Tag: classic books

Review: Emma by Jane Austen

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments
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Goodreads | Waterstones

Although described by Jane Austen as a character ‘whom no one but myself will much like’, the irrepressible Emma Woodhouse is one of her most beloved heroines. Clever, rich and beautiful, she sees no need for marriage, but loves interfering in the romantic lives of others, until her matchmaking plans unravel, with consequences that she never expected. Jane Austen’s novel of youthful exuberance and gradual self-knowledge is a brilliant, sparkling comic masterpiece. 

I’m slowly making my way through Austen’s books this autumn, and I’ve been mainly doing that through audio. This one is no different, and I decided to pick it as my first October audiobook. I love reading Austen on audio and the narrator of this one was brilliant. The voices really reflected each character and the story shone through well.

I cannot make speeches, Emma…If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. 

However, this is sadly probably my least favourite Austen so far. I believe this is one of her longest books and I’m so glad I read it on audio because it did feel quite long and drawn out. I feel like this one has the least plot and most nonsense out of all of the Austen books I’ve read so far. I was never quite sure where this book was going and felt like there was not much of an end point to strive for.

Although Emma as a main character could be unlikable at times, I did enjoy the idea of her being a female heroine and not necessarily looking for love. However, some of the other characters were highly annoying (I’m looking at you, Miss Bates!) and let me tell you, the narrator did a great job as portraying them as such.

You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.

Overall, I feel like this one is going to be quite forgettable for me and feels very…scatterbrained. I’m still excited to read more from Austen and I didn’t dislike this book, just my least favourite so far!

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review2 Comments
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Goodreads | Waterstones

When Father goes away with two strangers one evening, the lives of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis are shattered. They and their mother have to move from their comfortable London home to go and live in a simple country cottage, where Mother writes books to make ends meet. However, they soon come to love the railway that runs near their cottage, and they make a habit of waving to the Old Gentleman who rides on it. They befriend the porter, Perks, and through him learn railway lore and much else. They have many adventures, and when they save a train from disaster, they are helped by the Old Gentleman to solve the mystery of their father’s disappearance, and the family is happily reunited.

I decided to read this one on audiobook while driving, walking and running around the British countryside this past weekend, and honestly it was just perfect. I could not recommend a better way to read this, but enjoying the very countryside talked about in this book and glimpsing railways over the hills and through the trees. This is also a super short audiobook, clocking in at around 5 hours and it was just perfect for a big weekend of travelling!

This one was actually a major surprise for me, especially as I have been not enjoying classics quite as much recently. This was recommended to me to me by Alex, who loves this book, and trust me she has some great classic recommendations! I read The Secret Garden a couple of months ago on her recommendation, and I loved that one too. However, I actually ended up enjoying The Railway Children just a little bit more!

I think everyone in the world is friends

This one follows a family as they move to a small house in the British countryside due to mysterious circumstances leaving them without their father. This is told from the perspective of the three children of the family as they explore the countryside and get to know the people in the nearby village and on the railway. I loved reading about the children, and I imagine I would have absolutely adored this as a child. The children also don’t know why they’ve moved or their father has not moved with them, leaving a mystery aspect surrounding this book that I really didn’t expect to have!

The children also have some really interesting discussions throughout this book, including about gender identity, race, friendship, family, wealth and status. Some of these discussions felt very ahead of their time and I was surprised they came up at all. Alongside their loving and caring mother, these children learn the importance of looking out for one another through tough times and helping those around you despite their backgrounds.

if you can only get them to see you don’t want to be un-friends.

Overall, this was such a pleasant surprise. I loved the feeling of adventure throughout, and the mischief these kids got up to was so fun to read about! The relationships and friendships were so heartwarming and beautiful, and left me with goosebumps when I finished this book.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment
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Goodreads | Waterstones

Good Wives is the second story about the March family. Three years on from Little Women, the March girls and their friend Laurie are young adults with their futures ahead of them. Although they all face painful trials along the way – from Meg’s sad lesson in housekeeping to Laurie’s disappointment in love and a tragedy which touches them all – each of the girls finally finds happiness, if not always in the way they expect. The book includes a behind-the-scenes journey, including an author profile, a guide to who’s who, activities and more.. 

This review is for Good Wives, or part 2 of Little Women. My review for the first part can be found here. Most editions of the book will contain both parts and will be commonly called Little Women in it’s entirety, but the Wordsworth children’s collectors edition I read ended at the end of part 1. I then borrowed my boyfriend’s copy of the Penguin Paperback Classic (found here) which contains both parts so I could finish the story properly!

Good Wives is set 3 years after Little Women, when the sisters are presumably in their late teens. Not surprisingly due to the name of the book, this part mainly focuses on the sisters settling down into relationships and moving out of the family home. I enjoyed the way this book uses letters between the girls and Marmee, as well as focusing on where they are throughout the books.

Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go,

I really liked the way this book looks at marriage and relationships as the sisters get older, especially having the different opinions from the girls. This whole book is so fascinating in the way it looks at femininity and marriage, and I really love how all of the sisters have different ideas of how they want to fit what is expected of them as women. Meg is the very ‘traditional’ sister, married in the first chapter of Good Wives and satisfied largely by her little family. Jo, however, is the polar opposite, and very forward thinking for her time. Considering the time this book was published, it is a revolutionary piece of writing when it comes to Jo. She is definitely my favourite sister and the one I most admire and relate to.

Although I absolutely adore the sisters and learning about how they grow and develop over the course of Good Wives, this book definitely lost a little of the magic I felt in Little Women. I didn’t quite feel as connected to the sisters as I did during part 1, which I believe may be due to the fact they are not living in the same place and everything can feel a little jarring between sections. Little Women felt like such a comforting book, whereas this one is definitely slightly deeper and darker. I definitely believe this is due to the girls growing up and exploring more about themselves and their relationships. It just lost a little bit of innocence between the parts, which at least for me makes Little Women what it is.

and it makes the end so easy.

I’m so glad I read these parts separately, even if it was a complete accident! I believe that if I had read this as one book, it would have reached 5 stars for me, but I am glad I was able to judge this as a separate text. I still very much enjoyed this part of the story, and I know the story as a whole will be with me forever.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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