Three orphaned girls live with an unsympathetic guardian.
Here is another novel by Scott (see Novel 022), with vivid characters and an involving, complex plot.
“The . . . incidents of this story . . . are so many, minute, and intricate, that it would be a very hard task to unravel them intelligibly, even if we could spare a full folio column for the attempt. However, we will say of them that they amuse and interest, and in their development the authoress has displayed great tact and no small share of talent. . . . As a story confined to domestic occurences it would not be easy to point out one of recent date more amusingly narrated.” Observer, April 29, 1850
“There is a strain of pleasant, lively narrative in this novel, which carries the reader onward with unflagging attention, and permits no single page to be dull or wearisome. The characters are drawn with uncommon spirit. . . . The story is well contrived, and the denouement ingeniously kept out of view till the latest moment; curiosity is ever on the stretch to know how it will end.” Critic, May 1, 1850
A contrasting view:
A “record of family intrigues, put together, perhaps not without skill, but unenlivened by any graces of composition or by any display of the feelings that raise and dignify human nature.” Morning Post, May 18, 1850.
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