Thursday 10 September 2009

A Long Fatal Love Chase ~ Louisa May Alcott

This very exciting novel starts with Rosamond Vivian desperately wanting freedom from her solitary life with her Grandfather. But, little does she know that the stranger who appears in the doorway, Phillip Tempest, is about to grant her that freedom, only to make her wish for freedom from different chains. Many things happen to her and she discovers things from Tempest's past that drive her away from Tempest, but "He stalked her every step --- for she had become his obsession ..."

I honestly wasn't sure about this book at is first. The back advertised it as a book "considered "too sensational" to be published in the author's lifetime." I waited, as I read, for the parts considered "too sensational" but could not find any. I greatly enjoyed this book, it was very captivating and I couldn't wait to read more and find out how it ended. Alcott (best known for her "Little Women" novel) had a way of throwing things in that I never would have expected to happen and I honestly was expecting something unexpected to happen until the last line of the book, when at last I knew nothing else could surprise me. I had a few ideas of how I thought the book maybe could end, but I was guessing until the end ... which doesn't always happen with me, there are many books I've read that I know what's going to happen before I read it, but I could not do that with this book. She does write in an older English style so there were a few times where I had to re-read a sentence or paragraph to get the flow of thought, but if I can do it, so can you.

I recommend this book to anyone look for an exciting, captivating, thrilling, keep-you-guessing kind of book.

4 comments:

Melanie said...

Hm. Sounds interesting. The title and the caption (about stalking her every step) reminded me of "Our Mutual Friend". Have you read/watched it? In that, two guys (both jerks) go after a beautiful, Christian sort of girl, and become rivals, and she runs away to avoid them, and that leads truly to a nearly "fatal love chase"... Maybe I shouldn't give the story away. :-P It's a strange story, but kinda neat.

I like L. M. Alcott's books. :-)

Ana said...

Melanie~
I haven't heard of that book/movie ... maybe I'll have to pick it up when I need a new book ... I just started another Alcott book. :)

Amanda said...

Never heard of that book, but I really want to read it now!!!

Nikki said...

Okay so I finished this book last night. I am..."unsure" as well about how I felt about it. It was certainly captivating and a real page-turner. Plus it was a fast read so it didn't take long to finish. I guess what puzzles me is the ending. After I read the last page, I thought, "What?!? THAT'S how it ended??" I was totally caught off-guard by the last few paragraphs. The whole book I was guessing what was going to happen, and Alcott did a thorough job of throwing in unforeseen events that twisted the story. But I just did not expect it to end that way.

I would also recommended it to others to read as it certainly keeps the reader guessing throughout the entire story.