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A review by holtfan
Celia's House by D.E. Stevenson
2.0
You've got the bookends of an interesting saga here. Unfortunately, the middle bit is all knock-off [b:Mansfield Park|45032|Mansfield Park|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397063295l/45032._SY75_.jpg|2722329]. And Mansfield Park is hard enough to swallow when Jane Austen writes it. D.E. Stevenson does not improve the story much.
I do think this book deserves credit because, like almost all Stevenson novels, it creates very realistic characters. They're cross, foolish, and sometimes silly, but also whimsical and fun. They all feel like someone you might actually know. (When not emulating Jane Austen characters.) So as much as I might whine in my spoiler about Mark's reason for marrying, it felt quite, disappointingly honest and not at all romanticized...which is exactly why it charms.
Overall, though, I would say this is not her best book. Besides some overt sexism, it feels too at loose ends. The Mansfield Park ripoff comes out of nowhere after several other promising starts involving wills and ghosts and servants. Then it gives way to the kind of patriotic, WW2 triteness that fills other Stevenson books before shifting again and emphasizing a half-remembered family tree plotline.
It is an ambitious story with many characters and several family lines and unfortunately simply too short to do all it wants and still tell a full tale.
Spoiler
I would give some credit if it didn't feel so awkwardly much like Mark didn't marry Deb because he disliked bachelor life. 'What? I have to tell the maids what to do and darn my own socks?! hmm, maybe my cousin doesn't seem so sisterly after all...'I do think this book deserves credit because, like almost all Stevenson novels, it creates very realistic characters. They're cross, foolish, and sometimes silly, but also whimsical and fun. They all feel like someone you might actually know. (When not emulating Jane Austen characters.) So as much as I might whine in my spoiler about Mark's reason for marrying, it felt quite, disappointingly honest and not at all romanticized...which is exactly why it charms.
Overall, though, I would say this is not her best book. Besides some overt sexism, it feels too at loose ends. The Mansfield Park ripoff comes out of nowhere after several other promising starts involving wills and ghosts and servants. Then it gives way to the kind of patriotic, WW2 triteness that fills other Stevenson books before shifting again and emphasizing a half-remembered family tree plotline.
It is an ambitious story with many characters and several family lines and unfortunately simply too short to do all it wants and still tell a full tale.