Anne Hereford

Anne Hereford

by Mrs. Henry Wood

First published in 1867, Anne Hereford is the story of murder, scandal, and misunderstandings in an aristocratic country house, told from the point of view of an orphaned ten-year-old. Its setting and viewpoint have led to natural comparisons with Jane Eyre, but it is Jane Eyre shot through with scandal and sensation -- the kind of book that might have appealed to the first Mrs. Rochester. Despite its antiquated wills, inheritances, shotguns, and other paraphernalia, the novel is almost entirely accessible by modern readers -- with perhaps one exception. The reader should keep in mind that the phrase "make love to" denoted harmless flirting or praise in Victorian parlance. Thus when Selina urges, "Anne, come forward, and let Mr. Heneage make love to you. It is a pastime he favors," nothing sinister is implied. --Martha Bayless

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Victorian, 19th Century, Literature, British Literature, Historical

364 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1867

About the author

Ellen Wood (née Price) was an English novelist, better known as "Mrs Henry Wood". She wrote over 30 novels, many of which (especially East Lynne), enjoyed remarkable popularity. Among the best known of her stories are Danesbury House, Oswald Cray, Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles, The Channings, Lord Oakburn's Daughters and The Shadow of Ashlydyat. For many years, she worked as the proprietor and editor of the Argosy.

Reviews

[Helga · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

A murder, a missing will, rumours, secrets, ghosts and mysterious goings on.

If you are a fan of Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey and Rebecca you may like this book, despite its being long-winded.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’re not in Cranford anymore.

What a page turner! I’m not sure that it’s great literature but it delivers on entertainment. It’s a sensationalist book; think Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “Lady Audley’s Secret and Wilkie Collin’s “The Woman in White”; think gothic English country mansions, girl’s boarding schools, the dichotomy between the classes, candle light, swishing skirts and most of all many unanswered mysteries which our innocent heroine must suss out. There are also mean step uncles, gypsies, bolting horses, orphans, sudden deaths, locked doors, strange messages and ghosts!!! Nothing and no one are who they seem and it’s hard to know who to trust yet somehow love blossoms…..of course. Suspend belief as you step into this book and prepare for a few sleepless nights. I wish more of Wood’s books were readily available.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please note that because of Ellen Wood's pen name Mrs Henry Wood here on Good Reads there are multiple editions of this story and you may find other reviews under other editions which have not been combined with this one. (I have requested that a GR SuperLibrarian tidy up the cataloguing of this title as it is a bit of a mess!) I have also cross posted this review with a compilation edition of Ellen Wood's works.

Like Jane Austen, Ellen Wood was interested in marriage, and she has some interesting observations to make. As we know from any reading of any 19th century British classics, there were rigid rules about marriage and inheritance, and society was strictly hierarchical. Despite differences in wealth, Jane Austen’s heroines marry within their class. So too does the heroine in Jane Eyre: Jane gets her man because although a lowly governess, she is a lady. Margaret Hale, in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South is the only 19th century heroine I know of, who marries down into a different class because she has met her intellectual equal. In Anne Hereford one of the women has married for love ‘down’ into ‘trade’ - but Anne (who despite being a penniless orphan of course is a lady) marries within her class, as we always knew she would.

Despite this obeisance to the rules of 19th century society, there are in Anne Hereford some interesting threads around marriage:

Marrying in haste and repenting at leisure;
Marrying someone for love, who doesn’t really love you
Marrying ‘up’ and marrying ‘down’
Status in society being rigid until you marry ‘down’ into ‘trade’ and then it’s quite flexible enough to not only destroy the social position of a lady but also that of her children forevermore
Marrying someone from another culture (OMG a French husband!!)

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Nowhere near as melodramatic as the gloriously daft 'East Lynne', the story has all the elements you'd expect from a Victorian sensation novel (a murder, a wicked uncle, shenanigans with inheritances and wills, a lonely penniless orphan forced into becoming a governess, big houses with secrets and possibly a mad person or two in the attic). Lots of parallels with 'Jane Eyre' can be drawn, which in itself makes it interesting, but if anything Anne Hereford is a more believable and likeable heroine.

[Rebekah Giese Witherspoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

From that hour, I took up my position bravely—the yielding, dependent, submissive governess. But what a life of toil I entered upon! And—where were my dreams of Paris? Have you forgotten that they had visited me, in all their beautiful delusion? I had not. Delusive hopes are always the sweetest.

This Victorian Gothic sensation novel borrowed a few pages from the story lines of “Jane Eyre” and “Villette” (my favorites) and I enjoyed the story, but it fell short on sensory detail so I never felt the Gothic atmosphere. The prose is very accessible for modern readers but I didn’t find it beautiful or lyrical. Oh, well, there’s only one Charlotte Brontë.

Recommended for folks who are new to Victorian literature and want a good story, a happy ending, and an easy read that never gets bogged down with purple prose.

The free ebook is available at gutenberg.org.

#Victober2021
Kate’s challenge: Read a Victorian sensation novel

[Carm9n · Rating 4 out of 5]

My impressions here,
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...

[Jassmine]

Sometimes I really wish I made notes, why did I add this to my TBR?!

I mean, it's a victorian novel by female author so that's clearly part of it, but... what is it even about?!

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

All'inizio questo romanzo sembra essere una specie di mystery novel, con un omicidio e tutti gli annessi e connessi, un testamento scomparso ecc., il tutto visto attraverso gli occhi della piccola Anne Hereford.
Poi, di colpo, la trama subisce una deviazione: Anne cresce e ci racconta aneddoti della sua vita scolastica, che apparentemente nulla hanno a che fare con l'omicidio di cui sopra, il che mi ha lasciata un po' delusa.
Infine la storia di Anne diventa molto simile a quella di "Jane Eyre", ovvero quella di una governante che si ritrova in una magione dove avvengono fatti misteriosi e che s'innamorerà del proprio anfitrione, il quale cela un segreto che non può condividere con lei.
Anche se avevo intuito quale fosse il segreto, la narrazione mi ha avvinta e ho letto questa parte del romanzo con grande coinvolgimento.
Una lettura davvero piacevole, che tuttavia non raggiunge mai i livelli di "East Lynne", il romanzo più noto di Mrs Henry Wood e che mi aveva spinto a cercarne un altro della stessa autrice.
Ad ogni modo, una lettura che consiglio.

[Moppet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane Eyre and Villette meet The Mysteries of Udolpho in this 1867 page-turner by the mistress of sensation fiction, Mrs. Henry Wood. Perhaps in conscious imitation of the Brontes, and in contrast to her other works, Mrs. Wood uses the first person viewpoint, not with complete success. Anne, an orphan of good family forced to get a living as a governess, tells her own story - until the final few chapters, when she starts telling everyone else's as well - that is, recounting various scenes which she did not personally witness, but which were found necessary to wind up the plot. There's a ghost (but not really), a murder (but not really) and a romance (of course), not to mention a missing will stuck in there like a Flake bar in an ice-cream sundae. For fans of Victorian fiction, this is worth the detour.

[Mrsgaskell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is by the author of East Lynne which is one of my "desert island" books. Anne Hereford is also a Victorian sensation novel but not quite as sensational as East Lynne. It's a compelling read and I enjoyed it very much. Anne is an eleven-year-old orphan when we meet her on a train bound for the home of her Aunt Selina. Due to tragic events, her stay is a short one, and she is soon sent to another relative and boarding school in quick succession. Due to a missing will, likely stolen and destroyed, she must earn a living as a governess. She meets a former school mate who engages her as a companion and soon finds herself at Chandos in England, where there are family secrets, rumours of ghosts, and where she is thrown into close contact with the attractive Harry Chandos.

[Nara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Existem dois gênios que são fortes e poderosos,
Sob sua orientação a humanidade anda;
E o nome de um deles é prazer,
E o nome do repugnante é dor.
Nunca dividem o espaço um do outro,
Quando vem um, o outro vem logo atrás;
E aquele que no prazer seus pensamentos se concentram, Certamente a dor ou encontrará."

Uma leitura de puro conforto e quentinho no coração!!! Que te leva pra um tempo sem correria, sem redes sociais e sem a urgência desnecessária de hoje em dia. Aquela sensação de Jane Eyre mas com menos sofrimento e dor. Minha vontade e reler tudo de novo por dias e meses... Viver dentro do livro. Favorito da vida!

[Patrick Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

After some of the overly wordy books I have just read (Adam Bede, etc.) this was a pleasant relief, to read something that moves along at a decent pace. Nothing special but an enjoyable page-turner.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t remember the last time a book drew me in so strongly for reasons I couldn’t put my finger on in the slightest. This feels like a dozen other Victorian mystery romances with young governesses and evil uncles and scandal—yet I couldn’t put it down, and devoured it in practically one sitting. For all that Anne gets a little too prone to blushes and tears once the romance really kicks into gear, I enjoyed her character. She’s quiet and seemingly demure, but she also knows her own mind, and is willing to stand up for herself and her principles (even when those principles annoyed me). And the mystery, while pretty obvious, had enough twists to keep me intrigued. A very fun read.

(That said, Edwin Barley gets off way too easily, especially for the his almost comically petty refusal to help a poor orphan. It seems to me like Charlotte, the woman, gets a stronger punishment, while he, the man, gets off Scot free. Charlotte’s awful, too, of course, but I wish the scales of retribution had been a little better balanced.)

[Gabrielle Jarrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoy Ellen Wood and the time period 1860 plus, about which she writes. Ellen, writing under Mrs. Henry Wood, describes the period well. Anne, at twenty one, is called "child" with loving tones. Women at forty are old, and so the mid Victorian era continues in her over forty books, rivaling and passing Dickens.
Her sensation novels, are for me, always well written, entertaining, and a respite from the madding crowd. Surprise, sorrow, treachery, murder, and love all serve not to disappoint in her novels.

[Noemy · Rating 3 out of 5]

📚✨ It was a good read!

This year I read Wuthering Heights 🌬️🏞️ and unfortunately (or fortunately 😅), I now have pretty high standards when it comes to evaluating a classic...

But I can say this book was a good read! ✅📖
I recommend following Anne Hereford’s journey, as she faces several losses 💔 and sets out to build her own path in the world. 🌍👣

The romance is well developed and slow-burn, you know? It grows gradually… and in that aspect, I really enjoyed it. 💕🔥

Overall, it’s a good book and definitely worth reading! 🥰📘

[Taís Gregorio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot of coincidence here but there was suspense and romance as well. It was fun to see what popular English fiction in the 1860’s was like.

This is a standalone novel.

[Cece · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rip-roaring saga of scandal, orphans done wrong by, marriage for money, murder, revenge, disgruntled servants, overworked governesses, family secrets, spoiled aristocrats, French finishing schools, elopements, mysterious west wings...whats not to love? Add a surprisingly modern pace and lack of the preachy overwordiness often ascribed to Victorian novelists, and this was a page-turner extraordinaire.
By the author of the more famous East Lynne, and 48 other books of this ilk-not all easily found in print, but all available in a bundle for Kindle. Summer reading heaven indeed.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable enough page turner and although not one of Mrs Wood’s best, it is better than some of her more mundane domestic fiction. Some of the plot devices are convoluted even by sensation novel standards and characters withholding information from one another in order to stretch out the suspense becomes tedious and frustrating at times. The rigid Victorian class system is exposed, but the author appears to be condemning it and condoning it at the same time. And, for me, some of the pious sentiments of the author sit uncomfortably in what is basically an escapist read.

[Eric Boles]

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