, but this is probably not one of them (or at least not one of the worst, as far as I can remember).
All in all, I would recommend this book if you love reading Victorian literature; otherwise, The Doctor's Wife won't be for you by any means. In the end I believe this reading is sort of skippable, but as I always say, it's up to you.
And now the senna and camomile were to flavour all her life. She was no longer to enjoy that mystical double existence, those delicious glimpses of dreamland, which made up for all the dulness of the common world that surrounded her.
[2.5] rounded up(?)
I remember my first time reading a novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, it was a short story called The Christmas Hirelings, a very sweet, uplifting, and wholesome story set on Christmas Day that was actually one of my best readings in December 2021. Also, the audiobook that you can find easily on Audible and is actually very well narrated by Richard Armitage was definitely the cherry on the cake. In short, I'd wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try, especially during this Christmas season that is just around the corner.
Unfortunately, The Doctor's Wife is a completely different scenario, perhaps not a terrible reading experience, but a novel that didn't live up to my expectations.
To begin with, according to its blurb, this novel is supposed to be a new version of Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert), where basically the 'essence' of that French classic should have been here, however, The Doctor's Wife has almost nothing to do with that Flaubert's novel and its storyline.
Perhaps only the fact that both Emma Bovary and Isabel Gilbert (the protagonist of this story) are very much into reading books and married to a rural doctor makes The Doctor's Wife be similar to Madame Bovary in terms of their protagonists, but this fact is by no means enough to say these two books have a similar plot.
Secondly, Braddon's story is plain and sometimes boring; the author is going on and on about the protagonist's thoughts, that are somewhat interesting but not enough to grab the reader's attention throughout the whole book. She—our protagonist—is literally daydreaming about her life, thinking of the possibility of living like her favorite characters in this or that novel, and even though I found some descriptions really compelling, most of them were repetitive and tedious, hence my disappointing experience.
Unlike Madame Bovary, The Doctor's Wife is not about adultery, but about falling in love with someone you can't be with. Basically the whole plot might be described as 'the story of two people who love each other but can't be together due to one of them is married to anyone else.' I must confess that I picked up this novel because I was expecting to find a love triangle, for instance, something in the style of Flaubert, Theodore Fontane (L' Adultera), or even Tolstoy (Anna Karenina), but unfortunately I just found a story where everything is happening in the characters' minds, so to speak. Besides, Braddon is digressing a lot form the main plot, for instance, she talks about the concept of a sensation novel, its characteristics, and even one minor character is a writer of sensation novels. In the beginning I was so confused about this character's explanations since the character was given some examples of how to write a good sensation novel, but alas!, it was not clearly understandable; then I wanted the author to stop rambling on this topic because at some point it was too much—that's why this book has about 450 pages, it's just too long for a simple story—however, I eventually loved the fact that Braddon is mentioning quite a few novels—from both the 18th century and the 19th century—as well as some authors, and also she is describing the typical 3-volume novels that many authors used to write during the Victorian era; this information is given to the reader through this character (the novelist) and our protagonist (don't forget she loves reading a lot). Ultimately, I ended up very much enjoying these digressions, perhaps even more than the main plot when this turned into repetitive descriptions.
It was funny that the author at the very beginning starts talking about the fact that the doctor, and future Isabel's husband, is usually skipping the first few chapters of the great novelist's fictions [Walter Scott] in order to get at once to the action of the story when that is what you, as a reader, really want to do while reading this novel. That being said, I can't deny that overall I did enjoy reading this story – since I find myself gravitating towards Victorian novels, I'll always be eager to read as many of them as I can, and therefore I'll end up enjoying their storyline, topics, characters, and whatnot. There will be exceptions though, but this is probably not one of them (or at least not one of the worst, as far as I can remember).
All in all, I would recommend this book if you love reading Victorian literature; otherwise, The Doctor's Wife won't be for you by any means. In the end I believe this reading is sort of skippable, but as I always say, it's up to you.
And now the senna and camomile were to flavour all her life. She was no longer to enjoy that mystical double existence, those delicious glimpses of dreamland, which made up for all the dulness of the common world that surrounded her.
October 16, 2024
A strong novel, overall - interesting character development, and I really enjoyed the writing.
January 11, 2021
The Doctor’s Wife (1864) was the hyper-prolific Mary Elizabeth Bradden’s eighth novel, written in the wake of her prototypical sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret (1861), which catapulted her to fame, or notoriety. Three years on, Braddon was tiring of critics “pelting” her with the word “sensational” (as she wrote in a letter to her literary mentor, Edward Bulwer-Lytton). The Doctor’s Wife was intended to redeem her by showcasing her skills as a serious novelist.
The plot of the novel is a curious moralizing revisitation of Madame Bovary (1857), if you can imagine such a thing. Its protagonist, Isabel Gilbert, is, like Mme B, the wife of a prosaic provincial doctor, going slowly out of her mind with boredom and lured by fantasies of a different life. Unlike Flaubert’s heroine, or anti-heroine, though, Isabel is childishly innocent; although she dreams of love, her notion of it is a bizarre mishmash of medieval amour courtois (she has a thing about Dante and Beatrice), with romantic poetry, especially Byron and Shelley, laced with an incongruous dash of Dickens’s Edith Dombey (of all people). It would all be completely absurd (I was reminded of Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote in terms of the utter disjunction between Isabel’s fantasies and reality), except that we see enough glimpses of Isabel’s dismal, precarious childhood to empathise with her flight into fiction.
Obviously, one quite significant difference between The Doctor’s Wife and its Flaubertian model is that it isn’t in the same league in literary terms. Braddon is rather a blunt instrument in stylistic terms, although she’s generally a pleasing, easy read. As a take on the theme of the bored and provincially adulterous provincial wife, I found her novel an interesting comparison with George Moore’s very different The Mummer’s Wife (1885), which I read recently. Moore is savage in his Zolaesque realism, and Braddon can feel quite vanilla by comparison, but I did find myself thinking about the element of near-sadistic misogynism often implicit in the theme of the “fallen woman,” and rather liking Braddon’s determination to make Isabel redeemable, despite her folly. I can see why feminist critics like her work.
The most enjoyable thing about this book for me, though, was its metaliterary dimension. Some of the obscure literary figures who haunt Isabel’s miscued romantic dreams were unfamiliar to me, and I had a lot of fun looking them up (I’d recommend the Oxford World’s Classics edition, which has good notes). I was especially taken with Eugene Aram, a real-life eighteenth-century philologist and murderer (d. 1759), and the subject of a long-forgotten novel by Bulwer-Lytton. He is definitely ripe for a biopic.
Best of all, though was the scene-stealing, bit-part character of the sensation novelist Sigismund Smith (né Sam Smith), a childhood friend of Isabel’s husband and “author of about half-a dozen highly-spiced fictions which enjoyed an immense popularity among the classes who liked their literature as they like their tobacco—very strong.” As an ironic self-portrait, it’s both witty and goodnatured, and I loved Smith’s rollicking accounts of his latest lurid plotlines. Here’s a sample to end with.
“There’s a suicide, then, in your story?” George said, with a look of awe.
“A suicide in 'The Smuggler's Bride'!” exclaimed Sigismund Smith; “Why, it teems with suicides. There's the Duke of Port St. Martin's, who walls himself up alive in his own cellar; and there's Leonie de Pasdebasque, the ballet-dancer, who throws herself out of Count Caesar Maraschetti's private balloon; and there's Lilia, the dumb girl,—the penny public likes dumb girls—who sets fire to herself to escape from the--in fact, there's lots of them.”
The plot of the novel is a curious moralizing revisitation of Madame Bovary (1857), if you can imagine such a thing. Its protagonist, Isabel Gilbert, is, like Mme B, the wife of a prosaic provincial doctor, going slowly out of her mind with boredom and lured by fantasies of a different life. Unlike Flaubert’s heroine, or anti-heroine, though, Isabel is childishly innocent; although she dreams of love, her notion of it is a bizarre mishmash of medieval amour courtois (she has a thing about Dante and Beatrice), with romantic poetry, especially Byron and Shelley, laced with an incongruous dash of Dickens’s Edith Dombey (of all people). It would all be completely absurd (I was reminded of Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote in terms of the utter disjunction between Isabel’s fantasies and reality), except that we see enough glimpses of Isabel’s dismal, precarious childhood to empathise with her flight into fiction.
Obviously, one quite significant difference between The Doctor’s Wife and its Flaubertian model is that it isn’t in the same league in literary terms. Braddon is rather a blunt instrument in stylistic terms, although she’s generally a pleasing, easy read. As a take on the theme of the bored and provincially adulterous provincial wife, I found her novel an interesting comparison with George Moore’s very different The Mummer’s Wife (1885), which I read recently. Moore is savage in his Zolaesque realism, and Braddon can feel quite vanilla by comparison, but I did find myself thinking about the element of near-sadistic misogynism often implicit in the theme of the “fallen woman,” and rather liking Braddon’s determination to make Isabel redeemable, despite her folly. I can see why feminist critics like her work.
The most enjoyable thing about this book for me, though, was its metaliterary dimension. Some of the obscure literary figures who haunt Isabel’s miscued romantic dreams were unfamiliar to me, and I had a lot of fun looking them up (I’d recommend the Oxford World’s Classics edition, which has good notes). I was especially taken with Eugene Aram, a real-life eighteenth-century philologist and murderer (d. 1759), and the subject of a long-forgotten novel by Bulwer-Lytton. He is definitely ripe for a biopic.
Best of all, though was the scene-stealing, bit-part character of the sensation novelist Sigismund Smith (né Sam Smith), a childhood friend of Isabel’s husband and “author of about half-a dozen highly-spiced fictions which enjoyed an immense popularity among the classes who liked their literature as they like their tobacco—very strong.” As an ironic self-portrait, it’s both witty and goodnatured, and I loved Smith’s rollicking accounts of his latest lurid plotlines. Here’s a sample to end with.
“There’s a suicide, then, in your story?” George said, with a look of awe.
“A suicide in 'The Smuggler's Bride'!” exclaimed Sigismund Smith; “Why, it teems with suicides. There's the Duke of Port St. Martin's, who walls himself up alive in his own cellar; and there's Leonie de Pasdebasque, the ballet-dancer, who throws herself out of Count Caesar Maraschetti's private balloon; and there's Lilia, the dumb girl,—the penny public likes dumb girls—who sets fire to herself to escape from the--in fact, there's lots of them.”
April 23, 2019
I enjoyed reading this book, but it was not a page turner or shocking in its content like Lady Audley`s Secret, which I rated 5 stars. An enjoyable story nontheless.
August 16, 2013
So many people complain that books from this era are long. I think books today are short and leave out the most interesting bits. Compared to this, Madame Bovary comes out as the equivalent of 'They married, and then they were run over by a truck. ' This is an imitation of that work, by someone who loves novels and had a different take on what an imaginative wife who loves novels would do when faced by a seducer.
October 30, 2023
Loved this! Nothing that I thought would happen happened and that kept me on the edge of my seat for the last 150 pages. This is a slower read perhaps than Lady Audley’s Secret. There is more philosophical meditation here but I loved that part of it. There are so many moral questions of duty, desire, and what it means to live a meaningful life. The characters are wonderfully complex and interesting, and Braddon takes us deep into their minds and hearts.
There is also a character who writes penny dreadfuls and is sooo funny! Anyone who gives himself the name Sigismund to sound more legit as a writer is bound to be interesting. 😂
There is also a character who writes penny dreadfuls and is sooo funny! Anyone who gives himself the name Sigismund to sound more legit as a writer is bound to be interesting. 😂
February 13, 2018
I'm not quite sure how to evaluate this novel because my thoughts on it are all over the place. When I started to read it, I really enjoyed Braddon's style of writing. However, it quickly become repetitive. I'm not only referring to the Victorian tropes that she uses, as well as the flat, uninteresting characters, but the writing itself. I soon felt like I was reading the same thing - Isabel's naive fancies and her romantic views of life and death - over and over and over again. Braddon likes to repeat the same ideas and the same sentences, which made for a tedious read. Although I did come to like and sympathize with Isabel for her sentimental fantasies and always having her head in a book, and although the ending was better than I expected, it was overall a disappointing read.
October 19, 2024
3.5 ⭐
Interesting! My first experience with a sensation novel from the Victorian era, although my understanding is that this may not be the best example of that genre. It felt to me like it was, in fact, spoofing on sensation novels while pretending to be a serious novel.
None of the three main characters in the triangle were particularly likable and all three were terribly flawed. In fact, their flaws seemed to be the whole story.
I particularly enjoyed the author's mocking tone. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy laughing at her character's ridiculousness as she told their story.
I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending, but if the author had ended it the way I wanted her to, it would have been a totally different sort of book from what it is. 🤷♀️
Oh, the best part about this book, and one that deserves a solid star all by itself for its contribution to the story: Mordred Priory! I want to live there, and it is now my new favorite literary residence. Move over, Pemberly!
Interesting! My first experience with a sensation novel from the Victorian era, although my understanding is that this may not be the best example of that genre. It felt to me like it was, in fact, spoofing on sensation novels while pretending to be a serious novel.
None of the three main characters in the triangle were particularly likable and all three were terribly flawed. In fact, their flaws seemed to be the whole story.
I particularly enjoyed the author's mocking tone. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy laughing at her character's ridiculousness as she told their story.
I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending, but if the author had ended it the way I wanted her to, it would have been a totally different sort of book from what it is. 🤷♀️
Oh, the best part about this book, and one that deserves a solid star all by itself for its contribution to the story: Mordred Priory! I want to live there, and it is now my new favorite literary residence. Move over, Pemberly!
June 21, 2012
This book was really uniquely done. The beginning was pretty slow as you meet different characters and the story is set up. It starts with a young doctor but after he is married the point of view is switched to his young beautiful and childlike wife whose obsession with literary figures keeps her in a fantasy world and causes pain and disappointment to others. Reading the book using the notes at the end is a must unless you know every Dickens and Thackery character and know English poetry by heart! This author is interesting.
April 8, 2010
Isabel Sleaford lives in a dream world filled with characters from novels by Dickens, Scott and Thackeray. She longs to break away from her boring existence as a children's governess and live the exciting life of one of the heroines in her favourite books. When parish doctor George Gilbert proposes to her, she accepts but quickly finds that her marriage isn't providing the drama and adventure she's been dreaming of. George is a good man, but he's practical, down to earth – and boring, at least in Isabel's opinion. After meeting Roland Lansdell, the squire of Mordred Priory, she becomes even more discontented. Roland is romantic, poetic and imaginative – in other words, he's everything that George isn't...
This is the second Mary Elizabeth Braddon book I've read – the first was the book that she's best known for today, the sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret. Apparently The Doctor's Wife was Braddon's attempt at writing a more serious, literary novel, with a plot inspired by Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. The Doctor's Wife is not very 'sensational' – apart from maybe the final few chapters – and although it's interesting and compelling in a different way, if you're expecting something similar to Lady Audley you might be slightly disappointed. At one point in the book, Braddon even tells us "this is not a sensation novel!"
The focus of The Doctor's Wife is the development of Isabel Gilbert from a sentimental girl with her head permanently in the clouds into a sensible and mature woman. I didn't like Isabel much at all, though I'm not really sure if I was supposed to. Throughout most of the book she was just so silly and immature – wishing that she would catch a terrible illness or some other tragedy would befall her, just so she could have some excitement in her life – although as several of the other characters pointed out, she wasn't a bad person, just childish and foolish. It was sad that her own romantic notions and ideals were preventing her from having any chance of happiness.
I thought some of the minor characters were much more interesting and I would have liked them to have played a bigger part in the story. I particularly loved Sigismund Smith, who was a friend of both George and Isabel, and a 'sensation author' – probably a parody of Mary Elizabeth Braddon herself. Sigismund (whose real name is Sam) is a writer of 'penny numbers' – cheap, serialised adventure stories. His enthusiasm for his work and his unusual methods of researching his novels provide most of the humour in the book.
Due to Isabel's reading, almost every page contains allusions to characters and events from various novels, plays and poems – most of which I haven't read - so I found myself constantly having to turn to the notes at the back of the book (until I decided I could follow the story well enough without understanding all the references to Edith Dombey and Ernest Maltravers).
Overall, this was another great book from Mary Elizabeth Braddon, although not quite what I was expecting.
This is the second Mary Elizabeth Braddon book I've read – the first was the book that she's best known for today, the sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret. Apparently The Doctor's Wife was Braddon's attempt at writing a more serious, literary novel, with a plot inspired by Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. The Doctor's Wife is not very 'sensational' – apart from maybe the final few chapters – and although it's interesting and compelling in a different way, if you're expecting something similar to Lady Audley you might be slightly disappointed. At one point in the book, Braddon even tells us "this is not a sensation novel!"
The focus of The Doctor's Wife is the development of Isabel Gilbert from a sentimental girl with her head permanently in the clouds into a sensible and mature woman. I didn't like Isabel much at all, though I'm not really sure if I was supposed to. Throughout most of the book she was just so silly and immature – wishing that she would catch a terrible illness or some other tragedy would befall her, just so she could have some excitement in her life – although as several of the other characters pointed out, she wasn't a bad person, just childish and foolish. It was sad that her own romantic notions and ideals were preventing her from having any chance of happiness.
I thought some of the minor characters were much more interesting and I would have liked them to have played a bigger part in the story. I particularly loved Sigismund Smith, who was a friend of both George and Isabel, and a 'sensation author' – probably a parody of Mary Elizabeth Braddon herself. Sigismund (whose real name is Sam) is a writer of 'penny numbers' – cheap, serialised adventure stories. His enthusiasm for his work and his unusual methods of researching his novels provide most of the humour in the book.
Due to Isabel's reading, almost every page contains allusions to characters and events from various novels, plays and poems – most of which I haven't read - so I found myself constantly having to turn to the notes at the back of the book (until I decided I could follow the story well enough without understanding all the references to Edith Dombey and Ernest Maltravers).
Overall, this was another great book from Mary Elizabeth Braddon, although not quite what I was expecting.
October 14, 2024
I’m struggling with how I feel about this book. I have so many mixed feelings and hoped after reading the introduction in my edition it would help spark a new appreciation for the book. But alas, I’m still a little disappointed.
There are SPOILERS below:
Things it had going for it:
- interesting and nuanced discussions on sin/morality
- the fact that the book doesn’t take itself seriously, it makes fun of sensation novels and there’s a light-heartedness to the story despite the serious topics
- balanced and accessible writing
- the hilarious Sigismund Smith! Loved him! What a fun character that I wish we got more of!
- looots and lots of references to great literature! Lots of references to my current favourite Dickens (Dombey and Son)
- Isabel. Oh how I disliked her… but oh how complex she is! Her home life definitely contributed to her immaturity and lack of an understanding of the real world… what great “parents” she had 🙄
What didn’t work for me:
- the countless times we’re told rather than shown
- “Isabel wanted to be good” …. “She tried to be good” …. Okkkk I get it! Idk how many times we have to be hit over the head with “she wanted to be good”
- speaking of Isabel… golly. I LIKE unlikeable characters! I like seeing how they go through their own journey and learn and grow into better people… I just wasn’t convinced Isabel truly matured in a way that matters… even though I do think she was a well drawn out character… hmmm I’m still not sure how I truly feel about her… I’m not sure she would have really snapped out of her frivolity and love of self had not both George and Roland died. Ugh she really got on my nerves. But she was also a great character… 🤷🏻♀️
- Gilbert… he was as flat a character as the Saskatchewan prairies (in my opinion) … no hate to my Canadian neighbours! 😅
My mind is in a muddle about this book!! I was expecting more of a page-turner which it wasn’t. It’s definitely a “stop and think your way through it” type of story which is fine, but was unexpected. I liked it… but I was annoyed a lot of the time.
I highly recommend the Oxford World Classics edition as the endnotes were super helpful!
There are SPOILERS below:
Things it had going for it:
- interesting and nuanced discussions on sin/morality
- the fact that the book doesn’t take itself seriously, it makes fun of sensation novels and there’s a light-heartedness to the story despite the serious topics
- balanced and accessible writing
- the hilarious Sigismund Smith! Loved him! What a fun character that I wish we got more of!
- looots and lots of references to great literature! Lots of references to my current favourite Dickens (Dombey and Son)
- Isabel. Oh how I disliked her… but oh how complex she is! Her home life definitely contributed to her immaturity and lack of an understanding of the real world… what great “parents” she had 🙄
What didn’t work for me:
- the countless times we’re told rather than shown
- “Isabel wanted to be good” …. “She tried to be good” …. Okkkk I get it! Idk how many times we have to be hit over the head with “she wanted to be good”
- speaking of Isabel… golly. I LIKE unlikeable characters! I like seeing how they go through their own journey and learn and grow into better people… I just wasn’t convinced Isabel truly matured in a way that matters… even though I do think she was a well drawn out character… hmmm I’m still not sure how I truly feel about her… I’m not sure she would have really snapped out of her frivolity and love of self had not both George and Roland died. Ugh she really got on my nerves. But she was also a great character… 🤷🏻♀️
- Gilbert… he was as flat a character as the Saskatchewan prairies (in my opinion) … no hate to my Canadian neighbours! 😅
My mind is in a muddle about this book!! I was expecting more of a page-turner which it wasn’t. It’s definitely a “stop and think your way through it” type of story which is fine, but was unexpected. I liked it… but I was annoyed a lot of the time.
I highly recommend the Oxford World Classics edition as the endnotes were super helpful!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2019
An absolutely fascinating read, unlike the sensational Lady Audley’s Secret, this novel focused on the emotional education of a young woman. Isabel has dreamily shut herself away in the Romantic novels and fantasies for most of her young life, awaiting her chance to be a tragic heroine in her own story. Accepting the love and marriage of a honest country doctor, she believes that it may finally herald her heroine status. Yet she is introduced to the young squire, Roland, and his beauty and sad poetry fit her every requirement of a true Romantic hero.
Mimicking the idea of Madame Bovary, but ending in a very different manner - and ending that enthralled me to no end.
Mimicking the idea of Madame Bovary, but ending in a very different manner - and ending that enthralled me to no end.
April 16, 2021
I hesitated between giving this novel 2 or 3 stars, but I finally decided upon 3 because it was a group read, which has its disadvantages when you're reading a book you're not particularly fond of. What I mean is I was supposed to read it in a month and a half, a few chapters a week. When I was finally getting into the novel, I had to put it down to wait for other readers and I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in one go. Considering I hardly participated in sharing my feelings in this group, because I was just not feeling great at the moment, I should have read the book at my own pace.
This is a Victorian retelling of Flaubert's Madame Bovary - that I DNFed recently. It was written by the prolific Mary Elizabeth Braddon, who has gained fame as a sensational novelist, and who, this time, tried for something different. There was sensation inside, but mostly in the shape of Sigismund Smith, a sort of parody of herself, I presume. I actually enjoyed his character very much !
"I think there ought to be a literary temperance pledge by which the votaries of the ghastly and melodramatic school might bind themselves to the renunciation of the bowl and dagger, the midnight rendez-vous, the secret grave dug by lantern-light under a black grove of cypress, the white-robed figure gliding in the grey gloaming athwart a lonely churchyard, and all the alcoholic elements of fiction."
" (...) he ventured to remark that the spot was so peaceful it reminded him of slow poisoning, and demanded whether there would be any objection to his making the quiet grange the scene of his next fiction,—the cordial cheery host cried out, in a big voice that resounded high up among the trees where the rooks were cawing, "People it with fiends, my dear boy ! You're welcome to people the place with fiends"
The book includes a lot of repetitions (for example, "she was trying to be good" !!) and it sometimes felt like the author was trying to hammer thoughts into my head, something I didn't need. The "heroin" was not bad (hey, she was trying to be good !), just not educated, reading only silly novels and, finding life too dreary, practised literary escapism at any opportunity. She was simply not good... with reality ^^ Isabel mentioned a lot of novels and characters, most I never read or heard about, but it doesn't prevent the reader from understanding the geist of things. The "hero" wasn't dashing - he was mostly a bored young man who didn't even try to find purpose in life. The doctor wasn't a bad man either, he was just devoid of imagination and trying to fit his life into the mold left by his father :
"He had married this girl because she was unlike other women ; and now that she was his own property, he set himself conscientiously to work to smooth her into the most ordinary semblance of every-day womanhood, by means of that moral flat-iron called common sense."
But of course, everything didn't happen as he wished it :
"if a man chooses to marry a girl because her eyes are black and large and beautiful, he must be contented with the supreme advantage he derives from the special attribute for which he has chosen her : and so long as she does not become a victim to cataract, or aggravated inflammation of the eyelids, or chronic ophthalmia, he has no right to complain of his bargain." I really appreciated the author's sense of humour !
Isabel was not very knowledgeable or particularly intelligent, but her education and her life didn't give her the opportunity to be different. The pressure of being a wife in a small country village, leading a boring and repetitive life didn't help. When she tried to change small bits of her life, she didn't have the necessary freedom to do so. Her husband, her husband's servants, the village gossips, nobody took her seriously but nobody did anything to help her change - she was still very young. Yet, when she was given an opportunity, she learned (the Mordred library).
How can I talk about the ending without spoiling ?... First, let's mention that this novel didn't end the way Madame Bovary did, and I liked the way it ended. I can see why some feminists like it too. It was implied that if someone like Isabel could manage to change her life and improve her character, anybody could - and by that, I mean every woman. The intentions of this book were good, I just wish the author hadn't expanded them in too many pages, this novel would have been much better if it was shorter. And I wish we had more Sigismund Smith ! The author had fun with him and so did I.
This is a Victorian retelling of Flaubert's Madame Bovary - that I DNFed recently. It was written by the prolific Mary Elizabeth Braddon, who has gained fame as a sensational novelist, and who, this time, tried for something different. There was sensation inside, but mostly in the shape of Sigismund Smith, a sort of parody of herself, I presume. I actually enjoyed his character very much !
"I think there ought to be a literary temperance pledge by which the votaries of the ghastly and melodramatic school might bind themselves to the renunciation of the bowl and dagger, the midnight rendez-vous, the secret grave dug by lantern-light under a black grove of cypress, the white-robed figure gliding in the grey gloaming athwart a lonely churchyard, and all the alcoholic elements of fiction."
" (...) he ventured to remark that the spot was so peaceful it reminded him of slow poisoning, and demanded whether there would be any objection to his making the quiet grange the scene of his next fiction,—the cordial cheery host cried out, in a big voice that resounded high up among the trees where the rooks were cawing, "People it with fiends, my dear boy ! You're welcome to people the place with fiends"
The book includes a lot of repetitions (for example, "she was trying to be good" !!) and it sometimes felt like the author was trying to hammer thoughts into my head, something I didn't need. The "heroin" was not bad (hey, she was trying to be good !), just not educated, reading only silly novels and, finding life too dreary, practised literary escapism at any opportunity. She was simply not good... with reality ^^ Isabel mentioned a lot of novels and characters, most I never read or heard about, but it doesn't prevent the reader from understanding the geist of things. The "hero" wasn't dashing - he was mostly a bored young man who didn't even try to find purpose in life. The doctor wasn't a bad man either, he was just devoid of imagination and trying to fit his life into the mold left by his father :
"He had married this girl because she was unlike other women ; and now that she was his own property, he set himself conscientiously to work to smooth her into the most ordinary semblance of every-day womanhood, by means of that moral flat-iron called common sense."
But of course, everything didn't happen as he wished it :
"if a man chooses to marry a girl because her eyes are black and large and beautiful, he must be contented with the supreme advantage he derives from the special attribute for which he has chosen her : and so long as she does not become a victim to cataract, or aggravated inflammation of the eyelids, or chronic ophthalmia, he has no right to complain of his bargain." I really appreciated the author's sense of humour !
Isabel was not very knowledgeable or particularly intelligent, but her education and her life didn't give her the opportunity to be different. The pressure of being a wife in a small country village, leading a boring and repetitive life didn't help. When she tried to change small bits of her life, she didn't have the necessary freedom to do so. Her husband, her husband's servants, the village gossips, nobody took her seriously but nobody did anything to help her change - she was still very young. Yet, when she was given an opportunity, she learned (the Mordred library).
How can I talk about the ending without spoiling ?... First, let's mention that this novel didn't end the way Madame Bovary did, and I liked the way it ended. I can see why some feminists like it too. It was implied that if someone like Isabel could manage to change her life and improve her character, anybody could - and by that, I mean every woman. The intentions of this book were good, I just wish the author hadn't expanded them in too many pages, this novel would have been much better if it was shorter. And I wish we had more Sigismund Smith ! The author had fun with him and so did I.
July 7, 2021
"Together day by day, they live as much apart as if an ocean rolled between them; united by a hundred bonds, they want the subtle link that would have made them one; and, at the best, are only two separate creatures chained together. Year after year they drag the chain, and are good to each other, and esteem each other, and are patient, and wonder why they are not happy."
Mary Elizabeth Braddon is one of my favorite authors. I've loved everything that I've read by her, which has admittedly all been Victorian Sensational novels (Lady Audley's Secret, Aurora Floyd, Henry Dunbar, and a collection of short stories). In 1864, after she had become successful as a sensation author, Braddon wanted to branch out and prove that she could write more literary fiction. The Doctor's Wife is her first published novel in this genre. She was inspired by Flaubert's Madame Bovary. (Unfortunately, I haven't read it yet to see how heavy the inspiration was, but it's up next and I may come back to edit this review.) Anyway, Braddon and her early novels were often maligned by reviewers and even by some other authors in England at the time, because her novels bridged the gap between classes and were beloved by the poor as well as the rich. You know class separation was still a big thing in Victorian England and how dare a writer appeal to both the rich and the poor.
With the publication of The Doctor's Wife, we see Braddon spreading her authorial wings. She had already proved herself a master of Sensation novels and now, she proves that she is a master of literary fiction, as well. Readers can't help but love our misguided young heroine, Isabel Sleaford. She consumes novels and poetry like most of us drink water. She spends her life with her head in the clouds, dreaming of her dashing knight in shining armor. However, life isn't like a novel and Isabel's life doesn't follow the course she's always dreamed of. Her dashing knight doesn't show up until after she's already married to the well meaning, but rather dull country doctor.
One of my favorite characters was Sigismund Smith, the rather tongue-in-cheek sensational writer, who seems to be Braddon's alter-ego. He's a relatively ordinary young man, who is constantly creating fantastic stories to thrill the masses. I loved the description of how his ideas came to him, how he spent his days on thrilling adventures one after another without leaving the dingy little room where he wrote, and how he plotted out the stories he was weaving. I wondered how much of it was drawn from Braddon's own experiences and inspiration. I think I'm going to have to research this more.
"Every thing that was beautiful gave her a thrill of happiness; every thing that was ugly gave her a shudder of pain; and she had not yet learned that life was never meant to be all happiness, and that the soul must struggle towards the upper light out of a region of pain and darkness and confusion, as the blossoming plant pushes its way to the sunshine from amongst the dull clods of earth."
The Doctor's Wife was a different direction for Braddon's writing, but, let me tell you, I'm here for the ride. Her writing was at times beautiful, humorous, and insightful. Like all of the books I've read by her, I highly recommend this one. It's one of my favorite books that I've read this year. I do think reading an edition with notes is helpful with this one just because of the sheer amount of literary references contained within the pages. While I love reading classics, there are many I haven't gotten to yet and the the notes in the back kept me from feeling like I was missing out on some of the references.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon is one of my favorite authors. I've loved everything that I've read by her, which has admittedly all been Victorian Sensational novels (Lady Audley's Secret, Aurora Floyd, Henry Dunbar, and a collection of short stories). In 1864, after she had become successful as a sensation author, Braddon wanted to branch out and prove that she could write more literary fiction. The Doctor's Wife is her first published novel in this genre. She was inspired by Flaubert's Madame Bovary. (Unfortunately, I haven't read it yet to see how heavy the inspiration was, but it's up next and I may come back to edit this review.) Anyway, Braddon and her early novels were often maligned by reviewers and even by some other authors in England at the time, because her novels bridged the gap between classes and were beloved by the poor as well as the rich. You know class separation was still a big thing in Victorian England and how dare a writer appeal to both the rich and the poor.
With the publication of The Doctor's Wife, we see Braddon spreading her authorial wings. She had already proved herself a master of Sensation novels and now, she proves that she is a master of literary fiction, as well. Readers can't help but love our misguided young heroine, Isabel Sleaford. She consumes novels and poetry like most of us drink water. She spends her life with her head in the clouds, dreaming of her dashing knight in shining armor. However, life isn't like a novel and Isabel's life doesn't follow the course she's always dreamed of. Her dashing knight doesn't show up until after she's already married to the well meaning, but rather dull country doctor.
One of my favorite characters was Sigismund Smith, the rather tongue-in-cheek sensational writer, who seems to be Braddon's alter-ego. He's a relatively ordinary young man, who is constantly creating fantastic stories to thrill the masses. I loved the description of how his ideas came to him, how he spent his days on thrilling adventures one after another without leaving the dingy little room where he wrote, and how he plotted out the stories he was weaving. I wondered how much of it was drawn from Braddon's own experiences and inspiration. I think I'm going to have to research this more.
"Every thing that was beautiful gave her a thrill of happiness; every thing that was ugly gave her a shudder of pain; and she had not yet learned that life was never meant to be all happiness, and that the soul must struggle towards the upper light out of a region of pain and darkness and confusion, as the blossoming plant pushes its way to the sunshine from amongst the dull clods of earth."
The Doctor's Wife was a different direction for Braddon's writing, but, let me tell you, I'm here for the ride. Her writing was at times beautiful, humorous, and insightful. Like all of the books I've read by her, I highly recommend this one. It's one of my favorite books that I've read this year. I do think reading an edition with notes is helpful with this one just because of the sheer amount of literary references contained within the pages. While I love reading classics, there are many I haven't gotten to yet and the the notes in the back kept me from feeling like I was missing out on some of the references.
April 22, 2018
The Doctor's Wife was written in 1864 by MEB, 8 years after Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. The storyline have many similar themes but The Doctor's Wife is a great read in its own right. There are many differences between the two women in these different stories that shows it is not just a copy of the storyline.Isabel Sleaford is a young girl that fantasies about the books she reads & lives to read them. She sees life as through the eyes of Bryon, Shelley, Shakespeare & Dickens. George Gilbert, the young handsome doctor, sees her & her being so different from the girls he knows falls in love with her. He is pragmatical & she is a dreamer of all things beautiful which causes chasms between them. The parish doctor's life is so different than Isabel's stories but nonetheless a union is formed. Suspicion & gossip from the town people with regards to her friendship of the neighboring young squire. This is a romance deals with virtue, fate & duty verses self interest & desire. There are many twists & the reader is not quite sure how it all will end up but this bittersweet story. What choices we make direct us in the direction not always to our liking but how we deal with this is a matter of our belief in what is right & wrong and what path leads us forward.
November 16, 2021
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
The version of this book needs another smooth reading in order to fix some typos.
The version of this book needs another smooth reading in order to fix some typos.
March 27, 2021
Mary Braddon wrote The Doctor's Wife in 1864. It is said to be a retelling of Flaubert's Madame Bovary. Isabel Sleaford is 17 when we meet her, a commoner who dreams away her days with her head stuck in novels and poetry, imagining a dashing hero, and perhaps an early and dramatic death for her, the heroine. Instead, she marries physician George Gilbert. He is the antithesis of her heroes. While he is devoted to his patients, he hardly inspires hero worship or undying love from Isabel. Sadly, she doesn't even love him. He loves her, but after an impassioned declaration of his feelings for her, he doesn't have the disposition to inspire love.
As the days, weeks and months roll by, Isabel continues her daydreaming, and one day meets the man of her dreams, the wealthy, dashing poet Roland. He is literally a man of the world, but after a time, he falls hard for the simple but beautiful Isabel. Unfortunately for the reader, these few events are about all that happens in the first three quarters of The Doctor's Wife. While Braddon creates naive characters in both Isabel and her husband George, I'm afraid the level of George's blindness to things that occur and Isabel's surprise at the potential outcomes of her behavior defy belief.
However, Braddon is otherwise an accomplished writer. Here, she describes Isabel's feelings when her husband George is very ill:
"The thought that she might step across the darksome chasm of his grave into those fair regions inhabited by Roland Lansdell, could not hold a place in her heart. Death, the terrible and the unfamiliar, stood a black and gaunt figure between her and all beyond the sick-room."
We are told more about Isabel's unlimited romanticism and sentimentality that exist alongside her strangely undeveloped practical imagination:
"She only wanted the vague poetry of life, the mystic beauty of romance infused somehow into her existence; and she was as yet too young to understand that latent element of poetry which underlies the commonest life."
As the days, weeks and months roll by, Isabel continues her daydreaming, and one day meets the man of her dreams, the wealthy, dashing poet Roland. He is literally a man of the world, but after a time, he falls hard for the simple but beautiful Isabel. Unfortunately for the reader, these few events are about all that happens in the first three quarters of The Doctor's Wife. While Braddon creates naive characters in both Isabel and her husband George, I'm afraid the level of George's blindness to things that occur and Isabel's surprise at the potential outcomes of her behavior defy belief.
However, Braddon is otherwise an accomplished writer. Here, she describes Isabel's feelings when her husband George is very ill:
"The thought that she might step across the darksome chasm of his grave into those fair regions inhabited by Roland Lansdell, could not hold a place in her heart. Death, the terrible and the unfamiliar, stood a black and gaunt figure between her and all beyond the sick-room."
We are told more about Isabel's unlimited romanticism and sentimentality that exist alongside her strangely undeveloped practical imagination:
"She only wanted the vague poetry of life, the mystic beauty of romance infused somehow into her existence; and she was as yet too young to understand that latent element of poetry which underlies the commonest life."
October 18, 2024
I greatly enjoy Braddon's language and turns of phrase; however, the plot is too thin and often drags.
April 29, 2016
This novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, written in 1864, is an interesting novel, or actually an interesting group of novels. One of its foundations and sources is Madame Bovary, and yet the depth of passion in The Doctor's Wife is not as interesting or intense. Another foundation is Sensation literature, but again, this novel does not nearly match the level and interest of Lady Audley's Secret. In other ways the novel has more than a winking relationship with Braddon's own life as a writer of Sensation novels and those more lurid penny numbers that she wrote throughout her life. I couldn't help but think that the writer Sigismund Smith in The Doctor's Wife was, in part, clipped from her own life as a writer on the cusp of, but never quite the summit of prolonged respect in the Victorian Era.
Our heroine Isabel Sleaford, marries a kind, gentle and somewhat obtuse doctor named George Gilbert. While he works away in a provincial backwater, his wife, an avid reader and hopeless romantic, creates an imaginary world in the form of the three-volume romance novel with added dashes of Romantic poetry and Shakespearian tragedies. If for no other reason than the thrill of the hunt, the reader of The Doctor's Wife can have a field day finding and enjoying the constant references to literature, writers, artists and social conventions of the time. Lovers of Dickens will especially enjoy the constant barrage of references to Dombey and Son.
Isobel meets a dashing, rich and available writer and poet by the name of Roland Lawsdell, and this event launches the novel into an improbable but rather amusing and enjoyable series of meetings, fantasies and shared platonic encounters. It is only when Lawsdell proposes they run away together that Isobel snaps back into the role of semi-dutiful wife. Alas, she has only been searching for a romantic love not a sexual encounter. The novel then spins its way through Isobel and Roland helplessly attempting to sort out their lives as the good husband-doctor remains completely oblivious to circumstances.
Why ruin the ending?
The novel gives us a good look at the Victorian social world and its morals and expectations. No doubt Braddon's personal life gave her much fodder to draw from and no doubt the reading public lapped up the novel.
The Doctor's Wife is a good read if approached in the right frame of mind. Expect flabby writing in need of a good edit, and expect a novel that is neither sensational or sensual. Don't expect a book as good as Lady Audley's Secret. By all means, however, be prepared for an entire novel full of literary and artistic references. If nothing else, your read will be much like an episode of literary Jeopardy!
Our heroine Isabel Sleaford, marries a kind, gentle and somewhat obtuse doctor named George Gilbert. While he works away in a provincial backwater, his wife, an avid reader and hopeless romantic, creates an imaginary world in the form of the three-volume romance novel with added dashes of Romantic poetry and Shakespearian tragedies. If for no other reason than the thrill of the hunt, the reader of The Doctor's Wife can have a field day finding and enjoying the constant references to literature, writers, artists and social conventions of the time. Lovers of Dickens will especially enjoy the constant barrage of references to Dombey and Son.
Isobel meets a dashing, rich and available writer and poet by the name of Roland Lawsdell, and this event launches the novel into an improbable but rather amusing and enjoyable series of meetings, fantasies and shared platonic encounters. It is only when Lawsdell proposes they run away together that Isobel snaps back into the role of semi-dutiful wife. Alas, she has only been searching for a romantic love not a sexual encounter. The novel then spins its way through Isobel and Roland helplessly attempting to sort out their lives as the good husband-doctor remains completely oblivious to circumstances.
Why ruin the ending?
The novel gives us a good look at the Victorian social world and its morals and expectations. No doubt Braddon's personal life gave her much fodder to draw from and no doubt the reading public lapped up the novel.
The Doctor's Wife is a good read if approached in the right frame of mind. Expect flabby writing in need of a good edit, and expect a novel that is neither sensational or sensual. Don't expect a book as good as Lady Audley's Secret. By all means, however, be prepared for an entire novel full of literary and artistic references. If nothing else, your read will be much like an episode of literary Jeopardy!
December 11, 2022
This is the story of a young naïve bookish young woman named Isabel who marries a town doctor but becomes dazzled by a young lord who seems to be the romantic ideal of her dreams; dreams made up entirely from characters she had encountered in her voracious reading. Braddon wrote this novel both in response to Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and to show she can write a more literary novel and not just sensation novels. I don’t think Braddon was successful in meeting either goal.
I enjoyed this novel through the first half or so as I thought it’s plot and characters seemed more interesting to me than in Lady Audley’s Secret and that Braddon had laid the groundwork for an interesting novel. The concept of the young woman whose ideals are formed entirely from novels intrigued me.
However, I thought Braddon’s storytelling and characterization went off the rails in the latter part of the novel. The emotional reactions of all three participants in the ‘love’ triangle seemed totally unreal and almost fairytale-like to me. If this was supposed to be her attempt at realism, then Braddon failed, and I would say that she was better off continuing to write sensation novels. Several of the big emotional scenes at the end of the book were just drawn out and reflected perfunctory rather than true attempts at revealing emotions. Braddon also made a mistake in sidelining the character of Sigismund Smith, a fictional sensation novelist, for most of the novel’s second half. Sigismund’s descriptions of his intended novel plots provided much appreciated wit and comic relief during the first half.
Upon completion, I thought about rating this as 2 stars because that’s what I thought it deserved at that time. However, when I consider my almost 4-star enjoyment of the first part of the novel, this story could rate as 3 stars. But it's the impression a story makes when you finish it that is the most important. Based on that, this is worthy of 2.5 stars rounded down to 2 stars.
I enjoyed this novel through the first half or so as I thought it’s plot and characters seemed more interesting to me than in Lady Audley’s Secret and that Braddon had laid the groundwork for an interesting novel. The concept of the young woman whose ideals are formed entirely from novels intrigued me.
However, I thought Braddon’s storytelling and characterization went off the rails in the latter part of the novel. The emotional reactions of all three participants in the ‘love’ triangle seemed totally unreal and almost fairytale-like to me. If this was supposed to be her attempt at realism, then Braddon failed, and I would say that she was better off continuing to write sensation novels. Several of the big emotional scenes at the end of the book were just drawn out and reflected perfunctory rather than true attempts at revealing emotions. Braddon also made a mistake in sidelining the character of Sigismund Smith, a fictional sensation novelist, for most of the novel’s second half. Sigismund’s descriptions of his intended novel plots provided much appreciated wit and comic relief during the first half.
Upon completion, I thought about rating this as 2 stars because that’s what I thought it deserved at that time. However, when I consider my almost 4-star enjoyment of the first part of the novel, this story could rate as 3 stars. But it's the impression a story makes when you finish it that is the most important. Based on that, this is worthy of 2.5 stars rounded down to 2 stars.
August 27, 2016
One of my favorite things about Victorian literature is that it shows the variance between social mores from that time and today's. The level of scandalosity that arises from a young woman being seen speaking with or taking a stroll with a man who is not her husband is hilarious.
In "The Doctor's Wife," a young woman named Isabel gets married to a young man named George. They are both nice enough people, but they are terribly suited for each other. To use a food analogy, George would like nothing better than to eat bologna and fruit cake for the rest of his days, while Isabel, who has only ever eaten gristle and prunes, dreams of foie gras and beignets.
The trouble arises mostly from this inconsistency in their respective expectations from life. It deepens when along comes a fine piece of prosciutto who parades himself in front of Isabel. And it culminates because, damn it, those Victorians sure were some prudish, judgy bunch of busy-bodies! Spying, gossipping, judging, and snubbing are the primary vehicles for how plot moves along in this novel.
This book, I think, wants to be taken seriously as a moral story. But more than that, I think it wants to make us want to gossip about all the characters and be very snarky and throw side-eyes. Overall, it succeeds in the latter, and fares significantly worse in the former).
Oh, and it also has a very strong message for young women everywhere: Put down your poems and your novels, ladies!
In "The Doctor's Wife," a young woman named Isabel gets married to a young man named George. They are both nice enough people, but they are terribly suited for each other. To use a food analogy, George would like nothing better than to eat bologna and fruit cake for the rest of his days, while Isabel, who has only ever eaten gristle and prunes, dreams of foie gras and beignets.
The trouble arises mostly from this inconsistency in their respective expectations from life. It deepens when along comes a fine piece of prosciutto who parades himself in front of Isabel. And it culminates because, damn it, those Victorians sure were some prudish, judgy bunch of busy-bodies! Spying, gossipping, judging, and snubbing are the primary vehicles for how plot moves along in this novel.
This book, I think, wants to be taken seriously as a moral story. But more than that, I think it wants to make us want to gossip about all the characters and be very snarky and throw side-eyes. Overall, it succeeds in the latter, and fares significantly worse in the former).
Oh, and it also has a very strong message for young women everywhere: Put down your poems and your novels, ladies!
April 8, 2021
Okay, here’s the thing... Don’t expect The Doctor’s Wife to be what it isn’t. It isn’t a retelling of Madame Bovary. It isn’t Lady Audley’s Secret. It isn’t a sensation novel.
If you expect it to be any of those things, you are going to be disappointed. I was.
But...
This is a decent novel. The characters are interesting. They have faults but none that are inexcusable or inexplicable. Their interactions are, for the most part, plausible. The story is not riveting but it moves along pleasantly. In fact, in spite of my misguided expectations, I enjoyed the time I spent with these characters.
In addition, Braddon has woven a delightful tapestry of literary allusions throughout, while maintaining a light, amusing voice.
The Doctor’s Wife is a vacation read. Or something to be enjoyed between heavier reading. Without the burden of expectations, The Doctor’s Wife is thoroughly charming.
If you expect it to be any of those things, you are going to be disappointed. I was.
But...
This is a decent novel. The characters are interesting. They have faults but none that are inexcusable or inexplicable. Their interactions are, for the most part, plausible. The story is not riveting but it moves along pleasantly. In fact, in spite of my misguided expectations, I enjoyed the time I spent with these characters.
In addition, Braddon has woven a delightful tapestry of literary allusions throughout, while maintaining a light, amusing voice.
The Doctor’s Wife is a vacation read. Or something to be enjoyed between heavier reading. Without the burden of expectations, The Doctor’s Wife is thoroughly charming.
July 29, 2011
I'm a big fan of Victorian Sensation fiction of which Elizabeth Braddon is one of the leading lights. Sadly (for me) this was her one attempt at writing a literary novel. It's a sympathetic portrait of an ill-conceived marriage (EB deliberately borrows the initial premise from Mme Bovary but takes her novel in a different direction). However, although well-written, it was not the page turner had been hoping for,
January 19, 2024
I LIKED THIS A LOT! But then I have a weird sense of humor, which is why I also like Arnold Bennett. This novel was a bit unusual in concept and a quite interesting study of the main characters. I don't usually describe plot in reviews, just my personal impressions. In this case, to do so would create spoilers.
A serious and dedicated young Doctor Gilbert falls in love at first sight with an 18 year old female, Isabel, who lives in a fantasy world derived from reading romantic novels and poetry. When this situation is introduced, you get a premonition of what might happen. But then, can you guess correctly? Probably not. This draws you into the story.
The first half has clever and subtle humor and poetic and perceptive descriptions that I greatly enjoyed. The doctor's good friend is a writer of sensational serials. He shares some of his stories with humorous effects. As the story progresses with more emotion and drama it seemed the dialogue went on too long so that it was a bit annoying. I actually skipped short passages briefly, though not enough to miss out on the story.
The last 25% or so greatly improves and kept my interest. It becomes a bit melodramatic but this adds to what could be serious or could be dark humor, depending on the individual reader's point of view. I liked the ending but I'm guessing it wouldn't appeal to everyone. As a whole, I liked it a lot. A work of art.
A serious and dedicated young Doctor Gilbert falls in love at first sight with an 18 year old female, Isabel, who lives in a fantasy world derived from reading romantic novels and poetry. When this situation is introduced, you get a premonition of what might happen. But then, can you guess correctly? Probably not. This draws you into the story.
The first half has clever and subtle humor and poetic and perceptive descriptions that I greatly enjoyed. The doctor's good friend is a writer of sensational serials. He shares some of his stories with humorous effects. As the story progresses with more emotion and drama it seemed the dialogue went on too long so that it was a bit annoying. I actually skipped short passages briefly, though not enough to miss out on the story.
The last 25% or so greatly improves and kept my interest. It becomes a bit melodramatic but this adds to what could be serious or could be dark humor, depending on the individual reader's point of view. I liked the ending but I'm guessing it wouldn't appeal to everyone. As a whole, I liked it a lot. A work of art.
October 18, 2024
Victober Group Read.
August 28, 2021
3.5 stars rounded down due to circumstances that interrupted and diminished my enjoyment of this book, but I think it could easily become 4 on a future re-read.
I picked up "The Doctor's Wife" knowing that it was not a typical Victorian Sensation novel like Braddon's previous work, and also that it was a re-imagining of "Madame Bovary", which I read in June. I was not, however, prepared for so many other literary references! I think after I have read some more Dickens ("Dombey & Son" in particular) a bit more Shakespeare (I've still never read "Othello") and some other books mentioned like "The Vicar of Wakefield", then this would be a good story to revisit!
I particularly loved how M.E. Braddon wrote the character of Sigismund Smith, a sensation fiction writer, in this book and I enjoy her beautiful, descriptive prose.
Possibly my favorite quote (I highlighted a lot and have changed my mind a few times):
"Eve had listened to the first whispers of the serpent, and Paradise was no longer entirely beautiful."
I picked up "The Doctor's Wife" knowing that it was not a typical Victorian Sensation novel like Braddon's previous work, and also that it was a re-imagining of "Madame Bovary", which I read in June. I was not, however, prepared for so many other literary references! I think after I have read some more Dickens ("Dombey & Son" in particular) a bit more Shakespeare (I've still never read "Othello") and some other books mentioned like "The Vicar of Wakefield", then this would be a good story to revisit!
I particularly loved how M.E. Braddon wrote the character of Sigismund Smith, a sensation fiction writer, in this book and I enjoy her beautiful, descriptive prose.
Possibly my favorite quote (I highlighted a lot and have changed my mind a few times):
"Eve had listened to the first whispers of the serpent, and Paradise was no longer entirely beautiful."
January 18, 2010
Braddon was the queen of Victorian sensation novels, like Lady Audley's Secret; although the heroine falls in love with a man who's not her husband, The Doctor's Wife isn't really a sensation novel. Braddon was clearly trying to transcend her genre (and rewrite Madame Bovary) in this story of Isabel Gilbert, the eponymous heroine, and her love for Roland Lansdell; their affair is pointedly not consummated, and Isabel's emotional and mental growth is really the main point of the story.
May 27, 2022
After reading this I simply can't believe that Lady Audley's Secret is Mary Elizabeth Braddon's best known book and The Doctor's Wife is buried in obscurity.
Don't get me wrong I do like Lady Audley's Secret a lot - but this is a far superior novel.
The good characters are perfectly good - but the "bad" characters have shades of grey in their natures. They are weak rather wicked and often do not mean to do any harm.
Perhaps the last few chapters are a little sentimental - but not overly so for anyone who enjoys Victorian fiction. I very much recommend it if you do.
Don't get me wrong I do like Lady Audley's Secret a lot - but this is a far superior novel.
The good characters are perfectly good - but the "bad" characters have shades of grey in their natures. They are weak rather wicked and often do not mean to do any harm.
Perhaps the last few chapters are a little sentimental - but not overly so for anyone who enjoys Victorian fiction. I very much recommend it if you do.
July 11, 2017
I know it's detrimental to my character to read these sentimental novels, but I can't help it- they're just so good!
February 16, 2022
So much better than Madame Bovary!
Love in this novel is always about the person loving, rather than the object of their affections. Object-independent love.
Love in this novel is always about the person loving, rather than the object of their affections. Object-independent love.
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