Skip to main content

Review: Lord of the Far Island, by Victoria Holt


Pages: 329

Original date of publication: 1975

My edition: 2009 (St. Martin’s Press)

Why I decided to read: Amazon recommendation

How I acquired my copy: Amazon.com, November 2009

Ellen Kellaway, orphaned at a young age, lives with her cousin Agatha and her family Ellen has constantly been told that she’s the Poor Relation and that therefore the best she can hope for is a post as a governess or companion. When she receives a marriage proposal from the son of a wealthy London family, Ellen’s life seems set to improve. But the death of her fiancée leads to an invitation that Ellen can’t refuse, and she goes to Cornwall to stay with her guardian, Jago. True to Victoria Holt form, her guardian’s invitation leads to much danger for our heroine.

Victoria Holt’s novels tend to be rather formulaic, which is why they work so well—for the most part. The downside is that her novels are rather predictable—if you’ve read anything else by her, you’ll know that things turn out rather well for Ellen in the end. There’s a lot less suspense in this novel than in some of Holt’s other novels, and the romance occurs rather too quickly to be believable to me. For most of the novel, Ellen doesn’t trust Jago much, but when she discovers that he’s not what she thought he was, she realizes she’s in love with him? It didn’t make much sense to me. Also, I never know if this is supposed to be historical fiction (Ellen wears a bonnet and they ride in hansom cabs) or if it’s contemporary setting (Ellen has complete freedom to go about on her own, especially when she obtains the key to the house she and Philip are interested in and goes there by herself).

Still, Holt is a good writer—there are a number of really good twists in the plot, and she paces things well. There are a lot of questions about Ellen’s family that are answered satisfactorily in the end, though the author wrapped things up too quickly for me. There’s a very magical feeling about the tone of this novel that I enjoyed as well. It seems that Cornwall is a place that fuels a lot of writers’ imaginations, and Lord of the Far Island is no exception, since it’s very evocative of the place. I had a lot of fun reading this novel, since it’s the perfect kind of book to read during the summertime. If you’re new to reading Victoria Holt’s novels, I’d suggest reading Mistress of Mellyn before this one.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Another giveaway

This time, the publicist at WW Norton sent me two copies of The Glass of Time , by Michael Cox--so I'm giving away the second copy. Cox is the author of The Meaning of Night, and this book is the follow-up to that. Leave a comment here to enter to win it! The deadline is next Sunday, 10/5/08.

A giveaway winner, and another giveaway

The winner of the Girl in a Blue Dress contest is... Anna, of Diary of An Eccentric ! My new contest is for a copy of The Shape of Mercy , by Susan Meissner. According to Publisher's Weekly : Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars

Six Degrees of Barbara Pym's Novels

This year seems to be The Year of Barbara Pym; I know some of you out there are involved in some kind of a readalong in honor of the 100th year of her birth. I’ve read most of her canon, with only The Sweet Dove Died, Civil to Strangers, An Academic Question, and Crampton Hodnet left to go (sadly). Barbara Pym’s novels feature very similar casts of characters: spinsters, clergymen, retirees, clerks, and anthropologists, with which she had direct experience. So it stands to reason that there would be overlaps in characters between the novels. You can trace that though the publication history of her books and therefore see how Pym onionizes her stories and characters. She adds layers onto layers, adding more details as her books progress. Some Tame Gazelle (1950): Archdeacon Hoccleve makes his first appearance. Excellent Women (1952): Archdeacon Hoccleve gives a sermon that is almost incomprehensible to Mildred Lathbury; Everard Bone understands it, however, and laughs