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Melissa
In an atmosphere charged with suspense, and a conflict of wills, a struggle between three vivid and unforgettable people emerges. The most riveting portrait of a woman's passion since the Brontes' demon-haunted lovers. Taylor Caldwell enters the stark, brooding manse of nineteenth-century blue bloods to chronicle a compelling tale of treacherous loves.
Melissa--beautiful, obsessive, pledged to a terrifying devotion...
Geoffrey--her husband, who raged and fought for her love...
Charles--her father, who manacled her life to his own raging needs...
Melissa--beautiful, obsessive, pledged to a terrifying devotion...
Geoffrey--her husband, who raged and fought for her love...
Charles--her father, who manacled her life to his own raging needs...
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
371 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Caldwell
152 books558 followers Also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner.
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
November 17, 2007
This is a very well-written and fascinating book. The character development is superb, and there are a couple very intense characters. The whole story is quite intriguing; it is the tale of a young woman who is entirely devoted to her father and builds her whole world around him. When he dies (which is where the book begins), her world is shattered, and she can only think of carrying on as he would want her to. She is exceedingly obsessed with him and his memory, and she is very staunch and stubborn about pursuing what he would have wanted for her whole family, which is hardly possible because he was only a dreamer. She eventually performs an act in desperation and heroic "selflessness" as she saw it, only to find it was wholly unnecessary, and she is suddenly in a new and very unusual setting. The rest of the book YOU will have to read to know! It is a really an excellent read, and although some parts are lengthy and laborious, I would recommend it.
December 4, 2017
It took a long time to slog through this rather obscure book. I can only imagine the author intended it to be taken as an allegory rather than a straightforward romance, because surely no cast of characters ever thought or behaved as the people in this novel do. Caldwell apparently wanted to make a point about dogmatism:
The beginning of wisdom, then, was to understand that there are no clear-cut issues anywhere, nothing which one can absolutely accept to the exclusion of anything else. Those who did not know this were the most dangerous men on earth, more dangerous even than those who believed nothing at all. Out of these came the fanatics who lighted the auto-de-fes, who hung the gibbets with man-flesh, who inspired pogroms, who instigated and encouraged wars and died in them fervently, who incited man to tear at the throat of his brother. Intense belief in anything very often excited hallucinations in the victim, and if sometimes those hallucinations gave rise to great poetry and acts of selfless heroism, they also gave rise to the calamities which periodically almost destroy mankind.Hard to argue with that, but I can quibble with the boring and unconvincing narrative that the author used as a framework to make that point.
April 30, 2013
A young Victorian woman is overshadowed by her father. I like the author, Taylor Caldwell, but this was not one of my favorites.
May 31, 2012
One of those 1940s Taylor Caldwell novels I've had a copy of for years but have never gotten around to reading. So, here goes!
5/11: This one starts out exceedingly slow (even for Caldwell) and is exceedingly gloomy (even for Caldwell). But since nothing else is calling to me at this time, I'm soldiering on with it. At 390 pages (in the original edition published by Scribners, which is what I'm reading) it's one of Caldwell's shorter novels, but her prose is as verbose as in any of her longer books. And as is often true in Caldwell's novels, a family is often not a happy thing to be a part of.
From her first novel, DYNASTY OF DEATH, Caldwell seemed to delight in pitting parent against child, sibling against sibling. Relatives in Caldwell novels often make a strong point of absolutely loathing each other.
5/13: Almost half-way through. The character of Melissa reminds me of later Caldwell characters such as Caroline Ames in A PROLOGUE TO LOVE, Jenny Heger in TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN, and Ellen Watson in CEREMONY OF THE INNOCENT - all are women whom life - and people - treat harshly at some point in their lives. Not surprising, as this was Caldwell's own experience as well.
5/18: Ultimately something of a disappointment - nothing really happens during the 390 pages of this novel, though it's an interesting portrait of an emotionally crippled woman and how she suffers through the selfish manipulations of other people, particular her father. Caldwell was obviously an intelligent and well-read woman, yet despite her fame and success, she evidently regarded women as inferior to men and dependent on them for their image of themselves. At some point she said the following, which is quoted on Wikipedia:
"There is no solid satisfaction in any career for a woman like myself. There is no home, no true freedom, no hope, no joy, no expectation for tomorrow, no contentment. I would rather cook a meal for a man and bring him his slippers and feel myself in the protection of his arms than have all the citations and awards and honors I have received worldwide, including the Ribbon of Legion of Honor and my property and my bank accounts. They mean nothing to me. And I am only one among the millions of sad women like myself."
5/11: This one starts out exceedingly slow (even for Caldwell) and is exceedingly gloomy (even for Caldwell). But since nothing else is calling to me at this time, I'm soldiering on with it. At 390 pages (in the original edition published by Scribners, which is what I'm reading) it's one of Caldwell's shorter novels, but her prose is as verbose as in any of her longer books. And as is often true in Caldwell's novels, a family is often not a happy thing to be a part of.
From her first novel, DYNASTY OF DEATH, Caldwell seemed to delight in pitting parent against child, sibling against sibling. Relatives in Caldwell novels often make a strong point of absolutely loathing each other.
5/13: Almost half-way through. The character of Melissa reminds me of later Caldwell characters such as Caroline Ames in A PROLOGUE TO LOVE, Jenny Heger in TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN, and Ellen Watson in CEREMONY OF THE INNOCENT - all are women whom life - and people - treat harshly at some point in their lives. Not surprising, as this was Caldwell's own experience as well.
5/18: Ultimately something of a disappointment - nothing really happens during the 390 pages of this novel, though it's an interesting portrait of an emotionally crippled woman and how she suffers through the selfish manipulations of other people, particular her father. Caldwell was obviously an intelligent and well-read woman, yet despite her fame and success, she evidently regarded women as inferior to men and dependent on them for their image of themselves. At some point she said the following, which is quoted on Wikipedia:
"There is no solid satisfaction in any career for a woman like myself. There is no home, no true freedom, no hope, no joy, no expectation for tomorrow, no contentment. I would rather cook a meal for a man and bring him his slippers and feel myself in the protection of his arms than have all the citations and awards and honors I have received worldwide, including the Ribbon of Legion of Honor and my property and my bank accounts. They mean nothing to me. And I am only one among the millions of sad women like myself."
August 30, 2007
This is the first "grownup" book I read and it still remains one of my favorites. It looks like it was recently re-published, so I must not be the only one who remembers it.
Melissa is a young, very rigid kind of girl in the late 1800s. She worshipped her father, a very modestly successful author who dies at the beginning of the book. His death leaves the family penniless and Melissa makes a surprising marriage to her father's publisher, Geoffrey, a man she dislikes.
Melissa's family mostly see her for a fool and her new husband is both amused by her forthrightness and horrified by her sick attachment to her dead father. Melissa's selfish little sister, Geoffrey's shallow spinster sister, and a rakeish poet who is in love with her all make for an interesting read.
By the end of the book, you may want to throttle Melissa and make love to Geoffrey. Either way, all of the characters are memorable.
Melissa is a young, very rigid kind of girl in the late 1800s. She worshipped her father, a very modestly successful author who dies at the beginning of the book. His death leaves the family penniless and Melissa makes a surprising marriage to her father's publisher, Geoffrey, a man she dislikes.
Melissa's family mostly see her for a fool and her new husband is both amused by her forthrightness and horrified by her sick attachment to her dead father. Melissa's selfish little sister, Geoffrey's shallow spinster sister, and a rakeish poet who is in love with her all make for an interesting read.
By the end of the book, you may want to throttle Melissa and make love to Geoffrey. Either way, all of the characters are memorable.
May 25, 2016
this is going to contain serious spoilers...
I love Taylor Caldwell. She is one of my favorite authors, and this book is written incredibly well. Caldwell has created a fascinating tortured character who had been brainwashed by her (now deceased) father and is slowly realizing the abuse. The problem for me is that I know this could have been one of the great love stories and wanted it to go in that direction. Obviously, this brilliant writer didn't intend for this to be that kind of book, but what a great romance if Geoffrey hadn't been mostly absent throughout. Similar to Rachel but in a romantic sense, he could have played a gentle role with Melissa. I feel this is a missed opportunity in making this not just a good book but a great one, at least for me. Instead, we got life lessons in how people can be very cruel for various reasons with Melissa's pure innocence and obsessive devotion for her father as the backdrop.
I love Taylor Caldwell. She is one of my favorite authors, and this book is written incredibly well. Caldwell has created a fascinating tortured character who had been brainwashed by her (now deceased) father and is slowly realizing the abuse. The problem for me is that I know this could have been one of the great love stories and wanted it to go in that direction. Obviously, this brilliant writer didn't intend for this to be that kind of book, but what a great romance if Geoffrey hadn't been mostly absent throughout. Similar to Rachel but in a romantic sense, he could have played a gentle role with Melissa. I feel this is a missed opportunity in making this not just a good book but a great one, at least for me. Instead, we got life lessons in how people can be very cruel for various reasons with Melissa's pure innocence and obsessive devotion for her father as the backdrop.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2013
It has been close to 15 years since I have read this book. I lost my copy of it in a move and I have been "lost" ever since. A bit dramatic I know, but it is how I feel. The book was slow to get into, but then I was about 15 when I was reading. It was a love story unlike all I had read. I don't remember a lot of the specifics of the story, but it was a story worth reading again. The characters were well planned and had character to them. That seems a little funny, but true. If you come across this book, I recommend you read it.
August 14, 2020
Taylor Caldwell always comes through with beautiful prose and a family saga that describes a different way of life and tells a good story. I heard that this book compares to Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, but in my opinion there is no real comparison, this book is a predictable historical romance, even though there is an underlying sense of evil doing whereas Rebecca is unpredictable and quite suspenseful.
February 3, 2020
Melissa es una novela narrada en tres actos de aproximadamente cincuenta capítulos y unas sesenta diferentes escenas en un marco de cerca de 500 páginas.
Los anteriores datos ponen en evidencia de que este libro es impresionantemente descriptivo, una historia que disecciona cada pensamiento, acción y lugar en el que se encuentran sus personajes.
Al principio pudiera parecer que Melissa es una historia lenta, difícil de sobrellevar, pero una vez que él lector es capaz de traspasar esas barreras, la trama se convierte en una radiografía del espíritu humano.
Maldad, avaricia, egoísmo, amor, lealtad e integridad en sus máximas expresiones.
Melissa se convierte en el arquetipo de la dulzura, belleza y evolución del alma humana ante la adversidad y el conocimiento de un mundo hostil y despiadado.
El desenlace es soberbio y bien trabajado.
Una constante en todas las obras de la autora.
Simplemente no se puede fallar con un Caldwell.
Los anteriores datos ponen en evidencia de que este libro es impresionantemente descriptivo, una historia que disecciona cada pensamiento, acción y lugar en el que se encuentran sus personajes.
Al principio pudiera parecer que Melissa es una historia lenta, difícil de sobrellevar, pero una vez que él lector es capaz de traspasar esas barreras, la trama se convierte en una radiografía del espíritu humano.
Maldad, avaricia, egoísmo, amor, lealtad e integridad en sus máximas expresiones.
Melissa se convierte en el arquetipo de la dulzura, belleza y evolución del alma humana ante la adversidad y el conocimiento de un mundo hostil y despiadado.
El desenlace es soberbio y bien trabajado.
Una constante en todas las obras de la autora.
Simplemente no se puede fallar con un Caldwell.
June 13, 2020
Melissa Upjohn was the eldest of three children... she was also the innocent victim of her father's insidious corrosive malice. She worshiped her father like a god and that in itself was not a healthy attitude... she thought he could do no wrong and that his opinions were gospel truths. Charles Upjohn was an unsuccessful pedantic author of treatises on Greek culture and Melissa was his amanuensis when she was 10, she was now 25 at the start of the book in 1866. Melissa was the product of her time for in 1866 Philadelphia when Victorian English influence was still the norm despite American independence a hundred years ago, and women were still voiceless and powerless... except maybe in the Frontier... she had surrendered her sense of worth and own being to her father's control.. thus in her innocence and her immaturity, she was also responsible for her own bondage. Despite her stunted emotional development, her father's publisher, Mr. Geoffrey Dunham fell in love with her when she was 14 and wanted to marry her... but Melissa was pre~conditioned to hate intimacy especially with men and marriage by the omnipotent Charles... Dunham apparently had a snowball's chance in hell as long as Charles was alive, until Upjohn died and the family's dire financial circumstances were revealed. One would be thoroughly annoyed with Melissa's naive stupidity but one could also discern the circumstances that brought her to such a point in her life. For the behavior of the female characters (except her mother when and where it eventually counted) towards Melissa was like the scenario of a pride of lions stalking a herd of impalas looking for the weakest animal to prey upon in the stark brutality of the Law of the Jungle. Her marriage to Dunham and the full realization of her father's betrayal would be a painful awakening for her... but that would be the start of her really Living (as opposed to her life in her father's shadow and submerging her own existence in making his lackluster and pretentious work shine... infusing it with her own deeper discernment and creative concepts).
August 21, 2020
I haven't read Taylor Caldwell in years. She used to be one of my favorite authors, and I've read a lot of her books, but "Melissa", although on my shelf for longer than I care to admit, hadn't been read. I picked it up recently and so glad that I did. It is a great read; a historical novel, yes, but mostly a character study of a unique woman, her father (a complex person who formed her personality as she grew up devoted to him), and the man who loves her. It is also about her journey into being her own person as she learns to interact with and navigate people who are more social and worldly than she is. Ultimately, it also becomes a love story. It is a delightful and nostalgic read of a kind of novel that no longer seems to be written today. Highly recommended.
December 21, 2019
This isn't my usual sort of thing, and I had never even heard of the prolific Taylor Caldwell, but "Melissa" was utterly irresistible. It's the kind of suspenseful romance that makes you stay up all night, wondering if you'll get a happy ending for all your trouble and worry and readerly devotion. Though the pacing is inconsistent and the story could have used some tightening up, it's clever, surprising, and filled with words that are fun to google as you go. Enjoy!
September 1, 2020
The first time I read this book I was just 15 years old and it was the second book by Taylor Caldwell that I read. I was an instant fan of hers. Now 58 years later she is still my favorite author. I know the deep underlying messages of this book were not understood at such a young age, as they are now, but I know I was influenced greatly.
September 12, 2009
Weird, very weird. My first Caldwell book, the writing is incredible - the book let me down. Especially Geoffrey's character. HE was so well written throughout most of the book but the storyline changed at the end and the author had him responding in completely uncharacteristic ways that were hard to understand and very disappointing.
February 18, 2017
Another great book by Taylor Caldwell. Her insight into humanity is always astounding. I was fascinated by the way she wove the influence and character of a man dead before the book begins into her story. Redemption from the lasting effects of something gone and the healing that is needed was profoundly explored in this book.
July 5, 2020
Who knew a novel written in 1948 could be relevant & thought provoking today.
Though the writing is a bit florid and often overly descriptive, the characters are interesting. It seems, at first, they are one dimensional by they self analyse and become more real. Interesting also to follow the political thoughts of a woman author writing in the first half of the 20th century.
Though the writing is a bit florid and often overly descriptive, the characters are interesting. It seems, at first, they are one dimensional by they self analyse and become more real. Interesting also to follow the political thoughts of a woman author writing in the first half of the 20th century.
June 3, 2009
This was the first Taylor Caldwell book I ever read...and I was hooked. I love how she writes, it is so descriptive. However, if you don't like "wordy" books, she might not be the author for you.
I love her because everything I have read by her I can imagine for myself.
I love her because everything I have read by her I can imagine for myself.
August 6, 2009
This coming of age story was both heart breaking and inspiring. Melissa was a woman born before her time, and she suffered for it. A totally satisfying ending for a very complex character and story.
February 12, 2011
I remember loving this book, but it's been so long since I last visited it. I should find some more books by this author and maybe reread this one.
April 8, 2023
Unique story
Master story teller does it again with come to life characters and deeply detailed story line! If you are a Taylor Caldwell fan, you won’t want to miss this one!
Master story teller does it again with come to life characters and deeply detailed story line! If you are a Taylor Caldwell fan, you won’t want to miss this one!
June 30, 2024
A great example of gaslighting
January 24, 2022
1860s enemies to lovers con un matrimonio di convenienza? here we are
premetto con il dire che non mi aspettavo niente da questa storia. era un vecchio libro di mia nonna, che ho deciso di leggere perché la sua copia era in francese e avevo bisogno di tenermi allenata con la lingua.
INVECE, mi è piaciuto! è un po' un Emma di Jane Austen che non ci ha creduto abbastanza.
la protagonista è la vittima e, nonostante dipingano il padre come cattivo, i veri antagonisti sono tutte le persone intorno a lei.
questa è la storia di come Melissa, dalla sua nascita soggiogata al padre che la teneva rinchiusa a lavorare ai suoi romanzi (perché diciamocelo, era lei l'unico motivo se questi avevano un discreto successo) spaventandola del mondo esterno per non farla scappare via, riesce finalmente a rinsavire e vivere.
dico che sono le persone intorno a lei i veri antagonisti, perché, sebbene sia stato il padre a traumatizzarla durante la sua infanzia, nessuno le abbia mai detto niente. dopo la morte del vecchio, la gente continuava a pensare "povera melissa" senza effettivamente dirle le cose come stavano.
né i suoi fratelli né suo "marito". facevano finta di non sapere niente, nella speranza si risvegliasse da sola, like bro????
fortunatamente, in seguito a un mental breakdown di Melissa, sti deficienti hanno deciso di dirle la verità e, magia, Melissa è rinsavita. boh??
comunque la storia, per quanto semplice, mi ha coinvolta tantissimo, è interessante vedere non solo l'evoluzione di melissa (da ragazza apatica, in disgrazia a donna di mondo) ma anche dei personaggi intorno a lei, i loro pensieri e le loro azioni.
unica pecca sono state certe descrizioni inutili che occupavano anche pagine intere... perche? non me ne fotte di com'è arredata la sala da pranzo, datemi i miei enemies 🙄
comunque, boh grazie a dio non sono nata nel 19esimo secolo. questi sorci si lavavano 1 volta alla settimana e avevano anche il coraggio di parlare di "etichetta e decoro"
premetto con il dire che non mi aspettavo niente da questa storia. era un vecchio libro di mia nonna, che ho deciso di leggere perché la sua copia era in francese e avevo bisogno di tenermi allenata con la lingua.
INVECE, mi è piaciuto! è un po' un Emma di Jane Austen che non ci ha creduto abbastanza.
la protagonista è la vittima e, nonostante dipingano il padre come cattivo, i veri antagonisti sono tutte le persone intorno a lei.
questa è la storia di come Melissa, dalla sua nascita soggiogata al padre che la teneva rinchiusa a lavorare ai suoi romanzi (perché diciamocelo, era lei l'unico motivo se questi avevano un discreto successo) spaventandola del mondo esterno per non farla scappare via, riesce finalmente a rinsavire e vivere.
dico che sono le persone intorno a lei i veri antagonisti, perché, sebbene sia stato il padre a traumatizzarla durante la sua infanzia, nessuno le abbia mai detto niente. dopo la morte del vecchio, la gente continuava a pensare "povera melissa" senza effettivamente dirle le cose come stavano.
né i suoi fratelli né suo "marito". facevano finta di non sapere niente, nella speranza si risvegliasse da sola, like bro????
fortunatamente, in seguito a un mental breakdown di Melissa, sti deficienti hanno deciso di dirle la verità e, magia, Melissa è rinsavita. boh??
comunque la storia, per quanto semplice, mi ha coinvolta tantissimo, è interessante vedere non solo l'evoluzione di melissa (da ragazza apatica, in disgrazia a donna di mondo) ma anche dei personaggi intorno a lei, i loro pensieri e le loro azioni.
unica pecca sono state certe descrizioni inutili che occupavano anche pagine intere... perche? non me ne fotte di com'è arredata la sala da pranzo, datemi i miei enemies 🙄
comunque, boh grazie a dio non sono nata nel 19esimo secolo. questi sorci si lavavano 1 volta alla settimana e avevano anche il coraggio di parlare di "etichetta e decoro"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2020
The intelligent, naive and socially gauche Melissa tries to 'save' her family and her father's memory, but it's she that needs saving from his pernicious influence. Caldwell's writing is rather Hollywood Gothic in places, and shows a pre-twenty-first century tendency to long descriptions and philosophising - almost feels like it could have been written in the 1860s at times. Descriptions of the houses are particularly evocative. I loved the image of the drawing room like a long coffin, and the opening pile of wet gloves in the hallway hooked me into buying the book in the first place. The characterisations are mostly complex and subtle (even the spiteful and annoying Phoebe and Arabella are given the chance to speak truth to the protagonists). 'Melissa' is an unusual romance and it wasn't hard to look past its flaws.
June 15, 2020
I wrote a partial review when half way through At that time I wrote that it was the same but different from "Taming of the Shrew" I now retract that. Any resemblance of Melissa to Kate (or is that only her name in the movie, it has been so long) is hard to find. I also complained that there were no characters I liked. That continued to be true, but I did find real sympathy for some. I tried to empathize Melissa's torment. It was hard for me to do so and stay positive in life. The fact that Caldwell was able to affect my mood is a credit to her character development and writing. In the end I would call it an excellent but certainly not a great book. I had no temptation as I did for "The Library Book" to give it 16 out of 5 stars.
September 15, 2023
I think the skeleton of this book was interesting. A young woman forced to marry for financial reasons to a man she hates after her father dies, only to realize her perception of people was tainted by an abusive father for years (no spoilers, considered the synopsis says the same thing). However, the book is way too slow, and Melissa is frustrating most of the story. I did enjoy the romance though. Good idea, not the best execution.
January 14, 2024
Another tense character book from Caldwell . I really enjoy Caldwells Characters and how she develops them. There is always a lot of passion and complexities to her characters. A very interesting concept for a story. Melissa adored and believed in her father, she was the eldest of three children and was the victim of her father's insidious need for adoration, he was destructive in his treatment of her and kept her as an adoring ten year old in her 25 year old self.
August 30, 2022
I've read many of Taylor Caldwell's novels; but Melissa is quite possibly my least favorite. I found myself skimming through the tortuous pages describing the mental abuse suffered by the main character. I had to force myself to finish the book hoping for a glimpse of Caldwell's otherwise intriguing storyline. A disappointing book to say the least.
August 12, 2024
"Melissa" by Taylor Caldwell. My favorite, intensely writing author. This was the hardbound edition published in 1948,
Not easy, simple reading, but in-depth, well-developed characters that one can love, hate, and sympathize with.
I have acquired several of her books and am reading my way through them.
Excellent, excellent author.
Not easy, simple reading, but in-depth, well-developed characters that one can love, hate, and sympathize with.
I have acquired several of her books and am reading my way through them.
Excellent, excellent author.
August 16, 2021
Ending was just too impossibly perfect for a life that was so imperfect. Melissa went through a traumatic catharsis, but does she love Geoffrey, or is he taking her father's place in her life in her mind?
July 9, 2023
always a good story
Love her work. Her style of excessive detail continues. I find myself skimming to get to the main story. However her use of vocabulary leaves me using the dictionary, thus helping me review my school days in English classes.
Love her work. Her style of excessive detail continues. I find myself skimming to get to the main story. However her use of vocabulary leaves me using the dictionary, thus helping me review my school days in English classes.
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